332 
The RURAL N W -YORKER 
Tlnee crows sat high in a wayside tree. 
And they quarreled and grumbled miserably. 
“Now look at that man.” cried one of the three, 
“By the pack on his back I can plainly see 
He’s a robber bent on some villainy. 
And the whole world’s full of such as he.” 
A bluebird sat in his leafy bower, 
And his voice poured forth in a golden shower, 
“God bless my friend of the road,” sang he; 
“By the pack on his back I can plainly see 
He’s a good man bent on some charity, 
And the whole world’s full of such as he.” 
—Author Unknown. 
of birds each day this Spring will bring 
Which are you, crow or bluebird? Do 
you say mean things or kind things? Do 
you look for the bad in people, or do you 
look for the good? Do you think about 
the dark side of things or about the 
bright side? If you are the “crow kind 
of person the one you harm most is your¬ 
self. If you are a “bluebird” you help 
yourself and everyone around you. 
I do not mean that we should be so 
foolish as to believe that every single per¬ 
son in the world is good, or can be trust¬ 
ed. We should learn to know when we 
meet badness, to face it squarely, and to 
pass it by. But we ought not to be too 
suspicious. How much better it is to be¬ 
lieve that the world is full of good people, 
and to look for them. We find them 
everywhere, living truly, working hard, 
doing kind acts for all their friends and 
neighbors. Don’t you think we all should 
try to be “bluebirds”? 
So then, if that is settled, and you have 
copied the poem in your notebook, we will 
think for a minute about 
Our Spring Plans 
* € 
Last evening I was looking through a 
seed catalogue. Have you done that yet? 
It just made me eager to be digging up 
the good earth again and sowing seeds. 
Floyd on Molly 
When you read this that time will not be 
far off. At least you should order your 
vegetable and flower seeds right now. 
Very soon you will need to start your to¬ 
matoes and other plants indoors. Many 
of you are planning gardens, I know. 
Who will write a good letter to print on 
Our Page telling us why wo should have 
a garden this year, and how to go about 
it? If you have had a garden before and 
liked it, suppose you had a chance to en¬ 
courage thousands of boys and girls to 
have a garden, too. what would you say 
to them? 
Then there is the poultry question. You 
will want to set at least one hen and 
raise a flock of chickens of your own. 
Some of you may have an incubator to 
run. I would like to have a good letter 
in our March page telling how a boy or 
girl may start in the poultry business. 
It is time, too. that our bird boxes were 
ready and up. Several times I have 
wanted to tell you how T succeeded last 
year, but there have always been so many 
other things to say. I will tell you a lit¬ 
tle now. You can guess the rest. Instead 
of wrens, chickadees built in the two 
smallest boxes. One pair raised two 
broods; the other pair raised one brood. 
In all there were 15 little chickadees, and 
every one grew up and got away safely. 
Isn’t that fine! The bluebird boxes were 
not rented last year, but I hope to do 
better this year. Every boy and girl 
among you can build at least one bird box 
and put it up. If it is rented by a pair 
new joy and interest to you. 
Of course there are lots of other Spring 
plans you can make and are making. Let 
me hear about them. In the meantime 
suppose we see what has come lately in 
the way of 
Letters 
I am sending you a picture of me and 
my pony. She is three and a half years 
old and is 32 inches tall. Her name is 
Molly. She is a Shetland. I live on a 
farm in Western Pennsylvania. I am 12 
years old and in the seventh grade. I 
have not sent in any letters before. My 
pony was two years old when I got her. 
I run errands with her and ride her if I 
want to go any place. I have a small 
harness and drive her around. She is a 
good driver and likes to go. floyd s. 
Pennsylvania. 
This is my first letter to the Boys’ and 
Girls’ Page. I am a girl 11 years old. 
I am in the seventh grade. We are five 
children in family, and I have a brother 
and sister at college. 
We live on a farm which I like real 
well. My father goes to work in an iron 
mine every day. I have many pets. They 
are four cats, two dogs and a calf. We 
also have a nice white horse which I ride 
on a great deal. In the Summer time I 
have to take care of the cows on horse¬ 
back so they won’t get into the garden. 
