1042 
The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Boys and Girls 
By Edward M. Tuttle 
This is Our Page. Once a month we meet here as friends, telling each 
other of all that interests us, at work, at play, at home, at school. 
The Rural New-Yorker Arrives 
Memory Verse 
Robins in the tree-top, 
Blossoms in the grass, 
Green things a-gro\viug, 
Everywhere you pass; 
Sudden little breezes, 
Showers of silver dew, 
Black bough and bent twig 
Budding out anew ; 
Pine tree and willow tree, 
Fringed elm and larch.— 
Don’t you think that May-time’s 
Pleasanter than March? 
—Tiiomas Bailey Aldrich. 
Pleasant May has come and gone. June 
is here with its vacation, strawberries, 
roses, going barefoot, swimming, haying— 
such a lot of good things come in June. 
For some of you school is already over. 
For all of you the closing day is near. 
It is a pleasant custom that many schools 
have of going on a field trip or picnic 
the last afternoon. You will see one such 
group of happy boys and girls on this 
page. A field trip is always worth while 
if you keep together, watch and listen for 
the things happening in the out-of-door 
world, and try to understand them. 
A New Suggestion 
What will you be doing during the 
long vacation time, I wonder. Wouldn’t 
it be, fine to have some special letters for 
Our Page this Summer from boys and 
girls of different ages, and from different 
parts of the country? Suppose that you 
write a letter about one <lay. Take any 
day you like. It need not be a day when 
you are doing some particular thing, 
though it may be that if you wish—for 
instance, if you take an interesting trip 
somewhere. But, best; of all, let it be 
an ordinary day out of your life. Tell 
what you do from the time you get up 
in the morning until you go to bed at 
night. I know that such letters will be 
interesting reading. Try it! 
The Memory Verses 
This month’s memory verse, taken from 
Thomas Bailey Aldrich’s poem entitled 
“Marjorie’s Almanac,” was chosen by 
Leonard W., of Vermont. It is full of the 
joy and eagerness of the Springtime. I 
hope that -you will all learn it by heart 
if you do not already know it . 
Three persons—two grown-ups and a 
boy—were kind enough and interested 
enough to write and tell me that the little 
verse used last month was written by 
Ella Wheeler Wilcox. The boy, Aaron 
G„ of Pennsylvania, sent, the second verse 
of the poem, which I think you should 
have to put with the first. Here it is: 
“For the test of the heart is trouble, 
And that always comes with years, 
And the smile that is worth all the praise 
of earth 
Is the smile that shines through tears.” 
You will probably understand that, bet¬ 
ter some day than you do now. but put 
it in your minds and hearts and you 
will have it ready when you need it. 
One of the very best things that you 
can do is to keep a little notebook with 
the poems and verses and sayings that 
you like best. As you grow older of 
course you will add to them and probably 
drop some out. Such a book becomes a 
great friend. I was grown up before 
anyone ever told me of such a plan, but 
T wish I had begun when I was a boy, 
and so T pass on the thought to you now. 
I hope that many of you boys and girls 
will keep such notebooks and let me 
know some of the good things you find 
to put in them. 
The Signs-of-Spring Lists 
Quite a number of you sent me your 
lists of the signs of Spring. I wish there 
had been ten times as many. But I know 
that some of you kept lists without send¬ 
ing them, and probably some watched for 
the signs without keeping lists. Perhaps 
when you read the lists printed below 
you will say that you know all those signs. 
But did you find them this year? And 
do you remember in what order they 
came? You see, what I want to have 
happen is that every boy and girl who 
reads Our Page shall be wide awake to 
every sight and sound of Nature. I want 
you to know more about the wonderful 
out-of-doors than anyone else- in your 
neighborhood. I want you to find some¬ 
thing new and interesting every single 
day. The more you learn, the more you 
will find to learn, and the more eager 
you will be. There is no end to the hap¬ 
piness that will be yours. 
