122 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
January  27,  1 02:; 
Boys  and  Girls 
By  Edward  M.  Tuttle 
Let  one  of  our  New  Year’s  resolutions 
be  to  write  to  Our  Page  every  month 
REMEMBER  THE  BIRDS 
When  Winter  comes  in, 
Remember  the  birds! 
To  feed  them  begin 
When  Winter  comes  in. 
Their  thanks  you  will  win, 
In  songs,  if  not  words ; 
When  Winter  comes  in, 
Remember  the  birds! 
Author? 
Sent  by  Fanny  Hayes, 
New  Jersey.  (10  years). 
So  many  readers  made  a  New  Year’s 
resolution  to  write  to  Our  Page  that  the 
postman  had  his  hands  full.  Your  editor 
has  been  kept  busy,  too,  opening  all  the 
letters  and  finding  the  good  things  you 
have  sent.  On  page  129  there  is  a  full  list 
of  the  boys  and  girls  who  answered  the 
December  Page  before  this  one  went  to  the 
printer.  There  is  just  one  long  list  this 
time,  with  the  names  arranged  by  States. 
After  each  name  are  some  letters  in  pa¬ 
renthesis.  These  are  explained  at  the 
head  of  the  list.  They  refer  to  the  dif¬ 
ferent  things  found  in  each  envelope.  Of 
course  it  is  not  always  the  number  of 
things  that  counts  most.  Some  readers 
with  only  one  letter  after  their  names 
sent  very  fine  pieces  of  wrork.  It  is 
quality  we  want  even  more  than  quantity. 
As  long  as  we  are  talking  about  the 
mail,  let’s  take  a  look  at  some  of  the 
most  interesting 
Letters 
HER  PARENTS  ARE  INTERESTED 
It  has  been  a  long  time  since  I  wrote 
last.  But  do  not  think  I’m  not  interested 
in  Our  Page.  I  can  hardly  wait  for  fath¬ 
er  to  finish  looking  over  the  pages.  I  like 
to  get  the  paper  first.  Father  is  interest¬ 
ed  in  Our  Page.  He  wants  me  to  draw 
a  picture  wrell  enough  so  it  might  be 
printed.  He  is  mostly  interested  in  the 
drawings.  Mother  helps  me  to  answer 
the  nature  puzzles.  I  hope  the  fathers 
and  mothers  of  the  children  who  read 
Our  Page  are  all  interested  in  it,  for  that 
will  help  it  to  grow.  I  must  close  for 
this  time.  BEATRICE  ISIIAM. 
Massachusetts. 
We  are  very  glad  indeed  to  have  our 
fathers  and  mothers  take  an  interest  in 
Our  Page,  aren't  we?  Of  course  the  rea¬ 
son  why  we  like  it  so  much  ourselves  is 
that  it  is  so  truly  our  own  page,  made 
largely  by  boys  and  girls  for  boys  and 
girls.  But  it  is  nice  when  our  parents 
approve  the  work  and  encourage  us  to 
take  part  in  it.  If  Beatrice  keeps  on  try¬ 
ing  and  does  not  ever  grow  discouraged, 
sooner  or  later  she  will  succeed  with  her 
drawing  or  some  other  contribution.  Why, 
come  to  think  of  it,  she  has  succeeded 
with  her  letter  this  month,  hasn't  she? 
Here  it  is,  all  printed,  to  give  the  rest  of 
us  a  good  idea. 
A  NEW  READER 
I  am  a  boy  of  14  and  have  never  no¬ 
ticed  the  Boys’  and  Girls’  Page  until  yes¬ 
terday  (January  11.  Then  I  had  time 
to  read  it,  so  I  did  and  found  it  very  in¬ 
teresting.  I  did  not  know  what  kind  of 
poetry,  pictures  or  stories  you  wanted, 
but  I  am  sending  my  best  in  a  picture, 
and  if  you  wrill  write  and  tell  me  what 
kind  of  things  you  want  I  will  try  to 
make  the  Boys’  and  Girls’  Page  as  merry 
as  I  can  if  there’s  anything  I  can  do. 
Write  to  me  as  soon  as  possible.  I  am, 
Your  friend,  cleve  gurney. 
