The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
779 
by  the  pupils  and  teacher  during  the 
month  of  April.  It  included  chickweed, 
skunk  cabbage,  Hepatica,  ladies’  tobacco 
(everlasting),  bluet,  common  cinquefoil, 
yellow  violet,  bloodroot,  horsetail,  common 
blue  violet,  cowslip  (marsh  marigold), 
dandelion,  wood  anemone,  white  violet, 
spice  bush,  early  saxifrage,  wild  straw¬ 
berry,  rue  anemone,  adder’s  tongue,  early 
crowfoot  and  trailing  arbutus.  I  wonder 
how  many  boys  and  girls  could  identify 
all  these  at  sight.  A  little  study  each 
Spring  will  lengthen  your  list  of  flower 
friends  very  considerably. 
It  Was  the  Crocus 
I  think  the  answer  to  the  last  Nature 
Puzzle  is  a  Crocus.  It  is  one  of  the  first 
flowers  to  push  through  the  ground  to  an¬ 
nounce  the  approach  of  Spring.  It  was 
used  in  old  Greek  times.  The  more  beau¬ 
tiful  ones  are  found  in  Southern  Europe. 
The  funnel-shaped  flower  shoots  up  from 
the  bulb  (it  is  really  called  a  conn. 
What  is  the  difference? — Editor)  under 
ground.  It  almost  seems  stemless.  Cro¬ 
cuses  are  easily  cultivated,  and  will  grow 
from  year  to  year. 
hattie  Russell  (14  years). 
New  York. 
I  couldn’t  wait  to  see  Our  Children’s 
Page  last  month.  Oh,  everything  was 
better !  I  took  it  to  school  with  me  and 
showed  it  to  some  of  my  friends,  who  I 
thought  probably  hadn’t  read  it  yet.  And 
they  also  thought  it  was  wonderful. 
I  am  including  a  drawing  about  the 
swing.  None  of  my  pictures  has  ever 
been  printed,  and  I  do  hope  this  one  will 
be  a  success.  I  tried  real,  real  hard. 
All  I  can  make  out  of  the  puzzle  for 
this  month  is  a  Crocus.  There  are  two 
kinds;  one  that  comes  in  early  Spring 
that  is  very  well  known,  and  the  naked 
Crocus.  It  is  called  this  because  the 
flower  blooms  in  the  Fall  in  the  absence 
of  leaves.  The  Spring  Crocus  is  very 
easy  to  raise.  It  must,  be  planted  around 
the  first  of  September,  and  at  least  two 
or  three  inches  into  the  ground  in  a  dry 
place.  If  a  new  bed  is  started  the  Crocus 
should  be  planted  as  soon  as  possible. 
Crocuses  will  last  around  three  or  four 
years.  In  sunny  days  in  March  they  all 
will  break  out  of  the  ground.  There  are 
three  beautiful  shades — yellow,  white  and 
purple.  IRMGARI)  WEXTZEL. 
New  York. 
A  New  Nature  Puzzle 
What  shrub  is  it  that  blooms  in  May 
About  the  time  of  Memorial  Day? 
The  flowers  are  white  or  lavender  hue, 
Or  sometimes  nearly  pink  or  blue ; 
They  have  a  scent  so  very  sweet. 
The  bees  just  think  they  can’t  be  beat. 
A  bush  of  these  is  a  delight — 
Guess  what  it  is,  you’ll  get  it  right. 
NATALIA  RIEFLEK  (11  years). 
New  YTork. 
The  Adventures  of  Peter  Cottontail 
By  THORNTON  W.  BURGESS 
This  is  the  answer  to  last  month’s  Book 
Puzzle.  Much  to  your  editor’s  surprise, 
only  a  very  few  readers  were  able  to 
identify  it.  To  be  sure,  no  names  were 
used  that  would  give  a  direct  clue,  but 
the  description  should  have  been  enough 
for  anyone  ivlio  has  read  the  book,  as  1 
am  certain  many  of  you  have.  So  you 
see  it  is  not  always  the  puzzles  which 
seem  to  be  the  easiest  that  win  the  big¬ 
gest  response.  Perhaps  you  will  have 
better  success  this  time,  for  we  have  two 
puzzles  on  the  same  book.  They  are  very 
different,  but  are  so  good  that  I  thought 
it  would  be  interesting  to  print  them  both. 
What  Book  Is  This? 
This  story  shows  how  children  can 
change  the  lonely  and  dreary  lives  of 
some  people  into  happy  and  useful  lives. 
When  the  character  for  whom  the  book 
is  named  was  a  young  man  he  was  ac¬ 
cused  of  stealing  money.  The  people 
drew  lots  to  determine  his  guilt,  and  he 
was  found  guilty.  As  he  would  not  con¬ 
fess  his  sin  and  repent,  he  was  expelled 
from  the  church  to  which  he  belonged. 
