I MO 
Tt* 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. 
Ulear and simple in white and gold. 
Meadow blossom of sunlit spaces, 
The field is full as it well can hold. 
And white with the drift of ox-eye 
daisies ! —doka read good ale. 
Is there one of us. do you suppose, who 
has never picked a daisy flower and 
pulled its petals off, one by one, reciting 
“Rich man, poor man, beggar man,-,” 
or “He loves me, he loves me not?” And 
after these important questions have been 
answered then we must be sure to use 
llie little yellow flowers in the center to 
find out how many children we are going 
to have. 
Then, too. daisies make beautiful 
crowns and chains and all kinds of deco¬ 
rations. Indeed, there is no end to the 
joys for boys and girls in a daisy field 
in early Summer. 
The farmer who finds his mowing lots 
white with daio’es -does not feel so much 
of joy. lie may think them beautiful if 
lie has not forgotten how once he played 
among them. But he is forced to see, 
too, that they are bad weeds, damaging 
his hay crop. It would not be very wise 
to encourage the daisies. Rather, they 
have to be discouraged. But it is safe to 
say that there probably will always be 
places in every neighborhood where boys 
and girls may sit among the daisies as 
the two in the picture are sitting. It is 
something that I would not want any of 
you to miss. 
Help Fill the Box 
At the top of this page you will see a 
double box. In the lower part of it there 
are two lines telling what Our Page is 
all about. I would like very much to 
change the wording of these two lines 
every month or so if you will tell me 
what to say. Try to put into about 25 
words your idea of what Our Page means 
to us all. Or tell the ways in which it 
Find the Chipmunk 
interests and helps us. Or give the things 
we want to stand for among ourselves. 
This is a real chance for you to help make 
Our Page better. Send in your sugges¬ 
tion right away. Lot's see who will be 
first. 
Chippie 
Just outside our door in the backyard 
there lives a little brown-coated, black- 
striped, white-vested friend—a chipmunk. 
M ere you to look for its home you would 
probably search a long time before finding 
a tiny hole dug into the ground under the 
stump of a tree. Our “Chippie” is sel¬ 
dom to be seen coming out of the hole— 
watch as closely as we may—but nearly 
every morning it appears out in the grass 
searching for breakfast. 
During the Winter Chippie lived alone, 
for its playmate had died in the Fall. 
When it first awoke from the long Winter 
sleep and on a certain Spring day came 
out into the warm, bright sunshine, it was 
very thin and hungry-looking. But it did 
not stay thin many days. It quickly 
went to work in the leaves under the oak 
trees near its home. It would scratch in 
the leaves under the oak trees with its 
tiny front paws, then thrusting its nose 
under them would work its way along 
the ground. Suddenly it would sit erect, 
holding an acorn between its paws. 
Sometimes Chippie hunted long before 
finding an acorn that was good, for. as 
you may know, chipmunks don’t like 
wormy nuts. Then taking the acorn in 
its mouth it would run like a flash for 
the nearby woodpile. Having reached 
the top it would sit upon its haunches, 
and holding the acorn between its front 
feet would first remove the shell and then 
eat the kernel. So it spent many morn¬ 
ings hunting for acorns. 
As the Summer has come on Chippie 
works more in the grass, searching now 
for roots, since acorns have become scarce. 
It has also made friends with a family of 
eight little chickens who live in a coop 
in the yard near the woodpile. Chippie 
has discovered that the chicks waste 
some of their feed through a crack in the 
board upon which they are fed, so under 
one end it has dug a hole, and now en¬ 
joys cracked corn for breakfast, too. It 
seems to like the little chickens, and when 
they are let out it may often be seen 
working right in their midst. Perhaps 
this is because they hunt and scratch in 
the grass, too. 
Chippie has many interesting habits. 
It is a very cleanly little creature, and 
often we see it perched on the top of the 
woodpile carefully washing its face, ears 
and tail with its tiny paws. It has also 
learned to drink from a saucer of water 
which is placed near our door. Chippie 
is very inquisitive, though still somewhat 
shy. If we walk out into the yard it 
will sit upright on its haunches, front 
paws crossed on it* little white vest, the 
keen bright eyes never moving from us 
as it watches us come nearer and nearer. 
When it thinks we are quite close enough 
there will be a flash of brown in the 
direction of the woodpile. But it is eager 
to see where we are. and from time to 
time its bright eyes peep out from be¬ 
tween the logs. When it decides that we 
are kind and quite harmless it will even 
make short dashes out into the grass in 
search of something to eat. While play¬ 
ing one of these hide-and-seek games we 
took its picture. You must look very 
closely if you are to “find the chipmunk.” 