Maine. 
It  is  always  a  pleasure  to  have  a  new 
reader  discover  Our  Page.  The  oftener 
that  happens  the  larger  our  family  will 
grow’  and  the  happier  we  shall  be.  The 
best  way  to  discover  wThat  to  send  to  help 
Our  Page  along  is  to  read  it  carefully 
each  month.  Then  you  will  catch  the 
spirit  of  its  message,  and  there  are  al¬ 
ways  suggestions  of  things  to  do.  Each 
month  we  need  a  good  motto  to  put  in  the 
box  at  the  top  of  the  page,  a  suitable 
drawing  for  a  heading,  and  a  worth¬ 
while  memory  verse,  besides  all  the  let¬ 
ters,  stories,  drawings,  puzzles  and  other 
things.  Your  editor  cannot  write  very 
many  personal  letters  to  readers,  much  as 
he  would  like  to,  so  is  taking  this  way  of 
answering  Cleve  and  others  who  may 
have  the  same  question  in  mind. 
MANY  THINGS  OF  INTEREST 
Having  just  finished  reading  the  Boys’ 
and  Girls’  Page  I  decided  to  write  and 
try  to  express  my  thoughts  on  some  of 
the  articles.  I  certainly  appreciate  the 
page.  It  helps  one  so  much. 
First  I  want  to  speak  of  the  creed  that 
was  the  first  thing  I  read,  and  after  I 
had  thought  a  bit  about  it  I  went  and 
found  a  piece  of  brown  paper  and  copied 
it  on  it.  I  am  going  to  pin  it  in  my  room 
some  place  where  I  can  see  it  easily  and 
repeat  it  every  morning  and  try  to  think 
of  it  through  the  day.  If  I  do  this  all 
through  the  year  don’t  you  think  I  ought 
to  be  able  to  make  this  year  better  than 
last? 
I  thought  the  essays  on  happiness  were 
fine.  I  think  Anna  Rogers  and  Eleanor 
Henderson  must  be  Camp  Fire  Girls,  as 
they  both  speak  so  much  of  giving  service, 
and  “Give  Service”  is  one  of  the  rules  of 
the  Camp  Fire. 
The  answer  to  the  “What  Is  It?”  is 
raccoon,  I  think.  My  uncle  is  a  fur 
dealer,  and  I  have  had  many  chances  to 
see  lovely  skins  and  also  to  find  the  meat 
very  good.  Although  I  always  feel  rather 
guilty  eating  an  animal  that  might  better 
be  alive  doing  no  harm  to  anyone.  I 
really  think  it  is  a  shame  to  have  all  the 
animals  and  birds  killed  just  because 
man  thinks  it  is  fun  and  gets  a  good 
price  for  it. 
The  new7  book  plan  is  great,  but.  I  have 
read  so  many  books  I  will  need  si  little 
more  time  to  think  it  over  and  decide. 
The  drawings  for  this  month  were  fine. 
Eleanor  Hart  certainly  has  patience  and 
perseverance. 
Beginning  the  new  year,  I  wonder  how 
many  boys  and  girls  have  or  keep  a  bud¬ 
get.  I  have  kept  one  for  two  years,  and 
I  find  it  helps  me  a  great  deal.  Out  of 
my  extra  money  I  buy  my  shoes,  hats, 
and  almost  always  pay  my  own  way  to 
movies  or  entertainments.  If  one  hasn’t 
kept  a  budget  I  think  it  would  be  good 
to  start  now,  starting  in  February.  I 
balance  mine  every  month.  The  follow¬ 
ing  is  the  order  in  which  I  spend.  The 
15  cents  saved  every  week  goes  into  a 
small  bank  I  have,  and  when  that  is  filled, 
into  the  savings  bank  : 
1  Date  T" 
1  $ 
c 
Jan. 
1 
Allowance,  $1.00 
Music  Lesson.... 
50 
Incidentals  . 
25 
Saved  . 
15 
Church  . 
10 
Hoping  I  haven’t  disgraced  myself  by 
writing  such  a  Ion"  letter,  and  wishing  a 
Happy  New  Year  to  the  editor  and  every 
reader,  also  the  best  of  success  to  Our 
Page,  I  will  close.  Sincerely  yours, 
Connecticut.  Mildred  beebe, 
(14  years). 
