686 Rural School Leaflet. 



2. Are the bits kept clean and free from rust? 



3. Do you warm the bits in frosty weather ? Why ? 



4. If your horse wears a check-rein, it should be unhooked when he 

 is pulling a load up hill. Why? 



5. Notice whether his coat is well curried and brushed. A well kept 

 coat is not only more attractive, but the animal's condition depends much 

 upon its care. 



CHILDRENS' LETTERS. 



The following letter was selected for publication this month. You 

 will notice that Gladys does not speak of things she has read but of 

 things she has seen. 



Uncle John: 



One day we heard a bird making a noise that we had never heard, 

 and we ran out to see what kind of a bird it was. We told our neighbor, 

 and she came out and told us that her folks always called it a flicker. 

 Then I remember that you talked about a bird called a flicker in the 

 Juue number. Its back was gray, with black stripes and a red patch on 

 its head. We did not see its breast, and it was a great deal larger than a 

 robin. Was it a flicker? 



As papa was plowing one day the horses nearly stepped on a meadow 

 lark's nest. The little birds were already hatched, and papa lifted up 

 the nest, which was made out of grass, and put it over in another place 

 where he was not plowing, and covered it with grass and cornstalks. At 

 noon when he went back to the field the little birds had their mouths 

 oi)en crying for food, and papa thought the old bird had not been back, 

 so he found some cut worms and they ate them. 



One day papa saw some field mice, and their nest was made out of 

 the silk of the milkweed plant. Their back was gray and they had long 

 tails. Underneath of their bodies was white. 



I was riding along the road yesterday, and over in the field I saw a 

 ground hog. It stayed there about three minutes and then went down 

 in its holf, I think. Papa said that they were all over the field. It was 

 a])out the color of a Belgian hare. I was told that they had hair like the 

 Ijristles of a hog. It was sitting up on its hind legs, and did not seem 

 a bit afraid 



Yours truly, 



Gladys- 



