G52 
The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
Boys and Girls 
By Edward M. Tuttle 
Our Page keeps us interested in nature and in each other 
A Springtime Hymn 
Yc long-slept realms of Nature are awakening to song, 
Proclaiming Spring’s arrival, forgetting the Winter long. 
Each tree is a choir-loft where feathered songsters sing. 
And down in the meadow myriads of water-folk welcome Spring. 
How can we help but rejoice, when everclianging Nature 
Sheds her ghostly disguise for a cloak of pink and verdure? 
Even the long-fast brooklet, as it sparkles in the sun. 
Ripples merrily at the thought that cold Winter is gone. 
Man and beast, Eo! all creation join in the song of cheer ; 
Winter’s sleigh rides are fine, but Spring is best of all the year. 
Ye long-slept realms of Nature are awakening to song, 
Proclaiming Spring’s arrival, forgetting the Winter long. 
Behold these realms of blossoms, ’neath a sunlit arch of blue, 
No mansion great, nor painting fine, excels this show God made for you ! 
New Jersey. 
Now then ! Who says that boys don’t 
like poetry, or can’t write poetry? Ralph 
said in the letter in which he sent his 
poem : “I am interested in the Boys’ and 
Girls’ Page. I live on a. farm, and am 
nearly fourteen years old. I am in the 
eighth grade and am very much interested 
in poetry and music. Since Spring is here 
I have composed a selection which I 
thought might be appropriate to print in 
Our Page if it is good enough.” 
Your Editor thinks it is “good enough” 
and feels sure you will all agree. 
Speaking of poems, you will find an¬ 
other in the following letter: 
I thought I would try to do a little to 
make Our Page one of the best pages we 
children can make it. So I have tried to 
write a poem. It is this: 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
To the Rural I wish to show, 
The gratitude I feel, you know; 
Oh ! how I love for the time to come, 
When I can snuggle up at home, 
And look the paper over fast, 
Until I find Our Page at last. 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! for Our Page, 
And long may it send 
.Toy and fun without end. 
New Jersey. lucilet. 
A New Suggestion 
I have never written a letter to you be¬ 
fore. I wrote one story and sent it, only 
it wasn’t printed, but you see I didn’t give 
up: I am 10 years old and have always 
lived in the city (except Summers), but 
this Winter we came to live on my grand¬ 
mother’s farm. I happened to see Our 
Page in The R. N.-Y. and learned that it 
came the last Saturday in the month, so I 
hunted up all the old ones, beginning wdth 
November 1, 1919, and read them. You 
said you were short of pictures last month. 
Couldn’t we draw pictures and send? I 
was in the sixth grade in the city, but 
when I came here they put me in the fifth. 
Owce “Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill ”— 
But What Is Going on Here? 
—ralph B., 14 years. 
I expect to go back to the city again, but 
I shall return as soon as school is out. I 
shall miss Our Page very much. Your 
friend, alleine S. 
New York. 
Who likes to draw? Wouldn’t you like 
to see some drawings on Our Page? I 
think it would be fun. Perhaps it would 
be best for all to try the same thing each 
month. For instance: 
The first time our old speckled hen 
Went walking with her ducklings ten, 
They spied a little pond, and then— 
.Just draw what happened, with your pen. 
Now there is a picture for you if you 
will set your imagination at work. While 
the little ducks were happy the old hen 
was something else. 
It will be best to use stiff smooth paper 
for your drawing, if you can. Remember 
that we want your own original drawing, 
not a copy of a picture. Sit right down 
and see what you can do. Mail it to me 
at once. Give your age and name and ad¬ 
dress. Then watch for the May page. 
What will be there, I wonder? Also, who 
will make up a little rhyme for the next 
picture? Choose some farm or nature 
scene. Alleine has given us a good sug¬ 
gestion. Let’s make the most of it. 
Some Garden Letters 
You see they did come after all. I am 
always specially pleased to read about 
your garden work, for I am sure that 
there is nothing that is more worth while 
to do. The letters below will speak for 
themselves, and will no doubt give many 
of you some new ideas: 
I saw in daddy’s paper that you wanted 
letters about gardening. So I thought I 
would write and tell you what luck I had. 