But  the  man  who  had  done  the  deed 
was  a  very  close  friend  of  his.  and  one 
who  he  thought  would  be  the  last  person 
on  earth  to  do  it,  Wherefore  he  lost  his 
faith  in  man,  and  because  God  didn’t 
clear  the  stain  on  his  name,  he  also  lost 
faith  in  God. 
He  then  went  to  a  little  village,  where 
he  shut  himself  up  in  a  cottage  and 
wove  for  a  living.  As  he  collected  money 
he  became  fond  of  it.  He  rarely  commu¬ 
nicated  with  other  people,  and  he  was 
thought  to  be  a  mysterious  man. 
Then  one  day  his  money  was  stolen, 
and  in  its  place  a  two-year-old  child 
came.  He  loved  it  at  once  and  decided 
to  raise  it.  With  the  assistance  of  a 
neighbor  lady,  he  cared  for  the  little  girl 
and  she  grew  up  into  a  beautiful  woman. 
Upon  the  advice  of  neighbors,  he  took 
her  to  church,  and  in  this  way  he  was 
drawn  into  the  church.  People  grew  to 
love  the  child,  and  through  her  the  man 
associated  with  people.  Thus,  through 
the  child  he  finally  lived  a  happy  life. 
Ohio.  HELEN  PORTZ. 
In  an  old  English  town  lived  a  very 
queer  man.  At  the  time  of  the  story  he 
One  day  when  the  sun  was  shining  bright 
John  swung  his  sister  with  all  his  might, 
Out  in  the  orchard  under  the  tree 
Where  the  apple  blossoms  were  sweet  to  see. 
Drawn  by  Elizabeth  Steed,  Connecticut 
Drawn  by  Marion  Noyes  (13  Years) 
Maine 
Drawn  by  Bcrtlia  Doan  (12  Years) 
Pennsylvania 
Drawn  by  Irnvganl  Wentzel,  New  York 
was  between  40  and  50  years  of  age.  and 
he  was  a  weaver.  11c  had  come  there 
heartbroken  because  of  the  unfaithfulness 
of  a  chum  and  his  fiancee.  But  no  one 
knew  this,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a  great 
mystery  about  him.  Of  late  he  had  begun 
hoarding  his  well-earned  money,  and  was 
hiding  it  in  a  hole  in  the  floor  of  his  tiny 
cottage.  He  did  this  because  he  had  no 
special  purpose  for  the  great  amount  he 
had  earned,  and  because  he  liked  to  look 
at  the  gold  pieces.  Although  hardly  any¬ 
one  knew  it,  he  was  kind  of  heart. 
In  another  part  of  the  town  lived  a 
squire  with  his  two  quarrelsome  sons. 
As  the  result  of  trouble  one  was  forced 
to  raise  money,  and  so  he  stole  the  weav¬ 
er’s  gold.  This  was  another  sorrow  which 
the  weaver  could  hardly  bear. 
But  one  night  a  little  girl  about  two 
years  old  crawled  through  his  open  door. 
The  child’s  yellow  curls  reminded  him  of 
his  gold,  so  he  decided  to  keep  her — to 
his  neighbors’  amazement. 
Drawn  by  Alida  Hamm,  New  York 
Dt  •awn  by  Dorothy  Mitchell  (1.)  Years) 
Pen n sylvan  in 
Drawn  by  Frederick  Hunziker  (11  Years) 
New  Jersey 
Drawn  by  Lois  Hertzler  (10  Years ) 
Virginia 
It  turned  out  at  last  that  the  younger 
of  the  squire’s  two  sous  was  the  father 
of  the  girl,  who  had  grown  to  dearly 
love  her  adopted  father.  The  younger 
son’s  wife,  the  little  girl's  mother,  had 
died  on  the  night  that  the  weaver  found 
the  little  girl.  It  was  discovered  that  the 
older  son  feel  in  crossing  some  lime  pits 
with  the  weaver’s  money  and  was  killed. 
So  the  weaver  got  back  his  gold. 
The  younger  son  and  his  second  wife 
tried  to  get  the  now  18-year-old  girl,  who 
was  soon  to  be  married,  to  live  with  them. 
But  she  absolutely  refused  to  leave  her 
kind  benefactor.  This  rejoiced  the  weaver, 
and  as  part  of  their  honeymoon  he  went 
with  the  couple  to  his  home  town. 
New  York.  Esther  adams. 
What  you  are  to  do,  you  know,  is  to 
send  in  the  name  of  the  book  described 
and  the  name  of  the  author.  If  you  can 
tell  anything  more  of  interest  about  the 
book,  or  something  of  the  life  of  the  au¬ 
thor.  do  so. 
