Country life reader

Preface

One of the questions to which educationists of the present day are giving much attention is the problem of how to make farm life attractive to boys and girls. To succeed in doing this it is necessary not only to create an interest in the work of the farm itself, but also to lead young people to see the value of training and preparation for farming as a profession. In the selection of material for a Country Life Reader the editor has tried to keep in view both these needs. One of the first steps toward creating an interest in farm life is the teaching of elementary agriculture. But the science of agriculture is an abstract study requiring a greater maturity of mind than most children in the elementary schools possess; and, manifestly, if it is to be taught at all, it must be presented in simple form. Accordingly, in this Reader the editor has attempted to deal only with elementary principles of agriculture; and, wherever possible, these principles have been embodied in the form of a story. And furthermore, as this is a Reader, and not a scientific textbook in agriculture, no attempt has been made to give detailed information on any subject. The object of the lessons contained in the Reader is to stimulate the interest of the pupil so that he may be led to observe and study for himself.

iv PREFACE

In addition to the treatment of purely agricultural subjects, passages have been included in the Reader which are intended to direct the attention of the pupil to objects of interest and sources of pleasure in country life, and to lead him to appreciate the dignity of labor on the farm.

Thanks are due to both authors and publishers for permission to use the following selections : ' "A Bird's Elegy" by Frank Dempster Sherman, '^Farmer John" and *^An Evening on the Farm" by John T. Trowbridge, ''The Song of Milo, the Farm-Hand" by E. G. Stedman, ''A Midsummer Song" by Richard Watson Gilder, The Houghton Mifllin Gompany; ''The Farmer and the Millionaire" from "Adventures in Gontentment" and ''Paying My Way" from "The Friendly Road" by David Grayson, and "Glean Home Milk" from "Outdoor Work" by Mary Rogers Miller, Messrs. Doubleday, Page & Gompany; "The Planting of the Apple Tree" and " The Prairies " by WiHiam Gullen Bryant and "What Do We Plant When We Plant the Tree?" by Henry Abbey, Messrs. D. Apple ton & Gompany; "The Scythe Song" by Andrew Lang, Messrs. Longmans, Green & Gompany; "The Gountry Faith" by Norman Gale, Messrs. Dufheld & Gompany; "Planting Time" by L. H. Bailey, The Outlook Gompany; "The Poor Man's Farm" by David Buffum, The Atlantic Monthly; "The Legend of the Dandelion" from "For the Ghildren's Hour" by Garolyn S. Bailey, The Milton Bradley Gompany; " The Rediwing" by Bliss Garman, Messrs. L. G. Page & Gompany; "Maple-Sugaring" by E. P. Powell and "A Day on the

PREFACE V

Farm" by Urban Lavery, The Independent; ''The Apple Harvest" and ''In the Plum Yard" by E. P. Powell, Outing Publishing Company; "A Flower Lover's Creed" by Walter A. Dyer and "The Country Boy" by Vivian Burnett, The Craftsman; "Indian Summer" by Wilfred Campbell, Wilham Briggs; "A Visit to the Farm" from ''Glengarry School Days" and "The Turnip-Hoeing Match" from "Corporal Cameron" by Ralph Connor, the Westminster Publishing Company; "The Boy Who Made the Reaper " by John Y. Beaty, Farm and Fireside; ''Apple Time" by Arthur S. Phelps; "Wheat, Flour, and Bread" by R. Harcourt, The Ontario Department of Agriculture; "The Country Boy's Possessions" from "The Hoosier Folk-Child" by James Whitcomb Riley, The Bobbs-Merrill Company; "In Pioneer Days" by Canniff Haight, The Hunter, Rose Company; "The Country Boy's Creed" by Edwin Osgood Grover; "Harvest Time" by E. Pauline Johnson, The Musson Book Company; "Getting in the Hay" by Carl Werner, Everybody's Magazine; "A Colony of Honey-Bees" by E. R. Root, The University of Ohio Agricultural College.

"Morning in the Northwest" by Arthur Stringer and "September" by Helen Hunt Jackson are published by special arrangement with Messrs. Little, Brown & Company.

The author also wishes to thank the Westminster Publishing Company for permission to reprint the following articles of his: "A Raccoon Hunt," "Bubo Virginianus— the Story of a Great Horned Owl" and "Tommy, the Story of a Woodchuck"; and also the Presbyterian Pubvi PREFACE

lications for permission to reprint "The Trees on the Farm," ''The Early Spring Wild Flowers," ''Birds of the Farm," "Welcome and Unwelcome Visitors," "Among the Evergreens" and "The Roadside in July," contributed to them by the author at various times.

Thanks are also due to Mr. R. S. Cassels, Toronto, for some of the photographs of wild flowers which appear in the Reader, to the Eastman Kodak Company for the photographs which appear on pages 310 and 413, and to the Ladies' Home Journal for the illustrations which appear on pages 310-314.

Part I— Autumn Page

The Country Boy's Possessions James Whitcomb Riley . . 2

The Wonderful World . . . W. B. Rands 3

Grandfather's Farm 4

Farmer John John T. Trowbridge ... 8

The Smallest Plants on the

Farm 11

The Animal Tent 14

The Country Boy's Creed . Edwin Osgood Grover . . 19

September . . . . . . Hele^i Hunt Jackson ... 20

The Soil 21

Seed-Time and Harvest . . Henry Wadsworth Longfellow {adapted) .... 25 The Spring Valley Corn Club

{to be continued) 30

Pocket-Money M. B. Stevenson .... 33

Thanksgiving Song 37

A Raccoon Hunt 38

The Story of Cotton 42

How Plants Are Fed 45

Indian Summer .... Wilfred Campbell ... 48

The Campaign {to be continued) 49

WINTER

PAGE

Back to the Soil 56

Jack Frost Hannah F. Gould ... 57

Keeping Up the Soil 59

(continued) 62

The Trees on the Farm 65

The Snow-Storm .... John Greenleaf Whittier . . 73

A Visit to the Farm . . . Ralph Connor .... 78

A Barn-Yard Meeting 90

The Horse's Prayer 95

In Pioneer Days .... Cannif Haight {adapted) . 97

The Campaign {continued) 102

SPRING

A Song of Spring .... Psalm 104 106

The Song-Sparrow .... Henry van Dyke . . . . 107

A Wet Field no

The Legend of the Dandelion . Carolyn S. Bailey . . . 118

Preparing the Seed-Bed 120

{concluded) 124

The Apple Tree 128

The Planting of the Apple Tree William Cullen Bryant . . 132

The Campaign {concluded) 134

The Redwing Bliss Carman 139

CONTENTS ix

PAGE

Birds of the Farm: Orchard

and Garden 140

The Farmer's Friends , . , Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 143

Nature's Song Madison Cawein .... 144

Tom's Bicycle 145

Tommy — the Story of a Woodchuck 151

''What Do We Plant When

We Plant a Tree? " . . Henry Abbey 160

SUMMER

A Song of Wheat 162

Round and Round the Farm 163

Breaking in the Colt . . . M. B. Stevenson . . . . 165

Scythe Song Andrew Lang . . . . . 168

The Cotton-Plant 169

The Turnip-Hoeing Match . Ralph Connor .... 174

A Midsummer Song . . . Richard Watson Gilder . . 185

A Day on the Farm . . . Urban Lavery . . . . 187

Evening at the Farm . . . John T. Trowbridge . . . 194

Clean Home Milk .... Mary Rogers Miller . . . 197

In the Plum Yard . . . . E. P. Powell 200

Mine Host Thomas Westwood . . . 202

A Boy's Song James Hogg 203

Ceres and Proserpina 205