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Rural School Leaflet 



alders and birches, note the difference in the leaves. Notice whether the 

 alders in your neighborhood are large trees or small. 



6. Watch for catkins on the alders in the 

 springtime. 



7. Can you find cones on the trees? 



8. Read the following lines written by 

 the great naturalist, Henry D. Thoreau: 



" With cheerful heart I would be a 

 sojourner in the wilderness. I should be 

 sure to find there the catkins of the alder. 

 When I read of them in the accounts of 



Poplar 



northern adventurers by Baffin's Bay or 



Mackenzie's River, I see how even there, too, I could dwell. They are my 

 little vegetable redeemers. Methinks my virtue will not flag ere they come 

 again." Will you learn these lines and think of them when next you see 

 an alder? 



9. How does the poplar that you have heard called the " quaking 

 aspen " get its name? How do the leaves differ in color on the upper 

 and under sides ? How does the petiole (stem of the leaf) differ from that 

 of other leaves? 



10. How many kinds of poplars have you seen? 



Wild flowers. — Besides learning about the trees you will want to find 

 new wild flowers this spring. Some day, perhaps, the teacher will 

 write on the blackboard a list of all the wild flowers that you know. 

 Then in another list she will write some 

 that she knows and that you have 

 never seen. Will it not be interesting 

 to find this year the flowers that are in 

 the teacher's list? Maybe your teacher 

 will take a walk in the woods with you 

 and help in the search. Some flowers 

 know how to hide. Only sharp eyes 

 ever see the wild ginger beneath its 

 satiny leaves. 



If you find any plant that you can- 

 not name, send a specimen to Mr. 

 Tuttlc and he will tell you what it is. 



Weeds. — Be on the lookout for weeds. 

 If every boy and girl and every man 

 and woman would help in destroying 

 weeds, we should not have so much trouble with them. Do not let 

 weeds go to seed. Learn to recognize the most troublesome kinds. 



Alder 



