44 FARM SPIES 



They love the farm and are a great help to their 

 father. Hardly a day passes, when they are out in 

 the field, that he does not tell the boys something 

 new about plant-growth, birds, or insects. 



One night in April there was a nice warm rain and 

 Mr. Grimes was pleased. "This will make the corn 

 grow, boys," he said the next morning when he 

 came to breakfast. It 'being too wet to work in the 

 field he walked over the farm, but when he returned 

 he looked as if something had gone wrong. "A lot 

 of our corn is fox-eared," he said to the boys in the 

 yard. "As soon as the ground dries off we must 

 take the planters and replant all the fox-eared 

 stalks." 



The boys looked at him for some time as if to 

 ask, "What is fox-eared corn?" At last Freddie 

 said, "We don't know what you mean." 



"If you will come with me, I will show you," 

 the father replied. Soon they were on their way, and 

 when they reached the cornfield they saw the rows 

 of young corn and they thought it a pretty sight. 

 "They are cute little plants," Harry exclaimed. 

 "Look at their leaves; they remind me of the big 

 feathers in our white rooster's tail. Don't they you ? " 



Fred and Joe agreed, with a laugh. 



"That is right," said the father, "and those are 

 healthy plants, that will grow, but there are many 

 that do not carry their leaves that way." 