But you will want the lists. The 
first is.from Ruth S.. of New York State, 
April 0.—Violet leaves. 
April 7.—Strawberry leaves. 
April 9.—Adder’s-tongue leaves. 
April 10.—Grass is coming up. 
April 11.—A hawk. 
April 12.—Meadow lark. 
April 14.—Myrtle flowers. 
April 10.—Wild lily leaves. 
April 17.—llepaticas. 
April IT—Spring beauty flowers. 
April 19.—Woodchuck. 
April 20.—Snake. 
April 21.—(hirrant leaf buds. Water 
beech leaf buds. 
April 22.—Violet. Adder’s-tongue flow¬ 
ers. Another snake. 
April 23.—Robins are building nests. 
April 24.-—Yellow violets. Warm rains. 
Willow leaves. Pieplant is coming up. 
Dandelions. 
This is a good list. Ruth has been 
wide awake. The next list is from 
Paula R., of Michigan: 
February 7.— Lilac buds are swelling. 
February 24.—Pussy willows are begin¬ 
ning to come out. 
March 12.—Hardy Chrysanthemums are 
getting green. 
March 15.—I saw a robin. Frogs are 
croaking. I saw many flocks of kil- 
deer. A Spring rain and a thunder¬ 
storm came. 
March 10.—Daffodils are coming up. 
March IS.—I saw a robin in the oak tree. 
March 21.—I saw a bobolink. (Are you 
sure. Paula? In New York State we 
do not expect the bobolink before the 
June r>, 1020 
“Dear little blossoms down under the 
snow. 
You must be wearv of Winter I know 
II ark while I sing you a message of cheer. 
Summer is coming and Spring is here.’’ 
I found this in an old “Harper’s 
Render.” 
Among the other lists that came I find 
some signs not given in the lists printed 
above. These are: 
The days grow longer and the sun is 
warmer. 
iris leaves out of the ground. 
Cowslip plants. 
There is a sweet fragrance in the air. 
Bees are out in front of the hives. 
Our guinea hens roost in the trees in¬ 
stead of indoors. 
Chipmunk. 
New needles on the pine. 
Rabbits out running around the clover 
fields late in the evening. 
Then on my own list I find a few 
points none of you mentioned. They are: 
Wooly bear caterpillars. 
The drumming of a woodpecker. 
Lady beetles. 
Mourning cloak butterfly (this is the 
first Spring butterfly). 
Horses and cows shedding their Win- 
ter coats. 
Plowing the first furrow (April 0). 
The smell of burning brush. 
So now you all have the signs that 
some of us have gathered. I hope that 
you have found most of them, too, in the 
last few months. Or at least, that you 
will surely plan to find them next Spring. 
One girl wrote from Vermont. “I have a 
notebook and in it I am going to keep 
the signs of Spring, Summer, Autumn and 
Winter. I will send you a copy of my 
lists if you wish for it.” I think that 
is a good plan and it will be very inter¬ 
esting. Perhaps some others of you will 
do it too. 
A Letter from the Far South 
I live away down here in Florida. I 
have never seen any letters from any 
boys or girls that live down here that are 
put on Our Page so I don’t suppose mine 
will be put in, but I thought I would write 
to you. 
Ever since I can remember my father 
has subscribed for The Rural New- 
Yorker and so you know he must: like 
it. I know I do, especially Our Page. My 
brother and I almost have a scrap over 
who should have it first. 
I haven’t a garden like most of the 
other children have, but I have a pair 
of overalls and my brother and I saw all 
the wood that we use for the stove. I 
would like very much to have a garden 
of my own, but I don’t have any time 
to make one. My father has a large one, 
though. In his he has egg-plants, pep¬ 
pers, cauliflower, onions, beaus, English 
peas, cucumbers. Irish and sweet pota¬ 
toes, watermelons and different kinds of 
greens. We have a grove too. In it we 
have all kinds of citrus fruits. We also 
have bananas. I sure like to go through 
the grove when the trees are in bloom. 
