34 
AGRICULTURAL READING FOR BOYS. 
teaches you what all the materials of this earth are 
composed of; such as water, rocks, soil, trees, plants, 
grass, flowers, seeds, vegetables, animals, and your 
own persons. What a delightful thing would this 
be to know, and how useful to you ! 
Oxygen .—This is one thing you will find in che¬ 
mistry. Is it hard to remember this word ? We 
think not. Sambo, to be sure, makes a mistake and 
calls it ox-gins; but recollect that you have had 
greater advantages than this worthy colored man, 
and therefore ought to remember the word, especially 
as the first syllable of it always brings to mind the 
cattle you daily care for and drive. Then what is 
oxygen ? It is a substance you can neither see, taste, 
nor smell; and yet more than half the weight of your 
own bodies, and every animal breathing, is composed 
of oxygen. Nearly half of every rock and stone 
you see—the ground on which you tread—and the 
house that shelters you, is composed of oxygen. 
Eight out of every nine pounds of water, is oxygen, 
and one-fifth of the atmosphere you breathe. Indeed, 
one half the weight of the crust of this great globe 
is this airy gas; some think it may be the same with 
the sun, moon, and stars. Now is this not wonder 
ful? and is not such knowledge well worth your ac¬ 
quisition ? But enough for one lesson. 
Java Bantam. —(Fig. 4.) 
Here is a group of Java Bantams. They 
are of a white color, with feathered legs, and 
do not differ materially from such as are 
quite common the country over. They are 
the prettiest fowls we know for boys to keep. 
Bantams are of a great variety of color, some 
larger, some smaller, and occasionally smooth¬ 
legged. There is a beautiful variety of this 
kind in New York, of a pure white color, and 
not much larger than pigeons. They mature 
early, are hardy, great layers, and very fond 
of being petted They are admirable fowls to 
run in the garden, as they pick up thousands 
of insects, and are so small that they do little 
or no injury. 
of age. They are great readers, and no subject af¬ 
fords them so much delight as that sort of agricultural 
’reading which they can understand. The little fel¬ 
lows have fitted up with their own hands, a small 
out-house adjoining my dwelling, which they call 
their “ farmery.” It is in fact a little agricultural 
museum, and is filled with birds, beasts, and creeping 
things—not in life—but in pictures and preserved 
specimens; seeds of great variety; small implements; 
and other things too numerous to mention. Here 
they spend many hours when not at school; and on 
holidays will be engaged there most of the time. I 
find that they get many good ideas here which they 
have studied out for themselves, without the aid of 
the books I gave them, or any of my prompting. I 
need not add that their innocent and instructive occu¬ 
pations in this way relieve me from many anxious 
hours, that their absence in street play and the com¬ 
pany possibly of vicious boys might otherwise give 
me. Occasionally, too, I find that they have visiters 
in the well-disposed boys of the neighborhood, who 
come in to chat with them, and view their specimens. 
This seems to interest them greatly, and affords all 
much amusement. 
You will excuse this egotism and parade of a do¬ 
mestic subject; but as I have seen nothing of the 
kind elsewhere, I have only this specimen in my own 
family to speak of. The little fellows got this all up 
on their own hook, without letting me know a word 
about it till it was completed—partly, l suppose, be¬ 
cause I had refused them a corner of my own sanc¬ 
tum for this purpose; and partly, probably, to give 
me a pleasurable surprise when completed. Now 
from my own agreeable experience in the benefit of 
this little affair, I can heartily recommend the exam¬ 
ple to all parents and children. 
Chopping Wood. —Night and morning, before and 
after school, many of you have to chop wood. This 
is delightful exercise. It expands the chest—opens 
the lungs—-and gives vigor to your arms. Then 
never grumble at chopping wood, for it has made 
many a hardy, good-constitutioned man; and the 
"writer of this would be delighted if he could swing 
an axe half an hour night and morning for exercise, 
cooped up as he now is in a great city, and obliged 
to follow an irksome sedentary life. In order to do 
your work well, see that your axe is sharp—of a 
proper weight for a boy—well hung to its handle— 
then go at it. In cutting off a log strike in quite 
slanting on both sides, it then chips easy. As you 
get into the stick, gradually lessen the slant, making 
the cut of the calf on each side as it nears the centre 
of the log, almost perpendicular. Be very careful 
not to cut yourselves, which can be avoided by keep¬ 
ing your feet spread out, and as far from the point 
you are chopping as convenient with comfortable 
standing. Be careful also not to strike stones or dirt 
with your axe. 
Agricultural Reading for Boys. —On learning 
OLr intention to devote some space hereafter to the ju¬ 
nior farmers of the country, a friend thus addresses us: 
The Boys’ Department is important, and I hope it 
will be renewed at once. Your views in relation to 
the value of agricultural reading suitable to the capa¬ 
city of boys, are quite correct; and 1 regret that there 
are so few writers among us who have the happy 
faculty of making themselves perfectly understood, 
and at the same time of interesting and instructing 
those whom they address. But we must all try, 
hoping and trusting that some one will succeed at 
last I have two sons—one 12, and the other 9 years 
