RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Beyond tlie bird bath yon can see the 
coop where the eight chickens live, and 
back of that the «same woodpile where 
Chippie plays and where its picture was 
taken. Up in the tree is one of the five 
bird-houses I told you I made this Spring. 
This one is a bluebird house, and is not 
occupied, but the two houses that were 
made for wrens both have chickadees in 
them, which is just as good, or better, 
don’t you think so? However, that is 
another story and too long a one for now. 
Perhaps next time! 
A Wideawake Reader 
T have just been reading the Boys’ and 
Girls’ Page. The more I read it the 
more I like it. 
Well. I raise rabbits. I have three. I 
have heard that when you make a hutch 
to dig down in the ground about a foot. 
Then put wire all around so they will 
not dig out. Have a little nest box on 
the land on one side. My rabbit pens are 
not like that. I have a long box. 4x9 
feet, and wire all around and on top. I 
have two nest boxes. My rabbits’ names 
are Johnnie and Jennie and Bob. 
I am going to have a garden this year. 
I had one last year. I had a nice lot of 
sweet corn and potatoes. I wish you 
good luck with your garden, and also'all 
the boys and girls that are going to have 
one. 
I have seen a lot of birds this Spring. 
I love Nature. She sends her birds to 
cheer us with their sweet songs. I like 
to watch the insects and study their ways 
as they crawl around. 
I am in the fifth grade. I like to go 
to school. I like to play baseball. We 
planted an oak tree on Arbor Day. We 
had exercises, too. 
We are going to shear sheep tomorrow 
(April 27). I think I told you about my 
sheep the last time I wrote. T had two 
lambs this year (twins). 
1 am sending a picture of my dog. .Tack, 
myself and my calf (Cherry). 1 am 11 
years old. 
Yours for good luck in everything. 
New York. thublow t. 
Tliurlow writes a good letter. It is 
easy to tell from the letter and from the 
picture that he is a real country boy. He 
has many different interests. lie likes 
them all—the rabbits, the garden, the 
outdoor study of birds and insects, the 
school work, the ball-playing, the Arbor 
Day exercises, the sheep, and the dog and 
calf. Up hopes for “good luck in every¬ 
thing.” 
Good luck, as we call it. is usually the 
result of taking interest in things, mak¬ 
ing careful plans, and working hard to 
carry them out. There is no easy road to 
success. If it were easy it would not be 
worth while. My father used to say to 
me that there is “plenty of room at the 
top of every kind of business in the 
world. So many persons are satisfied to 
do just enough to “get by,” as we say in 
fdang. They will never amount to very 
much or be of service to their neighbors or 
to their country. But the boys and girls 
and men and women who tackle the hard 
jobs, who do more than is expected of them, 
who finish what they begin, who follow 
directions, who waste no time (remember 
that real play is not a waste of time any 
more than real work), who think of 
others as well as of themselves—these are 
the true leaders. Are you a leader? You 
can be one. But you must make one of 
yourself; no one else can make a leader 
of you. The way to begin is to do each 
day s work justaas well as you know how, 
to be cheerful and kind, and to be fair 
and square. The way not to begin is to 
go around looking for something that 
seems big or easy to do, or looking for 
someone else to “boss.” When you have 
learned to lead yourself you will find 
that you are leading others without hav¬ 
ing to look for them. And then you will 
discover that this is the road to happiness 
as well as to success. 
A Few More Letters 
I enjoy the Boys’ and Girls’ Page very 
much, and I always look forward to the 
next month with great expectations, which 
are always fulfilled. 
I have several pets—two cats, four 
kittens, a dog and several pet chickens. 
Our horses and cows are so. gentle and 
tame that they could almost be called 
pets, too. 
Every year I select the cunningest of 
the baby chicks and tame it. It is lots 
of fun to see it grow tamer every day and 
come running up to you to get" a special 
treat for its meals. 
One year a hen hid some eggs in the 
long grass. One day she came into the 
yard with two baby chicks, both white, 
running after her. She would take them 
for such long walks through the tall 
grass that they soon became too tired to 
follow, and would get lost, so I decided 
to take them away from her and tame 
them. I put them in a good-sized box 
and made them a comfortable nest of 
straw. I put some cotton batting over 
them, and it was not long before they 
would come at my call. One of the chicks 
contracted some sickness, and in spite of 
my efforts it died. The other, however, 
grew very fast. I gave it. a larger box 
for a bed as it grow bigger, and when it 
wanted to go to sleep it would fly up on 
my lap and peck at my dress. Then I 
Ready for a Frolic 
would put it to bed, and it would cuddle 
up and go to sleep. After a while I made 
a roost for it. as the box was too warm. 
Our cats’ names are Kittaline and Pur- 
rine. The names are very odd. but I 
always try to give my pets names that 
are different from others. Last year we 
had a big black pig. Some time 1 will 
send you a poem that I wrote about it. 
I hope this letter is not too long. 
Ohio. EDNA K. 
No, Edna, your letter is too interesting 
to be too long. I can guess how much 
you are learning about chickens all the 
time you are caring for your pets. Some 
day you will have a flock of your own, I 
hope, and then you will combine business 
and pleasure—a good combination. Don’t 
forget to send the poem. 
