Seeds should be covered to depth of four times their size. Press down firmly. Thin out so plants are not crowded.

Larkspur.-Sow out of doors after danger from frost is over, and at intervals during the summer. Cover to depth of four times the depth of seeds. Press down firmly. Water with fine spray, and do not allow seedlings to dry out when small.

Marigold.-Same cultivation as gourds. Morning Glory.-Same cultivation as gourds. Nasturtium.-Same cultivation as gourds.

Pansies. Sow in shallow boxes in a light window and transplant as soon as the ground is warm. They succeed best in moist, warm soil, protected partially from the hot sun.

Petunia. Plant in boxes in light window, and transplant when danger from frost is past. May be planted in open ground after danger from frost is past.

Phlox.-Same cultivation as gourds.
Pinks. Same cultivation as larkspur.

Poppy. Sow in open ground after danger from frost is over. Cannot be transplanted. Must be thinned very carefully so as not to disturb remaining plants.

Salvia. Same cultivation as asters.

Sunflowers.-Same cultivation as gourds.

Sweet Peas.-Should be sown as early in thespring as possible, in very rich soil prepared deep. Best results are obtained by digging trench one and one-half feet deep and mixing well-rotted manure with the soil in refilling the trench. Verbena. Same cultivation as asters. Zinnias. Same cultivation as gourds. Balsams.-Same cultivation as asters.

THE SOUTH POLE FOUND. HIS earth of ours has two poles, one called the North pole, the other the South pole. If you were to hand teacher an apple or an orange (not for keeps, unless you wish to do so), she could explain the poles to you very easily, so that you would always remember about them. Both the poles are covered by great ice-packs, and the cold is so terrible that it is very hard for anyone to get to them. Not very long ago Mr. Peary reached the North pole, and now it seems that Mr. Amundsen has reached the South pole. Mr. Amundsen is a native of Norway, and the people of that country are as proud of him for what he has done as the American people are of Mr. Peary. As there are only two poles, and as both of them have been discovered, the honor goes to these two men, and to them alone. Their names will go down in history along with other great discoverers. When one thinks of the awful ice-fields over which they had to go, it seems as if they had earned all their honors.

MR. KNOX GOES VISITING.

Secretary Knox, one of the President's helpers, has been visiting the countries of Central America -Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, etc.-and Colombia and Venezuela in South America. His visit was to become better acquainted with the people of these countries, and to tell them of the good feeling of the people of the United States towards them. It was a very gracious thing to do, and it is believed that great good will come from the visit. These people of Central and South America have been a little suspicious of the United States for some reason or other, but Mr. Knox will try to show them that the United States is heartily friendly to them, and rejoices always in their peace and prosperity, as they are are sister republics of our own republic. Everywhere Mr. Knox has been kindly received, the people responding with cheers to his message of good will. Mr. Knox also had the chance to see what our people are doing on the Panama canal, and was delighted to see the progress they were making on the "big ditch."

PRESIDENT TAFT'S DISAPPOINTMENTS.

Our good President has just had two great disappointments lately. One was that the United States Senate, while it passed the arbitration treaties with England and France, on which the President had labored so long in the interest of peace, yet the Senate altered them so much that it is feared that neither England nor France will accept them in their present form. The President fears that the work will have to be done all over again, and this is a disappointment to him and to many of our people who wish to see the end of war among all the nations of the world. The other disappointment to the President is that Mr. Roosevelt has come out against him, and

A

wishes to be President in Mr. Taft's place. good many people think that Mr. Roosevelt is not doing the square thing toward Mr. Taft, and they are saying so out loud. But Mr. Roosevelt has a great many friends who wish to see him President again instead of Mr. Taft, and he feels that he must listen to the call of his friends. We must all wait patiently to see how the matter will turn out. It will be known in June, so that we have not long to wait.

SENDING NEWS TO LONESOME PEOPLE. In the Gulf of St. Lawrenee there is a group of islands called the Magdalen islands, and for six months every year the 4,000 people of these islands are shut away from the mainland by the ice. Think of what it must be to have no mails or newspapers for half of a whole year. It must be dreadfully lonesome. But the Canadian government has thought out a plan to send these icebound people some news of what the great world is doing. Once a week a wireless message of 1,000 words is sent them, and the news is read to the people by the ministers of the churches at the close of the Sunday morning service. It is quite a costly matter, for the expense is $450 a week, or $11,700 for the six months. But it saves the people from being as lonesome as they used to be, as they do not feel that they are cut off entirely from the great world. They are happy in knowing that they are still on the map.

THE FIRST WASHINGTON MONUMENT. When we hear about the "Washington monument" to-day we naturally think of the tall and beautiful shaft on the bank of the Potomac; but there was a monument to him long before the one in Washington was built. This first one was built on the top of a mountain near Boonsboro in Maryland. It was dedicated in 1827 by the soldiers who had been in the Revolutionary war. It was a great occasion. Four hundred men walked up to the mountain top, and cheered whenever they had breath enough left to cheer. Eighty-five years have passed since that glad day, and a large part of the monument has fallen. down. Now the citizens of Boonsboro wish

Congress to help rebuild it, for, rude as it was, it

was the first monument to the Father of his Country in America. It is too bad to see it in ruins, so Congress is likely to put it in good shape again.

