122 THE FALL OF THE YEAR 



"Birds from a City Roof" in the volume called "Roof and 

 Meadow." 



CHAPTER XI 



TO THE TEACHER 



This is a chapter on the large wholesomeness of contact with nature ; 

 that even the simple, humble tasks out of doors are attended with a 

 freedom and a naturalness that restore one to his real self by putting 

 him into his original primitive environment and by giving him an 

 original primitive task to do. 



Then, too, how good a thing it is to have something alive and re- 

 sponsive to work for — if only a goat or a pig! Take occasion to 

 read to the class Lamb's es«ay on Roast Pig — even fifth grade pupils 

 will get a lasting picture from it. 



Again — and this is the apparent purpose of the chapter — how 

 impossible it is to go into the woods with anything — a hay-rake — 

 and not find the woods interesting ! 



FOR THE PUPIL 



Page 80 



the unabridged dictionary : What does " unabridged " mean ? 

 hay-rig : a simple farm wagon with a " rigging " put on for cart- 

 ing hay. 



Page 81 



cord wood : wood cut into four-foot lengths to be cut up smaller 

 for burning in the stove. What are the dimensions of a cord of 

 wood? 



Page 82 



through the cold gray of the maple swamp below you, peers the face of 



Winter : What does one see in a maple swamp at this time of 



year that looks like the " face of winter." Think. 



he that gathers leaves for his pig spreads a blanket of down over his 



own winter bed: How is this meant to be taken ? 



round at the barn : It is a common custom with farmers to make 



this nightly round in order to see that the stock is safe for the 



night. Were you ever in a barn at night where the horses were 



still munching hay, and the cattle rattling their stanchions and 



horns ? Recall the picture in Whittier's " Suow-Bound." 



