Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1920-04-28
Practical Chats
with
Mothers

of all hhe fascinating things
child can do IN garden Really
when one comes to think of II gar
den is a veritahle wonderland in which
there need never be any dull moments.
One mother who lives in the sub
urbs and boasts of a tiny but lovely
garden realized last year how many
valuable lessons could be taught to her
children in the outdoor world and
bow fascinating the little folks Would
find this study
Her story may provide few valll-
able aud practical hints to other
mothers. who if not 50 fortunate as to
live in the country can at least carry
out some Of the ideas explained below
by taking her children TO the parks
frequently and there instructing them
In bird and garden lore
AS the days get longer the birds
are increasingly active says TINS
clever mother. at IS marvellous how
tame they become If they are fed. We
found that the great thing was to be
very quiet and avoid all sudden move
ments. Then the birds would come
very close to pick up the crumbs
W men were Sftileit'l
zone robin became so tame that he
would take fragments Of food out OF a
hand Bits of bread and halves OF
cocoanut were suspended within view
of a window aud the children were
greatly entertained in watching the
antics of the birds. When the inevi-
table cold swept through the house
hold and every one had to stay indoors
there was always delightful hour TO
he spent in watching the bird acr0Dats
I'VE provided several nesting boxes,
These can be formed of all kinds Of
things from candy box to an old
kettle The only essential points are
that they should be snug and reason
ably uatertight The opening to the
inside e the box should not be too
large.
"TheShoXes must be placed in a
quiet PAL of the garden. preferably in
the brarA hes of small tree, though
this is IN., absolutely necessary. A
position on'p wall would answer the
purpose weC
we did t0t place any building ma
terial ia nc boxes, as this seems to
make the Hrds rather suspicious. 1t
was foungk2o be good plan to put tiny
twigs ,bi5 Of worsted. pieces Of straw
aud any odds and ends near the box
rs the little homebuilders We're very
quick TO AXE advantage of such MA
teriaL Although il is great tempta-
ton to keep on looking at the boxes
they must only be examined with eX-
IRENE caution. When the eggs have
been laid there Is moi the same danger
Of the birds deserving the nest, though
this happening Is always a possibility
if any part of the nest is handled
How many persons have really
watched the opening of a flower: This
is splendid sport-more fascinating
than a lot of games one day after
breakfast everybody treoped out to see
the crocuseS open. IT was possible to
tell those which would be sure To ex-
pand. As they looked so big. lust As if
they were bursting to open their golden
petals to the glowing sunshine.
"A fine clump in IA warm corner was
selected to watch, and at first 1t did not
seem as If anything was going 10 hap
pen. Then, all at once the buds com
menced to hurst omen on all sides, the
petals spread out, and soon the bed was
a sheet Of blazing yellow.
In one of our nature books we read
that crocuses are very good weather
flowers that Is. they do not open when
it is going to rain. OF course, we all
wondered whether this was true. You
can imagine how pleased we were when
we found that on several days when
the crocuSes opened it did not rain.
while when the blossoms were closed
in the morning it almost always poured
before nightfall.
One very warm day when the Gro.
cuses were fully expanded we found
that there were lot Of bees about-the
first of the new year. 1t Is very inter
estlpg 10. watch these active insects