The blossoms smell so sweet . 
Down here the signs of Spring are not 
the same as they are up your way. In¬ 
stead of the robins coming, they go away. 
These are a few of the signs of Spring I 
have noticed. The robins have gone 
north, the birds are building their nests, 
and the trees and other things are looking 
greener. The trees down here stay green 
all the year round, but in Winter they 
aren’t so green as they are in Spring. 
We used to have some Belgian hares, 
but we haven’t any now. We kept them 
in a wire pen and some of them dug un¬ 
derneath the wire and got away. They 
went into the woods and I guess some 
larger animals killed them. We sold 
some of them. We didn’t eat them, but 
just kept them for pets. I couldn’t eat 
one. 
I will close for this time but: I expect 
1o write again sometimes. 
Your little twelve-year-old friend, 
Florida. rutii y. 
I wish every one of you could see 
Ruth's letter as it came to me. It is so 
carefully and neatly written. It is a 
pleasure to look at. And I think you will 
agree that it is interesting to read. That 
Oul on a 'Trip io Fields and Woods 
who is 10 years old. She says : “Here are 
my signs of Spring: 
March 11.—Phoebe bird. Two flocks of 
wild geese. (What Ruth probably heard 
was a chickadee giving its “phoebe” 
call. The real phoebe would not be 
likely to appear for a week or ten 
days after this date. Which was it, 
Ruth?) 
March 12.—A robin. Maple leaf buds. 
A rainbow. 
March 19.—Another robin. 
March 21.—Three robins. Pussy willows. 
Yellow birch buds. 
March 22.—More robins. Canary bird. 
A flock of red-winged blackbirds. Two 
bluebirds. (The canary is more com¬ 
monly known as the goldfinch). 
March 23.—Song sparrow. Flies. 
March 24.—Heard an oriole. (Are you 
sure, Ruth? The oriole is not to be 
expected before May 1.) 
March 26.—Two brown butterflies with 
Thunder and lightning. 
told me that 
berries. (But 
Winter, hadn’t 
red spots. 
Rain. 
March 27.—A playmate 
there were wiutergreen 
they had been there all 
they?) 
March 28.—Lilac leaf buds. 
March 30.—Tulips are coming out of the 
ground. Making maple syrup and 
manle sugar. 
March 31.—Elm leaf buds. Spring 
beauty buds. Soft maple blossoms. 
April 1.—Elm blossoms. 
April 2.—Cut-leaf maple blossoms. 
April 3.—Mosquitoes. 
Anril 4.—April showers. 
April 5.—Willow leaf buds. 
first of May). Four bluebirds were 
inspecting a birdhouse. 
March 27.—My “morning-star” flowers 
are coming up. Lilac bushes are green 
with buds. 
March 30.—I have seen two flocks of 
geese. 1 saw a few meadow larks go¬ 
ing north. 
March 31.—My crocuses are coming up. 
April 3.—Rye and wheat fields are all 
green. 
April 15.—Mourning doves have come 
back. 
The following letter from Elinor 1)., 
of Pennsylvania, does not give the date 
for each sign but it contains several things 
no one else mentioned and so is worth 
printing. She says: 
You ask us for the signs of Spring. 
Most of the earliest flowers are out, such 
as the violet and hyacinth and myrtle. 
The birds are back, such as the robins, 
chippies and wrens. And the grass is so 
green now, and the cherry blossoms are 
all out. And the turkey and goose lay 
eggs in the Spring. The leaves are com¬ 
ing out on tlie trees. Lambs and little 
chickens come in the Spring. Here is a- 
little verse: 
“May brings leafy trees. 
Waving in each gentle breeze.” 
And another sign of Spring is school 
is done. And moving trucks go up and 
down the road. We have three or four 
little Jersey calves. Toads and frogs 
sing in the Spring. Here is another 
verse: 
No One Mentioned this Sign of Spring 