Early in June Chippie disappeared for 
several days. Then one morning it came 
again to scurry about in the grass and to 
frisk over the woodpile. But it spends 
more time in the woods now. Perhaps it 
has found another playmate and has an¬ 
other home. What do you think? 
Have You? 
Have you some strawberries. I mean? 
What a fine fruit they are! Ours were 
quite late this year. We had our first 
on the table yesterday (June G). But 
long before you read Our Pago they will 
have nearly gone, and raspberries will 
be on the way. Every farm ought to 
have some fruits along with the garden 
vegetables. A small patch of strawber¬ 
ries. a row or two of raspberries, both 
red and black; a few currant bushes, and 
such of the tree fruits as there is room 
June 26, 1920 
often you cultivate, and why. what you 
are going to do with the products, and 
ever so many other things. 
Of course, much as I should like such 
a visit really to happen with each one of 
you. that is not possible. My own gar¬ 
den needs me every day for one tliiug. I 
would have to be a thousand persons in¬ 
stead of just one. for another thing. But 
there is a way in which we could all 
enjoy some of these “visits.” Boys and 
girls usually have pretty good imagina¬ 
tions < moggie-nations, I used to call 
them). Can't you pretend I am visiting 
your garden with you? Co out to it with 
a pencil and pad of paper, and talk to me 
on paper just as you would face to face. 
Then be sure to mail the letter. That is 
the most important part. 
One thing I am doing carefully in my 
garden, and I hope you are doing it in 
yours if the soil is apt to dry out. This 
is to stir the surface with a rake or hoe 
or cultivator quite often, even if there 
are no weeds to kill. Especially after oven- 
rain breaks up the soil just as soon 
as you can work it. This fine top layer 
will soon dry out. but underneath the 
good moist soil will always be found, and 
it is there that the plant roots are feed¬ 
ing. The layer of dry soil on top is called 
the “soil mulch.” Keeping a good soil 
"My, They're Good! 
for will add to the variety and health¬ 
fulness of the food for the table. Then, 
too, there are ways of having some of 
them all through the year. 
Girls! Can You Can? 
1 hope you can can. For if you can, 
then next Winter you will be able to go 
into your cellar and choose from the well- 
stocked shelves a jar of strawberries, or 
one of pears or peaches for the supper 
table. If you want some green peas or 
string beans or sweet corn you can have 
them, too. if you will can them this Sum¬ 
mer. It is a real help in the family 
living for you older girls to put up this 
stock of food for Winter. There are 
many places where you will find good 
directions if you do not know how to can. 
Magazines on farming and home-making, 
bulletins from the State Agricultural Col- 
Jeges and from the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture may all be a source 
of help to you. Your mother or someone 
in the neighborhood will gladly advise 
you. The truth is just this: If you 
really make up your mind to do some 
canning this year you will find out how 
to do it, because in order to make a suc¬ 
cess you will study before you begin. 1 
hope to hear from some of you girls who 
lire canning fruit and vegetables. 
Let’s Go Into the Garden 
Suppose that I was calling at your 
home today to see you. Of course you 
would be showing me all the interesting 
things about the place. One of these 
things would be your garden. I am sure 
that I should enjoy seeing what you aiv 
raising. I should expect to have to look 
hard to find a weed. I would like to 
help you to pick a mess of peas or pull 
some lettuce for dinner. Perhaps your 
early turnips are ready, too. You would 
have much to tell me—how you started 
the garden, where you got your seeds, 
when you sowed them, what you have 
done in the way of thinning and trans¬ 
planting, what troubles you have had 
with insects or pests of any kind and 
what you have done about them, how 
1 Hope You Have Some, Too!" 
mulch is one of the most important les¬ 
sons of cultivation, either of gardens or 
of fields. 
The Bird Bath 
In the lower right hand corner of this 
page you will see a picture of a bird bath 
that I made last Spring. We had to out 
down an old apple tree, and I saved the 
trunk. Later I set it a foot or so into 
the ground in our yard. To the top I 
nailed a couple of dead limbs in such a 
way as to hold the bowl. This bowl is 
an old wooden one that was no- longer 
used for any household purpose. It 
seemed just right for the bird bath. On 
the bottom I put a little sand and some 
stones, and over these we keep an inch 
or so of water. On one side of the stump 
I nailed a pine branch for shade and 
protection. This of course will have to 
be changed once in a while. I hope that 
when the hot. dry weather comes the 
birds will find and use this bath. 
\Whome to the liirds 