In the Winter time I have a great deal 
of fun. too. I go ski riding, sleigh riding 
and give crumbs to the snowbirds. I will 
write again to Our Page, which I enjoy 
reading. eleanor j. 
Michigan. 
I think The R. N.-Y\ is a very good 
paper, and enjoy the Boys' and Girls’ 
Page. I live on a farm. I think it is 
very nice in the country. I had a little 
garden last Summer; also raised some 
chickens. I have a bird house and have 
rented it every year to bluebirds. Expect 
them again this Spring. I am nine years 
old and go to school. I’m in the fifth 
grade. Wishing success to Our Page. 
New York. Roy b. 
I was looking in The R. N.-Y. when I 
noticed the page. We have a 12-acre 
farm. I have a small alligator which I 
intend to write about. 
A few years ago my grandmother made 
us a visit from Florida. They are near 
the Gulf of Mexico and quite often alliga¬ 
tors are found. She promised to send me 
one. 
A few weeks ago it came. It came in a 
cigar box. It causes great curiosity among 
the children, as they have never seen one 
before. It eats fish, chicken and other 
things. It will not eat cooked food. 
Pennsylvania. william k., 10 years. 
Don’t you think the best way to begin 
a month is to write a letter? Some peo¬ 
ple think that Virginia is warm in Win¬ 
ter, but believe me that is just where they 
are wrong. This Winter has not been as 
severe as last Winter by any means, but 
still it has been cold down here. 
I am nearly 14 and in the seventh grade 
at school. I enjoy all the letters in The 
R. N.-Y., and especially the one sent by 
Elsie .T. of West Virginia. I think she 
wrote a fine letter and I think just tin- 
way she does, about education I mean, 
about learning all you can at school, for 
it will benefit you so much in life. 
About that animal described in the Jan¬ 
uary page, isn’t it a muskrat? We have 
lots of them down here in our ponds. 
They eat grass roots and build grass 
houses on ponds and around the banks of 
ponds. It might be a beaver. Their tails 
are flat and strong, too. I have heard 
that muskrats always wash their food be¬ 
fore they eat it. Isn’t that queer? 
The next time I write I will send you a 
picture of our cow. and maybe one of our 
kittens if I can. Best wishes for the pros¬ 
perity of The R. N.-Y.. and I hope the 
Boys and Girls' Page will continue for 
ever. 
From a constant reader of Our Page. 
Virginia. JULIA w. 
Like Leslie T.. I too hope to go to college. 
My favorite studies are mathematics and 
history. I find that most pupils do not 
like mathematics, therefore I must be an 
exception to this rule. 
Most boys have hobbies. I have two. 
They are postcard collecting and the 
study of woodcraft. My post card collec¬ 
tion is a large one. including views of 
foreign countries, besides the United 
States. 
I belong to the Boy Scouts of America 
and the Lone Scouts of America. When 
I joined the Lone Scouts my interest was 
aroused in woodcraft. Fortunately I have 
forests all around my town in which to 
study woodcraft. 
Jeannette L.’e suggestion that we boys 
and girls tell about our adventures at 
trying many different sports is a good 
one. The place where I first learned to 
skate was on an icy sidewalk. This year 
the sidewalks were icy again, so we didn't 
have to go to a place where we could 
skate. I enjoy skiing very much, and the 
first time I ever had on skis I had some 
time. The ski jump was about 6 feet 
high, and at first I thought it was a cinch 
to ski. When I left, terra firma and flew 
through space my heart nearly stopped 
beating. When I came down I forgot to 
slightly bend my knees, and I stumbled 
into a snowbank. John r. 
New' York. 
I have never written to you before. 
but I always read the Boys’ and Girls' 
page. I am 14 years old. and I shall 
take my second year of high school this 
Fall. My school is about tw r o miles from 
home, and I walk there and back every 
day. 
I know where British Columbia is. 
(You remember the August “box” came 
from there.) I am interested in that 
place because my mother once lived there. 
I am a Camp Fire Girl. I have been 
one about a year, and I have received 53 
honor beads. I have had to work hard 
for them, but they are worth the work. 