Mildred  gives  us  a  lot  to  think  about. 
I  wish  every  boy  and  girl  would  do  as 
she  has  done  with  the  little  poem,  “My 
Creed,”  published  last  month.  There  are 
very  few  eight-line  poems  that  tell  so 
much  or  that  are  more  wrnrth  trying  to 
live  up  to. 
As  to  the  question  of  trapping  and 
hunting,  that  is  a  big  one  on  which  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  difference  of  opinion.  It 
all  depends  on  what  we  kill  and  how  we 
do  it.  Most  of  us  don’t  like  to  kill  living 
things  at  all,  but  if  everyone  felt  that 
way  some  injurious  forms  would  soon 
overrun  us.  Nowadays  most  of  the  ani¬ 
mals  and  birds  that  are  useful  or  harm¬ 
less  are  protected  by  law.  First  of  all, 
we  should  learn  the  law  and  obey  it. 
Then  if  we  set  out  to  kill  an  animal  we 
should  do  it  in  the  quickest  possible  way, 
so  that  there  will  be  no  suffering.  It  has 
always  seemed  to  your  editor  that-  boys 
and  girls  might  better  spend  their  time 
studying  the  life  and  habits  of  the  wild 
creatures,  and  leave  the  killing,  when  it 
must  be  done,  to  older  persons. 
Mildred’s  idea  of  keeping  a  budget  is  a 
good  one.  Evidently  she  receives  a  reg¬ 
ular  allowance  and  is  encouraged  to  spend 
it  wisely.  Not  all  boys  and  girls  re¬ 
ceive  allowances,  but  fathers  and  mothers 
would  do  well  to  consider  the  plan.  Many 
boys  and  girls  earn  some  money  of  their 
own.  No  matter  how  small  the  amount 
we  have,  there  are  always  choices  to 
make  as  to  what  to  do  with  it.  The  real 
meaning  of  a  budget  is  “a  plan  ahead  for 
spending  money,”  wThile  an  account  is  “a 
record  of  money  that  has  been  spent.” 
Both  are  worth  keeping.  The  study  of 
last  year’s  account  helps  to  make  a  bet¬ 
ter  budget  for  the  coming  year.  A  good 
budget  plan  helps  to  put  money  to  its 
best  uses.  Housekeepers,  business  men, 
and  governments,  make  budgets  and  keep 
accounts.  The  same  principles  apply  to 
handling  one  dollar  or  one  thousand  dol¬ 
lars  or  one  million  dollars.  You  can 
learn  these  things  for  yourselves.  Let’s 
hear  from  other  readers  along  this  line. 
THE  BOYS  TAKE  HOLD 
I  have  long  been  a  silent  reader  of  the 
Boys’  and  Girls’  Page,  and  on  reading 
your  request  for  a  big  boost  from  the  boys 
I  decided  to  try  to  show  the  readers  that 
a  boy  can  settle  down  to  a  drawing,  al¬ 
though  he  may  be  a  very  poor  hand  at 
such  work.  I  am  inclosing  my  efforts  at 
aforesaid  drawing. 
I  live  on  a  farm  about  15  miles  from 
the  eastern  end  of  Lake  Ontario.  I  am 
15  years  of  age,  and  like  to  hunt,  trap 
and  fish.  Hence  comes  the  idea  that  the 
animal  described  in  Warren  Brown’s  na¬ 
ture  puzzle  is  a  raccoon. 
I  have  as  pets  a  dog,  two  cats,  and 
two  tame  turkeys.  Just  across  the  high¬ 
way  from  my  home  is  a  pine  forest.  Most 
of  these  pines  were  planted  by  students  of 
the  State  College  of  Forestry.  This  refor¬ 
esting  work  was  done  10  years  ago,  and 
many  of  the  trees  are  20  ft.  high  now. 
The  game  in  this  section  is  deer,  black 
bear,  rabbits,  partridges  and  pheasants, 
and  the  fur-bearing  animals  are  skunks, 
minks,  raccoons,  foxes,  weasels  and  musk¬ 
rats. 