MEXICAN TROUBLES AGAIN.

It seems but yesterday since a Mr. Madero. was busy trying to drive President Diaz out of Mexico. In this he succeeded, although it cost hundreds of lives to do it. Then he became President Madero in the place of Diaz. He thought it a great and good thing to drive out Diaz; but now there are a good many Mexicans who are thinking it just as great and good to drive Mr. Madero out of the presidency. Of course he is

[Continued on page 319.]

The Coming of Spring

ALICE GAY JUDD

HERE'S a hint of spring in the east wind's blowing,

And the pussy-willows are peeping out; There's joyous strength in the tree sap's flowing,

And signs of spring are all about.

The snow on the southern slopes is melting,
And the little brook is no longer dumb;
Even the bluejays are hoarsely lilting

That spring has come, that spring has come.

Mother Earth's bosom is filled with rejoicing,
And the tiniest life has lent its ear
To the glad refrain all nature is voicing,
Winter is over and spring is here.

Arbor Day Alphabet

(For twenty-six small children.)

-Selected.

R is for redwood, giant trees,
The largest that can be seen.

S is for spruce, bright evergreen,
And the silvery sycamore.

T is for tulip tree, broad and high,
With its beautiful tulip-like flower.

U is for upas, tropical tree,

With its fabled poisoned air.

V is for vines that cling to the tree
For friendship, strength, and care.

W is for walnut, dark and firm,
And for willow, faithful and true.
X is xanthoxylum, bitter bane
Whose virtue is strengthening power.

Y is for yew tree, dwelling alone,
Friendless and sad we know.

Z is for zenith, the point above, Toward which the trees all grow. -From the Iowa Arbor and Memorial Day Annual.

Good News

HE fairies told the pale snow flowers;
The flowers told the bees;
The bees came forth in sunny hours,
And told it to the trees.

The trees unwrapt their little leaves,
And told it to the birds;

The birds sang songs of harvest sheaves;
All creatures knew the words.

It woke a downy yellow chick
From his warm three weeks' nap;
Who, at his window 'gan to pick;
I heard the casement snap!

Then looking out, he said to me,
What I to you now say:

"The spring has come! for don't you see
That this is Easter day?"

Games of the Tops*

LAURA ROUNTREE SMITH

-Selected.

[The children stand in a circle with one child inside the circle. They skip around in the circle, singing to the tune of "Twinkle, Little Star."]

See the pretty humming tops,

Round and round and round and round,
You can hear them sing a song,
With a pretty humming sound.

The one inside the circle says:

I will buy a top to-day,

For my small boy delights to play.
The children in the circle say:-
No, no, no, we will not go,

We do not like your boy, no, no.

[They skip about the circle again, repeating their song.] The one inside says:

I will buy a top to-day,
For my kitty likes to play.

Those in the circle say:

No, no, no, we will not go, We do not like your cat, no, no. *Book rights reserved.

Book Table

ANDERSEN'S BEST FAIRY TALES. Translated by Alice Corbin Henderson. Illustrated by William P. Henderson. Cloth. 200 pp. Price, 45 cents. JAPANESE FAIRY TALES. Second Series. By Teresa Peirce Williston. Illustrated by Sanchi Ogawa. Cloth. 96 pp. Price, 50 cents.

Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co. A fairy tale told in a charming way or read from a charming book is the delight of children. Andersen's fairy tales are the delight of grown people often, and have frequently been considered somewhat above the heads of young children, with their humor and philosophy. But the translator, Alice Corbin Henderson, has arranged and adapted the stories so that they will appeal even to the very young, and she has at the same time made selections which exhibit the versatility of Andersen's genius. The author is to be praised for basing these tales upon a literal translation. The biography of Andersen has been written in the same style as the tales for the children, and it makes as charming a story as any in the collection. Mr. Henderson's illustrations, in flat color masses, are the suggestive sort which appeal to the child's imagination.

The other collection of fairy tales offered by Rand, McNally this season is adapted from the works of children's writers in an Eastern country. Miss Williston's first series of Japanese fairy tales met with a most cordial reception. Their charm and delight were of a kind hitherto unknown to children of the Western world. It is certain that this second series will be fully as much enjoyed. The illustrations by Sanchi Ogawa are as fascinating as they are indescribable.

The suggestions for teachers in each volume are good. In the second volume they include ideas for dramatization, art work, and play, as well as descriptions of Japanese customs and manners.

CHILD'S FIRST BOOK FOR HOME AND SCHOOL. By Florence Bass. Boston, New York, Chicago: D. C. Heath & Co. Cloth. (52x7.) Price, 30 cents.

