The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
The First our ol <{ Sfeck(sc{ h<?rv 
wAlktng va/»(K hftf' ducklings A<sr\, 
l/x&i; spizd «? httle por^dl, And then — 
|vp <d<~«iwrv w hat ha.f>pen <2 d , Vi th nnj^ pen. 
8L 
Draion by Katharine T. (15 Years) New York State 
Drawn by Conrad T. (11 Years) Connecticut 
C 
Drawn by M. Abba C. (13 Years) New )'orlc Stale 
songs. How nice it would be if we could 
all be like them. 
My signs of Spring are as follows: 
Robin, March 8; song sparrow, March 1); 
rusty blackbird, March 10; bluebird, 
suipe. horseradish coming up, March 15; 
daffodils starting, trees budding (not in¬ 
cluding fruit trees), March 16; meadow 
lark, March 18; frogs croaking, red¬ 
winged blackbird, March 26; pussy wil¬ 
lows blossoming, phoebe, March 28; sun 
beginning to set farther over in the west, 
daffodils blossoming. March 21 : flies 
thawing out. house cleaning. April 5; 
arbutus blossoming, Ar >ril 6; cones begin¬ 
ning to drop and open, fruit, trees bud¬ 
ding. skunk cabbage coming up. April 7 : 
fox sparrow, putting eggs in the incu¬ 
bator. April 8; Lincoln sparrow, April 
9: adder-tongues. Spring beauties and 
trees leafing out. April 19: people digging 
greens. April 22; birds building nests, 
April 24; violets, strawberry blossoms, 
myrtle blossoms, fruit trees in bloom, 
barn swallow, sowing oats, plowing, 
planting peas, and some farmers turning 
cows out, April 25. 
On April 25 we took a walk, and the 
things under that date are the things I 
saw. 
Wishing Our Page success. Your friend 
New York. morna m., 12 years 
Some of the lists reported many other 
birds and flowers, and lam glad that you 
are able to welcome each one back by 
name. A few interesting signs from other 
lists were: Woodchucks, March 1 ; thun¬ 
der storm, March 3'; potato sprouts, 
March 15; went outdoors to play at re¬ 
cess. March 18; wild geese. March 20; 
butterfly. March 22; rhubarb starting, 
March 28; we are moving. April 1 ; frogs’ 
eggs, April 3; bat. April 9; planting gar¬ 
den. April 13; ferns unfolding, April 14; 
rainbow. April 15; whip-poor-will sing¬ 
ing. April 24! colt’s-foot blossoms, snake, 
April 26. 
So we see that every day. 
In months of March, April and May, 
Bring Nature’s sign that Spring is here, 
Most welcome season of the year. 
Boys and girls who know her lore 
Have happiness untold in store. 
Such Fun ! 
On this page are three of the drawings 
on last month’s rhyme. How do you like 
them? I think they are fine! I wanted 
to print every one that came to me. but 
that would have taken more than our 
whole two pages. They were all good and 
showed that you tried hard. Those who 
sent drawings were: 
New York State: E. Katharine T., 15 
years; M. Abha C.. 13 years; Warren A., 
12 years. Louise A., 10 years. 
Pennsylvania: Maurice S.. 11 years; 
Elinor I).. 11 years; Helen O., 13 years. 
New Jersey : Prosilla G.; Marjorie C., 
13 years. 
Maryland: Margaret H., 14 years; 
Midia M., 10 years. 
Maine: William It., 8 years ; Evelyn 
R., 11 years. 
Connecticut: Conrad T., 11 years. 
With her drawing Katharine wrote: 
“When I read Our Page this month 
(April) I saw the little verse about the 
hen and her ducklings. 8o I got to work 
with my pen at once and finally succeed¬ 
ed in making the enclosed sketch, which 
as you see I did not trace or copy from 
any other picture. It is my idea and iny 
work. How do you think it is?” 
Shall we have drawings again next 
month? I think you will all say yes, so 
here is another rhyme: 
Out in the barnyard is a sight to make 
you laugh, 
A big mooley cow and her wabbly little 
calf. 
The calf thinks it is meal time, just look 
at its tail! 
Take your pen. draw the picture and 
send without fail. 
Some of you try your hand at making 
rhymes for other pictures. 
Many Things of Interest 
Elsie H., a 12-year-old Maryland girl, 
wrote the box for this month. 
The picture of the boy hiving his bees 
(yes, it is a boy) was sent by his sister, 
Christine B., an eight-year-old Virginia 
girl. A Connecticut friend sent the pic¬ 
ture of Pattie and Sammie. Isn’t it cute? 
