THINGS TO DO THIS SPRING 43 



the other forms of life, and the shape of the ground 

 (the u lay " of the land) as well, so as to know all 

 that you see. In a letter just received from a teacher, 

 who is also a college graduate, occurs this strange 

 description : " My window faces a hill on which 

 straggle brown houses among the deep green of 

 elms or oaks or maples, I don't know which." Per- 

 haps the hill is far away ; but I suspect that the 

 writer, knowing my love for the out-of-doors, wanted 

 to give me a vivid picture, but, not knowing one tree 

 from another, put them all in so I could make my 

 own choice ! 



Learn your common trees, common flowers, com- 

 mon bushes, common animals, along with the birds. 



Plant a garden, if only a pot of portulacas, and 

 care for it, and watch it grow ! Learn to dig in the 

 soil and to love it. It is amazing how much and how 

 many things you can grow in a box on the window- 

 sill, or in a corner of the dooryard. There are plants 

 for the sun and plants for the shade, plants for the 

 wall, plants for the very cellar of your house. Get 

 you a bit of earth and plant it, no matter how busy 

 you are with other things this spring. 



VI 



There are four excursions that you should make 

 this spring : one to a small pond in the woods ; one 