This is a most beautiful first book for little children. It is for use as soon as they get to school or even before they go to school. It is focused for the interest of these little people who begin to want to read in the home. The lessons and the pictures appeal to the children. The work is very simple, particularly at first, so that it may be used by the youngest children, those immature little folks who are admitted to the public schools, but who are of the "slow but sure" type in development. It will be helpful to children who have lost time on account of irregular attendance from sickness or severe weather, and who must take the first steps slowly in order to lay a solid foundation for more rapid progress later. The children may easily learn the little songs and rhymes and be ready to use these in learning words later. They may find out many of the new words themselves by pictures or rhymes, and later by sound.

PRIMARY SPELLER. By Edwin S. Richards of Elizabeth, N. J. Boston, New York, Chicago: D. C. Heath & Co. Cloth. 124 pp. Price, 25 cents.

Spelling is a school subject the importance of which no one undervalues, and that no one can teach well without the best possible textbook assistance.. A spelling book is one that a school principal, like Mr. Richards, should be as well equipped to write as any one, and this book for the first four grades shows the author to be master of the situation. The time to place skilful emphasis upon the teaching of spelling is in the first four grades. It is distinctly a spelling book. It is based upon the phonetic method through the primary years. It teaches, systematically, the phonetic usages of our language, and introduces, slowly, groups of unphonetic words, whose peculiarities are thus emphasized in the children's minds.

PRIMARY

MANUAL WORK. Suggestive Outline for First or Second Grade. By Mary F. Ledyard and Bertha H. Breckenfeld, Los Angeles. Drawings and designs by Mrs. Lucy Savage Wilson and May Gearhart, also of Los Angeles. Springfield, Mass.: Milton Bradley Company. Boards. (9x12.) Price, $1.20.

We often speak of the unbelievable in school work, but not often does the term have any such significance as when we say that, even to one who has seen the best work of the best teachers in the best cities, it is unbelievable that the outline here given can be accomplished in the first and second grades. This at least is certainly true, that this work is all done in Los Angeles, and that the description of how to do it and the illustration of the way to do it make it relatively easy for others to do it. This is equally certain, that nowhere else can be found as much that is as vital, as attractive to little children as here, and that no one else has given directions as clearly or illustrated as suggestively the way to do it as have these authors in "Primary Manual Work."

TREES AND HOW TO KNOW THEM. By Professor W. A. Lambeth of the University of Virginia. Richmond: B. F. Johnson Publishing Society. Cloth. 52 pp. Price, 60 cents.

A brief but valuable dissertation on the principal forest trees of the Southland. It is by one who teaches botany in the State University and who knows the subject well. It is intended chiefly for beginners, and so treats of the leaves rather than of the flowers of the trees as the easier method of identification. Useful and comprehensive conclusions by the student of forestry are sought as the supreme aim of the work. An excellent glossary is a feature.

WORLD GEOGRAPHY. Onevolume edition. By Ralph S. Tarr of Cornell and Frank M. McMurry, Ph. D., of Teachers College. With many colored maps and numerous illustrations, chiefly photographs of actual scenes. New York: The Macmillan Company. Cloth. (7x9.) 536 pp. Price, $1.25, net.

The most interesting evolution in school book making has been in the

AB, THE CAVE MAN. A Story of the Time of the Stone Age. Adapted for young readers from "The Story of Ab." By William Lewis Nida, superintendent, River Forest, Ill. Chicago: A. Flanagan Company. Cloth. Illustrated in color. Price, 50 cents.

Mr. Nida says that "The Story of Ab" has proved to be the most fascinating of all stories for secondgrade children, and so he has put the story in their language. The publishers have illustrated the story most effectively. The story might easily approach a second "Robinson Crusoe" could it have a good chance to be universally known. It is certainly the nearest approach of anything in modern times, judged by the enthusiasm of all children- who hear or read it. It should be brought to every pupil.

A CHILD'S READER IN VERSE. By Emma L. Eldridge. New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company. Cloth. Illustrated.

Despite the charge that this is a commercial and prose world verse is in demand as it has never been before. Of course there are no masters in verse as in the days of Holmes, Lowell, Longfellow, Whittier, and but there are in America a thousand writers of verse who find a profitable market for their lines. One of the latest and brightest of the uses for the modern verse writer is this book of fifty reading lessons for little children. They are classified as The Child at Home, The Child at School, The Child Out of Doors, and Some Other Children. The vocabulary keeps within the child's range. The aim is not to produce poetry but to help the little people to read fluently by baiting them with fascinating jingles.

SEA SECRETS. By Cornelia Francis Bedell. Illustrated by Artno Wilbur Parsons, under the direction of the author. New York: Stewart & Co. Cloth. 47 pp. Price, 50 cents.

This is a collection of little verses which the author writes for children "So that you may have an idea

Of how happy fish can be, When they're swimming all together In the playgrounds of the sea."

The charming little verses about the amiable whale, the sociable lobster, the lucky little oyster, and so on, are printed on pages that are colored entirely with characteristic designs in two, three, and sometimes five colors.