I have lived on a farm for the last four 
years. I thought I would try gardening 
last year. I had a small garden patch. 
I planted the piece mostly to potatoes. I 
had one row of onions, a half row of car¬ 
rots, half row of pole beans. I sold my 
onions for 25 cents. I had half a bushel 
of carrots which I feed to my purebred 
Flemish Giant rabbits. Mother cooked 
some of my pole beans. The rest I saved 
for seed. I had two bushels of potatoes 
which I have to sell. 
I had a larger piece of ground which 
my brother Kenneth and I planted to pop¬ 
corn. I sowed sunflower seed about every 
three hills. We had four bushels of pop¬ 
corn. I had one bushel of sunflower seed. 
We have sold one bushel of popcorn and 
have one and a half bushels to sell yet. I 
traded my sunflower seed to daddy for 
oats which I feed to my rabbits. 
Kenneth and I sawed three cords of 
wood this Winter, which we have to sell. 
T am 11 years old and in the fifth grade. 
New York. ARTHUR N. 
I am very much interested in the Boys’ 
and Girls’ Page in The R. N.-Y., so I 
thought I would write and help make it 
more interesting and pleasant this month. 
I have been raising Gladiolus for two 
years and expect to continue. In the 
year 1919 I bought one dozen and last 
year six dozen. They multiply very fast, 
and so I have about 150 bulbs. Last year 
I sold most of the spikes. 
I have some chickens and expect to join 
the poultry club this year, but don’t know 
for certain. A new friend, henry p., 
Ohio. 11 years. 
I will tell you about my last year’s 
garden. My main object in making a 
garden was to learn and to have some¬ 
thing to do all the time. The size of mam¬ 
ma’s and my garden was about three- 
quarters of an acre. We planted flowers 
around all the edges. The soil was pre¬ 
pared early in May. 
We planted lettuce, radishes, carrots, 
onions, horse beans, bush beans, string 
beans, Lima beans, Swiss chard, squash, 
cucumber, popcorn, sweet corn and musk- 
melon. We set out tomato, pepper and 
cabbage plants, beginning our planting 
about the middle of May. We hoed, 
weeded and raked the garden once or 
twice a week. 
The first vegetables we had were let¬ 
tuce and radishes, next Swiss chard and 
the beans, later corn and tomatoes. Our 
vegetables were either used on the table 
or canned. Ever your friend, maria o„ 
Pennsylvania. 12 years. 
I planted a lot of lettuce in my garden 
last year, as papa didn’t plant any, and I 
furnished all of it. I planted some in a 
pan in the house so as to have some early 
lettuce. I am going to do the same this 
year. An interested reader of Our Page, 
New York. dorothy l., 9 years. 
I am very much interested in the Boys’ 
and Girls’ Page in The R. N.-Y., and I 
am going to write and tell you about the 
garden I am planning for this year. 
As my mother is not able to attend to 
all of the garden, my sister, brother and I 
are going to help her. I am going to help 
plant all the garden and my sister and I 
are going to do all the work in the beans, 
beets, onions, Swiss chard, carrots, pars¬ 
nips, cucumbers, lettuce and squash. 
This year I am going to take care of 
the asters and Dahlias, and help my moth¬ 
er in her flower garden also. My brother 
is going to take care of the peas, sweet 
corn and pumpkins. 
Besides this work I expect to do Class 
C work in the Junior Sewing Project. I 
have already completed Classes A and B 
work in sewing. Sincerely yours, 
New York. Mildred c., 14 years. 
Camp Fire Information 
I saw in Our Page that some girls 
wished to know about the “Camp Fire 
Girls.” I am one, so thought I would 
write and tell you what I know about 
them. 
Some reliable person who would be 
willing to act as guardian should send to 
National Headquarters, 91 East 17th 
Street, New York City, for application 
blanks. These are filled out and mailed 
with one dollar to headquarters. One 
week should be allowed for appointments 
to be made. 
A guardian must be over 18 years of 
age. Each Camp Fire must have at least 
six members and not more than 20. Only 
girls over 12 years of age are eligible for 
membership. In country districts a 
teacher or a not too busy mother could 
be guardian. Each member pays 50 cents 
a year, as dues, to the organization. The 
guardian can write and obtain manuals 
for the girls from headquarters. They 
were 50 cents apiece. They can tell you 
more about it than I can in a letter. 