I  wish  Our  Page  a  prosperous  year, 
and  hope  it  will  grow  until  a  page  must 
be  printed  every  week  instead  of  every 
month.  Wishing  the  readers  a  Happy 
New  Year,  I  am,  Your  interested  reader, 
New  York.  iiarold  samson. 
Another  New  York  boy,  Harry  Craw¬ 
ford,  makes  the  following  comment:  “I 
don’t  see  why  the  boys  don’t  take  more 
interest  in  Our  Page.  As  I  look  over  the 
names  of  the  contributors  to  last  month’s 
page  I  see  a  great  many  more  names  of 
girls  than  of  boys.  I  am  almost  sure  the 
boys  can  do  as  much  for  Our  Page  as  the 
girls.”  There  is  no  doubt  that  when  the 
boys  take  hold  they  can  certainly  do 
things.  If  you  don’t  find  what  you  want 
on  Our  Page,  boys,  ask  for  it,  or,  better 
still,  send  it  yourselves.  The  fine  thing 
about  it  is  that  we  can  do  here  just  what 
we  like  best. 
Harold’s  telling  of  the  planted  forest 
is  interesting.  Probably  most  of  our  read¬ 
ers,  even  those  who  are  not  very  old, 
know  that  here  in  America  we  are  using 
up  our  forests  at  a  fearful  rate  and  are 
not  replacing  them  as  fast  as  we  should. 
Men  who  know  tell  us  that  each  year  four 
times  as  much  wood  is  cut  down  or  de¬ 
stroyed  by  fire  as  growTs  new.  Now  that- 
cannot  go  on  very  long  without  serious 
trouble.  It  takes  a  long  time  to  grow  a 
tree,  but  not  long  to  cut  it  down.  We 
must  plant  new  forests  to  take  the  place 
of  old.  Boys  and  girls  now  growing  up 
will  have  an  interest  and  share  in  this 
work  in  years  to  come.  Who  can  tell  us 
more  about  it? 
FEEDING  THE  BIRDS 
I  just  received  our  paper,  The  Rural 
New-Yorker,  and  it  was  just  full  of  nice 
things,  so  I  guess  I  will  drop  you  a  line. 
I  enjoy  reading  Our  Page  and  the  pic¬ 
tures  are  real  nice. 
I  have  made  my  feeding  table  for  the 
little  birds  and  they  enjoy  it.  I  feed  them 
cookie  crumbs,  bread,  apple,  beef,  suet 
and  grass  seeds.  They  like  the  grass 
seeds.  There  are  chickadees,  blueiays, 
nuthatches,  sparrows  and  two  red  car¬ 
dinals.  They  are  very  pretty.  I  think 
the  nuthatches  hide  the  food  they  take 
away.  The  chickadees  just  before  a 
storm  will  come  and  take  and  hide  a  lo 
of  food,  so  I  can  tell  when  there  is  going 
to  be  a  storm  most  always.  I  love  to 
wTateh  them  eat.  Sometimes  there  arc 
over  50  birds  in  all.  There  is  one  kind 
that  is  little  and  its  color  is  brown.  I 
do  not  know  the  name,  only  we  call  them 
rain  birds  or  ground  birds.  There  are 
three  that  come  to  eat  that  have  been  in 
a  fight.  I  think,  as  they  haven’t  got  any 
tails.  They  can’t  fly  very  well.  When 
they  all  come  to  eat  I  sweep  a  place  on 
the  ground  and  scatter  barn  chaff  and 
put  the  seeds  down  and  they  will  dig  just 
like  the  hens,  only  faster.  They  will  dig 
little  holes  in  the  chaff  and  snow  about 
an  inch  deep  after  the  seeds  I  give  them. 
Well,  Mr.  Tuttle,  I  have  a  few  house 
plants  this  Winter,  as  they  make  the 
home  look  like  Summer.  One  is  a  Christ¬ 
mas  cactus  and  it  is  in  blossom  now.  It 
has  over  100  buds;  the  flowers  are  dark 
pink  and  look  like  wax. 
