no Junior Naturalist Work. 



3. Prize for best letter 011 gardens. 



" My garden is located at the southwest corner of our house. It is about 

 3 by 14 feet in size. 



" I planted it about the middle of May and sowed cosmos, asters, pansies, 

 mignonette, bachelor buttons, petunias, dianthus, nasturtiums, and a wild 

 garden. Also there is a queer little flower, that I do not know the name of 

 and another strange flower. 



" Then I had my gourd seeds to plant. There is a story connected with 

 them. 



" I put them in a little room in the rear of our house and left them 

 there till I was ready to plant them. When it came time to plant tliem I 

 picked up the envelope and saw it was all kerosene oil. 



" Mother said this would kill the seeds and I felt very bad about it because 

 I had never had any before, but I planted them in one corner of my garden. 

 Then father came along and planted two rhubarb plants and the seeds were 

 all mixed around for about a square foot. 



" I had not looked at my garden for a couple of days and so I thought 

 I would see the plants and also water them. So I went around and what 

 did I see but two little shoots poking their heads above the ground. I watched 

 them for a few days and when the leaves were large mother said they were 

 gourds. 



" They are now very large plants and three more have come up. My 

 bachelor buttons are just blossoming and my garden is going to be a very 

 pretty one. 



" About a week ago my uncle came and my garden was not in very good 

 condition then. He said, ' Come on and fix this garden up.' He said lo get 

 a spade and a basket. We did not have the right kind of a spade, and so I 

 got the axe and asked if that would do, and uncle saying yes, we went to 

 work. First I took the axe and trimmed it all around by cutting the sod off 

 in a straight line, and doing this all around. Then I took all the grass and 

 dirt and put it into the basket and carried it away. Then we weeded it all 

 out and the most troublesome weed of all was the chickweed, next came 

 the pigweed and the rest did not trouble me very much. 



" There are lots and lots of butterflies around our house and they visit the 

 flowers a good deal and the bees too. They come to get the honey out of 

 the nasturtiums and other flowers. The plant lice trouble me a good deal 

 by coming mostly on my poppies and swarming on the stems. 



" When they do this I pick off^ the stem and put it into the fire so destroy- 

 ing the flower but getting rid of the pests. Another funny experience I had 

 was this. I had picked off the stem to a weed and saw a very fat, green 

 stem about one inch long and taking hold of it I was astonished to feel it 

 move in my hands. Dropping it on the sidewalk I examined it and it proved 

 to be a worm very fat indeed. I then stepped on it. 



" No birds have yet visited my garden that I have seen. I expect to see 

 the bluebirds again this fall. These birds come every fall and hopping on 

 our clothesposts bid us goodbye with a song. 



"DONALD HOMER TYLER." 