The girls and the guardian meet to¬ 
gether and decide on a name for then- 
group. Each girl also chooses an Indian 
name and symbol. My Indian name is 
GalUlohi, meaning one who tries to do 
things well, and my symbol is the pine 
tree. 
The honors are divided into four 
groups, the second of these being elective 
honors. These form the basis of Camp 
Fire work, and are divided into seven 
classes-—Home Craft, Health Craft, Camp 
Craft, Hand Craft, Nature Lore, Busi¬ 
ness and Patriotism. For instance, one 
of the Home Craft honors is making two 
kinds of bread and two of cake. Most 
any country girl can do that, and for this 
you receive one flame-colored honor bead. 
I hope this will encourage some to or¬ 
ganize a group and that they will have a 
wonderful success. Madeline h. 
New York. 
The Locust Borer 
Locust trees are not more common be¬ 
cause they have an enemy, the locust 
borer. It is a velvety black beetle with 
yellow stripes. It does its work when a 
grub, when it bores through the tree, stop¬ 
ping next the outer bark and staying 
there till Spring. Before the Winter 
months begin many of the beetles as¬ 
semble and lay their eggs in the bark. 
The eggs and also the young borers may 
be reached and killed by spraying in the 
April 30, 1921 
late Fall or early Spring, but the nut¬ 
hatches and other Winter birds help in 
destroying these pests. In front of my 
home there is a locust tree, but it has 
never been troubled with the locust borer 
that I know of. At all times of year it 
is the resting place of many kinds of 
birds. That may be the reason. 
New York. HELEN p. 
A Fine Idea 
As I am very much interested in the 
Boys’ and Girls’ Page, I thought that I 
would write to you. I live with my 
father and mother on a 195-acre farm. I 
have one brother. We have five doves, 
four cats and a dog for pets. The dog’s 
name is Tippy. He has been taught to 
shake hands and go after the cows. 
In our schools the girls have a sewing 
club. We have a president, a vice-presi¬ 
dent and a secretary. We meet every 
other Friday afternoon, and we have 
learned to make many things. Our 
teacher directs us in the work. 
Perhaps you will be interested to know 
that the editor of our home paper has 
kindly given the boys and girls of our 
school the opportunity to have a page of 
our own in the paper. The paper is pub¬ 
lished every Friday, and during the week 
we gather news for our paper. 
Well, I guess this is long enough for 
the first letter. Will write more next 
time. 
Your sincere friend. 
New York. lucelia s. 
Good for this editor and good for 
Lucelia and her schoolmates! Why 
couldn’t more schools do this? It 
needn’t be a whole page. Even a 
column or two once a week would be 
worth while. It could be made of great 
interest to everyone, young and old, and 
would give you valuable experience col¬ 
lecting news, writing and editing. I hope 
In Mischief 
Lucelia will not forget me when the page 
comes out. I certainly want to see it and 
tell the rest of you about it. 
“My Road to School” 
Here are a couple of letters that carry 
out the suggestion made last month that 
you write a description of your road to 
school, so that we will all feel that we 
enjoy it with you. There were others, 
too, that I have not room to print. I 
hope there will be more next month. Take 
some special day (the first one after you 
read this) and write about your walk. 
Tell all you see and hear and feel and 
think. 
I am going to tell you about the road 
on which I journey to school. I thought 
it would interest the many readers of Our 
Page. I go to school on a State road. It 
is a mile to the school. It is rather a 
lonesome road, although automobiles pass. 
The first house is a large house which 
stands on a knoll. After leaving this 
there isn’t any house for half a mile. 
Then the first house is an unoccupied 
building, which stands so ghostly looking. 
Next to it is a strip of pine trees. Then 
I pass a yellow house, dance hall and 
church and am at the school. Most of 
the way is through open fields. Most of 
the land is swampy. On the right side of 
the road there is a railroad. It is a very 
pretty scene as you walk along. In the 
Summer the wayside is gay with beauti- 
0/ course you see the little girl and her 
calf and the poultry—hut do you see the 
eat? 