We  have  a  large  Airedale  dog.  He  is 
six  years  old  and  his  name  is  Duke.  He 
knows  about  as  much  as  a  person.  He  is 
a  good  watch  dog  and  a  good  cow  dog. 
uRaccoon.'‘>  Drawn  by  Lewis  Wangcrin 
(Vi  years),  New  York 
(He  is  a  hunter  dog,  too.  He  can  hunt 
meat  bones,  anyway.  Ha,  Ha!) 
Well,  I  like  to  read  books.  I  read  all 
of  the  ones  I  have  and  then  my  friends 
let  me  take  theirs.  There  is  one  old  man 
that  lives  by  us.  He  can’t  see  to  read  or 
write,  and  I  read  to  him  and  write  all  of 
his  letters  for  him.  He  comes  up  to  our 
house  real  often  when  he  is  at  home.  I 
think  everybody  should  be  good  and  kind 
to  the  sick  and  blind,  for  maybe  we  will 
be  sick  ourselves  some  day.  My  motto  i- 
“Do  to  others  as  you  want  others  to  do 
to  you.” 
Well  I  will  close  with  best  wishes  to  all 
and  to  Our  Page,  too.  I  am  sending  you 
a  verse.  della  provobse. 
New  York. 
Della  sends  a  long  and  interesting  let¬ 
ter.  What  a  good  time  she  is  having  with 
the  birds!  It  is  rare  indeed  to  have  the 
cardinals  in  New  York  State.  They  are 
beautiful  seen  against  a  background  <>f 
evergreens.  Perhaps  the  little  brown  b:rds 
without  tails  are  Winter  wrens.  Their 
tails  are  very  short  and  stubby.  Your 
editor  has  one  near  his  home,  and  enjoys 
watching  the  sprightly  little  fellow.  Del¬ 
la  has  many  interests  besides  the  birds — 
her  plants,  her  dog,  her  books,  and  her 
old  neighbor  friend.  No  better  way  of 
living  has  ever  been  found  than  that  ex¬ 
pressed  by  the  Golden  Rule. 
an  “old”  friend 
My  New  Year  resolution  wras  to  write 
to  Our  Page,  which  I  enjoy  to  read  very 
much.  I  am  a  farmer  girl  and  go  to 
high  school. 
My  mother  once  met  you  with  our  car 
at  the  depot  and  carried  you  and  a  lot 
of  us  school  children  to  a  school  fair  at 
South  Otselic.  The  next  day  we  went  to 
Smyrna  on  purpose  to  hear  you  again.  I 
remember  you  sang  about  Peggy  in  her 
low-back  car  and  “Wynken,  Blynken  and 
Nod.”  So  I  feel  a  little  acquainted. 
I  We  have  had  some  splendid  school  fairs 
here;  wish  you  could  have  attended  them. 
I  belong  to  the  Audubon  Bird  Club  that 
we  formed  in  our  biology  class.  I  keep  a 
bird  record  every  year,  finding  nearly  200 
nests  one  Summer.  I  have  a  bird  book, 
also  a  flower  book,  both  very  useful. 
Your  friend,  grace  wheat. 
New  York. 
What  pleasant  memories  Grace’s  letter 
brings !  It  is  seven  or  eight  years  since 
the  school  fairs  she  tells  about.  She  must 
have  been  a  little  girl  then.  That  was 
while  your  editor  was  at  the  New  York 
State  College  of  Agriculture,  before  he 
came  down  here  to  his  Long  Island  farm. 
Very  well  indeed  I  remember  that  auto 
ride  with  a  car  full  of  children,  the  inter¬ 
esting  exhibits  of  vegetables,  sewing, 
school  work  and  other  things,  and  the  big 
groups  of  boys  and  girls  with  their  par¬ 
ents.  It  is  good  to  know  that  such  fairs 
have  been  kept  up.  I  hope  they  are  car¬ 
ried  on  in  many  places. 
The  Raccoon 
As  has  already  been  said  in  some  of  the 
letters,  last  month’s  Nature  Puzzle  was 
the  raccoon.  A  large  number  of  readers 
sent  the  correct  answer,  16  sent  draw¬ 
ings.  one  of  which  you  will  find  printed. 