1 enjoy our Boys’ and Girls’ page. I 
am 12 years old, and have always lived 
on a farm. I enjoy the country better 
than the city. I help papa feed the cows 
and help cut wood. 
I am sending a picture of my brother 
and our little dog and myself. I am at 
the left of the dog. As you see, the three 
of us are ready for a frolic with our 
wagon beside our It. D. box. 
New York. Clifford g. 
I wish I could have been with you on 
the frolic. Clifford. I guess we all wish 
so. Thank you for the picture. It 
helps Our Page along to receive such 
bright and interesting pictures as you and 
Thurlow enclosed with your letters. 
I want to join the Boys’ and Girls’ 
page, so I thought I would do it now. 
I am nine years old, but will be 10 in 
August. I can wipe dishes and I got 
chips to make a fire, and a few days ago 
I earned three cents. There are seven 
horses on this big farm and one colt. One 
of the horses is named Mattie. I ride 
sometimes, and I have heaps of fun. 
There are nine pigs, six middle-sized pigs, 
two reddish-brown pigs, and one sow 
which has seven baby pigs that are about 
20 days old and very cute. 
I have an Hawaiian instrument called 
a ukulele, and I can play a lot of songs 
on it. I am in the fifth grade, and I 
study geography, history, spelling. Eng¬ 
lish and arithmetic. As I haven’t any 
more room to write on. I will close. 
Maryland. edward w. 
Why don’t a whole lot of you follow 
Edward’s plan and “do it now?” I mean 
write me a letter. 
A Word to Older Boys 
The following letter is very interesting: 
I am 13 years of age. My father and 
T are in partnership. He is a dealer in 
live stock and farms a 60-acre farm which 
he. has built up. He is helping me in 
dairying and dealing and also a little 
farming. 
I am learning to judge stock. I have 
had a good many experiences in dealing 
and shipping hogs. This I have done 
myself while my father was doing some¬ 
thing else. I have not only had experi¬ 
ence in dealing but also in dairying. I 
peddle milk every morning to town, which 
is about three-quarters of a mile away. 
I like all this vei-y well, and do not 
think of being anything else but a good 
general farmer—that is. growing live 
stock, dairying and farming combined. 
I am much interested in your paper 
and think it is of great help to me. One 
of your It. N.-Y. readers, leee. 
Ohio. 
Let’s have some other letters from 
boys 13 to 21 years old. Tell what you 
are doing and planning to do. Say what 
you think about farming conditions, and 
about the affairs of today. If I know 
anything about boys—and I ought to. for 
it is only a few years ago that I was 
one-—you have lots of ideas that are 
worth while sharing. 
These are very important days in which 
we are living right now. I hope that you 
spend a few minutes each day reading a 
newspaper. Don’t spend much time on 
the accidents and sensations, or even too 
much on the sports. Get the real news 
first, so that you will know what is 
going on, so that you can begin to form 
your own opinions; so that in just a 
few years when you have to vote as a 
citizen and to earn your own living as 
a member of society you will know the 
rights and wrongs of public matters. 
Today farming is in a critical stage. 
Our whole country is full of unrest. 
There is more money than ever before in 
many pockets. There is less willingness 
than ever on the part of many persons to 
do a real day’s work. Food is scarce. 
It probably will be scarcer. What has 
brought all this about? What is likely 
to happen in the next few years? How 
shall the farmer manage? What atti¬ 
tude shall we take to these questions? 
You are not too young to think about 
I 141 
these things. I know that you do think 
about, them more than anyone realizes, 
but you don’t often say what you think 
for fear of being laughed at. Here in 
Our Page no one is going to laugh at you 
—when we laugh it is with each other 
over a good joke. We all want to find 
out what we really think, to check our 
ideas with the ideas of others. If we 
are frank and earnest and honest and 
Betty D., a Virginia Girl and Her 
lnterests 
It Is a Very Well-behaved Pig. Don’t 
You Think So? 
broad-minded then we will grow through 
the experience. Anyway let’s have some 
letters, boys! 
For Older Girls, Too 
All that I have said to the boys ap¬ 
plies just as much to you girls, too. You 
will soon be taking your places in homes 
and communities, and voting at the pub¬ 
lic elections. Many of you will have a 
share in producing—all will have to use 
food and clothing and house furnishings. 
There are many real questions that we 
can talk about here on Our Fage that 
will help us all to better, fuller, more 
efficient and happier living. Don’t hesi¬ 
tate to write. 
A Rainy Day 
1 have written most of Our Page this 
time on a real rainy day. The rain be¬ 
gan very gently last night, just at supper 
time. All night it fell more and more 
steadily. At morning chore time it was 
pouring and not for a minute all day has 
it stopped. 
Don’t you like such a day once in a 
while? What do you do with yourselves 
when it rains for a whole day? Perhaps 
some of you will describe a rainy day in 
the One-Day Letters that I suggested last 
time. Don’t forget to try your hand at 
this. Next month I want to print some 
of these letters. 
So good-bye once more! Address your 
letters to me in care of The Rural New- 
Yorker. 333 West 30th street. New York 
Gity. and I will get them all. 
Girl and Juke 
A Promising Young Lamb and Its New Jersey Owner 