I had a successful flower garden 
last year. I planted poppies, Zinnias, 
pansies, foxgloves, sweet William and 
Phlox. They all bloomed, and I am 
glad, as I am very fond of flowers. I 
also raised a crop of popcorn, which has 
grown very well. 
Good-bye and good luck from 
Your friend, 
New York. emily j. 
Emily writes an interesting letter. 1 
am especially pleased w r ith what she says 
about the Camp Fire Girls'. We would 
like to hear from more of you who belong 
to this group. Of course, the honor beads 
are worth the work. And besides that. 
Emily has learned things from her work 
that will be of use to her as long as she 
lives. 
Eleanor Takes a Ride 
February 19, 1921 
I only wrote to you once before this as 
far as I can remember. This will make 
the second time. I have some very in¬ 
teresting facts to talk to you about. First 
is this : 
I would like to see your picture in our 
Boys’ and Girls’ Page. I am sure that it 
would please everyone of us to see your 
photograph on Our Page. I do not think 
that it was ever in yet. 
Second: I think it would be a good 
idea to have Our Page in the paper every 
week. Then we would not have to wait 
so long for it to come. I am sure that if 
you were to put it to a vote in the paper 
next month the every-week side would 
win. Please thing over this. I am your 
friend. levi o. 
Pennsylvania. 
Levi’s letter shows that he has been 
doing some real thinking about Our Page. 
That is just what I want all of you ro 
do. Let me have your suggestions. They 
may help a lot. 
As to the photograph of your editor. I 
have never thought very much of the idea 
of publishing my own picture. And. to 
tell you the truth, I haven’t one I could 
use right now. But perhaps some day it 
may come about naturally that I shall be 
snapped doing something that you will lie 
interested in. and then you will have a 
chance to see me, too. I wonder how you 
think I look. 
Many of you have spoken of having 
Our Page in the paper every week. We 
have thought about it some, but are not 
ready for that yet. It is wiser not to 
rush ahead too fast, you know. We feel 
it is better now, to have a good interesting 
double page once a month. Perhaps you 
will appreciate it more if it doesn’t come 
quite so often. Besides that, it would 
mean a lot more work to make a page 
once a week, and your editor is very busy 
with a farm to run. And then I should 
need many more letters and pictures to 
make more pages. Which reminds me 
that I am short of pictures right now. 
Who will send one? 
So for this year anyway let’s be glad 
we have Our Page once a month. After 
that who can tell what may happen ! 
More Warm Lunch Letters 
I go to school a mile and a half away. 
There are 13 pupils from six to 14 years 
of age. I am in the seventh grade and 
hope to go into the eighth grade in June. 
I saw a letter about hot dinners, so I 
will tell you about ours. There are five 
mothers furnishing the dinners. Each 
mother gives something once a week and 
the teacher brings cocoa. The teacher 
chooses someone to do the dishes. 
New Hampshire. CLINTON K. 
In the Winter time we have hot 
lunches. They are just dandy. There are 
21 who stay for dinner. The teacher di¬ 
vided us up into groups of three, so there 
are three to serve each day. No one finds) 
any fault. Some time ago someone said 
that she did not like the idea. It was in 
The R. N.-Y. Our teacher says she 
thinks it helps us in our afternoon lessons. 
Ohio. KENNETH Q. 
In the school to which I go we all bring 
our lunch except a few who have not far 
to go home to get a hot lunch. In the 
Winter time it is not very pleasant to eat 
a cold lunch on a cold day. So the prin- 
*cipal decided to have the children get a 
hot lunch, and he asked the girls if they 
would like to cook and we all agreed t<> 
it. We asked him where we could have 
the kitchen, and he said the basement 
would be a good place. So each child 
gave 50 cents and we soon had enough for 
a nice stove. Each week one of the teach¬ 
ers chooses a cook and some waitresses. 
It is very pleasant to have a nice hot 
lunch in school, and all the children think 
it is great. We have a different kind of 
soup every day. Each morning before 
school begins the teacher, who helps us 
cook, tells us what kind of soup to make 
for lunch. At 10 o’clock we go down in 
I am 14 years old and go to high school. 