Our  Artists 
The  number  of  drawings  sent  on  the 
Swing  Rhyme  was  less  than  usual, 
though  the  quality  was  good.  I  have 
printed  eight  of  the  best,  and  want  to 
give  Honorable  Mention  to  Charlotte 
Floyd  (10)  and  Paula  Hartfield  (14)  of 
New  Hampshire;  Helen  Temple  (0)  of 
Massachusetts;  Arthur  Noren  (13)  of 
Rhode  Island;  Gladys  Bloomer  (12)  of 
New  Jersey;  Alma  Hemphill  and  Mari¬ 
anne  Pacanowski  (17)  of  Pennsylvania; 
Millie  Bonfanti  (15)  of  Delaware,  and 
Agnes  Bergland  (14)  of  Michigan. 
Several  readers  thought  we  ought  to 
print  Stevenson’s  charming  little  poem  in 
connection  with  the  swing  pictures,  so 
here  it  is : 
The  Swing 
By  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
How  do  you  like  to  go  up  in  a  swing, 
Up  in  the  air  so  blue? 
Oh.  I  do  think  it  the  pleasantest  thing 
Ever  a  child  can  do! 
Up  in  the  air  and  over  the  wall, 
Till  I  can  see  so  wide, 
Rivers  and  trees  and  cattle  all 
Over  the  countryside — • 
Till  I  look  down  on  the  garden  green, 
Down  on  the  roof  so  brown — 
Up  in  the  air  I  go  flying  again, 
Up  in  the  air  and  down ! 
New  Plans  for  Drawing  Work 
A  good  many  of  you  wrote  about  keep¬ 
ing  up  the  drawing  work  during  the 
Summer,  and  all  were  very  much  in  favor 
of  it  except  one  girl,  who  thought  it 
might  be  a  good  plan  to  change  for  a 
time  and  have  more  letters  or  something 
else. 
Your  editor  thinks  that  perhaps  the 
rhyme  subjects  for  the  past  few  months 
have  been  a  little  hard  for  many  of  us, 
because  they  have  required  so  much 
figure  drawing.  Drawing  human  figures  is 
really  more  difficult  than  most  other 
things.  So  I  suggest  that  we  try  a  few 
pictures  that  deal  with  interesting  coun¬ 
try  life  scenes  without  any  figures  in 
them.  Try  this  *for  the  first  one: 
Look !  here  is  a  Summer  house  trim  and 
neat, 
All  covered  with  roses  that  smell  so 
sweet. 
A  glimpse  within  shows  a  cozy  seat — 
Can  you  picture  to  us  this  cool  retreat? 
Other  subjects  that  have  been  sug¬ 
gested  by  readers  are  Cows  in  Pasture, 
V\  indmill,  Hay  or  Grain  Harvest  Scene, 
A  Pig  and  Her  Babies,  and  some  wild 
bird  or  animal.  Who,  will  send  rhymes 
on  any  of  these? 
Besides  the  rhyme  drawing  contests 
there  are  always  other  things  you  can 
draw  that  will  help  to  give  interest  to 
Our  Page,  such  as  an  appropriate  head¬ 
ing  for  the  month,  the  object  described  in 
the  Nature  Puzzle  or  one  of  your  own 
choosing,  and  perhaps  a  scene  from  the 
book  described  in  the  Book  Puzzle  (no  one 
has  tried  this  yet).  Don’t  forget  that  all 
jour  drawing  work  is  to  be  original,  not 
copied.  Several  have  asked  about  color¬ 
ing  the  drawings  with  crayons  or  paints. 
This  is  not  best,  because  we  have  no  way 
of  printing  the  colors  in  this  paper. 
Notes 
The  list  of  contributors  for  May  will 
be  found  on  page  787.  The  boys  have 
been  taking  hold  much  better  the  last 
few  months.  Let’s  try  to  keep  a  good 
balance  of  boys  and  girls  of  all  ages. 
All  work  for  the  June  Page  should  be 
sent  to  reach  your  editor  not  later  than 
June  9.  This  gives  you  two  full  weeks, 
and  we  ought  to  have  a  fine  lot  of  letters. 
I  must  caution  all  readers  again  to! 
be  careful  to  put  names  and  addresses  on 
letters.  Four  letters  were  received  this 
month  without  a  single  thing  to  indicate 
the  senders  or  places  from  which  they 
came. 
Before  another  page  reaches  you  the 
long  Summer  vacation  will  be  well 
started.  Use  it  to  grow  in  health  and 
strength  of  body,  in  keenness  of  senses, 
in  cheerfulness  of  disposition,  in  helpful 
work,  in  happy  play,  and  in  much  new 
knowledge  gained  in  your  rambles  through 
fields  and  woods.  Do  not  forget  Our 
Page  and  try  to  find  time  at  least  once 
a  month  to  write  to  your  editor  and 
friend,  Edward  M.  Tuttle,  in  care  The 
Rural  New-Yorker,  333  West  30th 
Street,  New  York  City. 