A girl who writes regularly every 
month asks: “Do you think it is all 
right for us who have written to you so 
much to keep right on? Don’t you think 
we ought to give those who have not writ¬ 
ten to you so much a chance?” Of 
course, I think it is right! And because 
you write often is no reason why anyone 
else cannot write who wants to. I am 
the one to worry, and 1 can take care of 
lots more letters yet. So don’t hesitate ; 
send your letters along and send them 
often. Really, I get to know you much 
better when your letters come regularly. 
Already there are a dozen or more whose 
names 1 recognize ut once as special 
friends of Our Page. You can be one, 
too, if you Avish. 
What do you think about this that I 
found in a letter from a Pennsylvania 
girl? “By the way, Mr. Tuttle, many 
girls have said to me. ‘What's the use 
of writing to a paper when you don’t get 
any money in return for your efforts?’ 
But I have felt this way about it, that 
* * *» x’ll let you guess the rest, 
because I want others of you to tell me 
765 
what you think. Come, now. let’s get. at 
the truth. 
Of course, we are mainly interested in 
country life and the world of Nature. 
But we are also interested in the worth¬ 
while things of the whole world. The 
more we know and remember and use the 
better educated we are. So here is a 
question that came to me the other day 
from a New Jersey girl: “Can you an¬ 
swer a question that the teacher asked 
us a few days ago? None of us could 
answer it, and she didn't know herself. 
Can you tell us where ‘Old Ironsides’ is? 
The last I knew of her she was at. Nor¬ 
folk. Virginia. Can you tell me whether 
she is still there or not?” Now who will 
send the answer to that question? Are 
we all sure we know what “Old Iron¬ 
sides” is. even though we may not know 
where she is at this moment? It. is pos¬ 
sible, 1 expect, that some reader has seen 
her lately or been aboard her at some 
time or other. If so. tell us about it. 
Dorothy V., a 12-year-old Pennsylvania 
girl, writes: 
“Some boys say they will quit school 
when they are sixteen, but t won’t until 
I have to. and I hone all boys and girls 
(boys especially) will take my advice and 
go to school as long as possible. I heard 
a man say once: ‘If I'd known how hard 
it is to get work without an education, 
I’d never have quit school at 16.’ Some 
boys say they'll be farmers and won’t 
have to know much, but even farmers 
must be educated, mustn’t they? To be a 
first-claSs farmer you do, don’t you?” 
Here is a big question, and it ought to 
stir up a. lot of you to find out what you 
really think and what you are going to do 
about it. Some of you know that there 
is a great deal of discussion going on now¬ 
adays about rural schools, especially in 
New York State. But schools are, first 
of all, for boys and girls. It seems to 
me that you yourselves should have a 
chance to say how school might be 
changed to give you a better start in life. 
It would be, especially interesting to hear 
from some of you who are just about to 
leave school to step out into life or who 
have recently left. This is au important 
matter for us, and for all the boys and 
girls who will come after us. What are 
your ideas? 
Where was the “cat”? One or two 
who wrote had found it, but some of you 
must have been “seeing things.” Look 
again (April page). Where the little 
girl’s arm touches the calf’s neck it makes 
a little V. Right there you will see that 
cat's head. She was sitting back near 
the fence, but got into the picture just 
the same. 
Tell me, how does your garden grow? 
I’lease write soou and let me know. 
Spend a little time each day 
To keep the weeds out; that’s the way. 
Soon there'll be good things to eat 
That you raised; my, what a treat! 
I had a regular surprise package the 
other day. There came a big fat envel¬ 
ope, and when I opened it out tumbled 
eight letters from a school up in Clinton 
County, New York. And live of the 
writers enclosed snapshot pictures. That 
is what I call really helping Our Page 
along. 
Hollis IT., New York, writes: “I am 
a boy 12 years old, and am in the first 
year of high school. Last Christmas my 
mother gave me Tire R. N.-Y. as a pres¬ 
ent, and I am sure I could not appreciate 
anything more. 
Gladys W., a New York girl, asks: 
"Mr. Tuttle, would you please tell me if 
you used to write in the Cornell Rural 
School Leaflet or not. I once wrote to a 
Mr. Tuttle there.” This question has 
come several times. Yes, for seven years 
I wrote to the boys and girls of New 
York State through the Cornell Rural 
School Leaflet. Then I left, the college, 
was in the army a short time, came here 
to run our home farm on Long Island, 
and a year ago last Fall began Our Page 
in The Rural New-Yorker. If you are 
as interested to read it and work for it 
as I am to make it, then we have great 
times ahead of us. Your letters are sent 
to me promptly from the office, and I 
hope you will write soon and write often 
to your friend and editor, Edward M. 
Tuttle, in care The Ri ral New-Yorker, 
333 West 30th street, New York City. 
