They have been having a little Arbor Day all to themselves, for alas, Primrose Cottage is sadly in need of trees. The tiny beds along the walks must be filled, too, with violets and bluets. Many talks are given in the presence of the simpering ladies of Primrose Cottage, as to the uses of trees. We played a little guessing game, bringing in the usefulness of the trees. Here are some of the questions. Mr. Gray Squirrel was looking for a tree to supply him with food for the winter. What kind of a tree did he choose? I am a tree growing in a sunny place. On hot days many people thank me. Why? I am found in great rooms, where all kinds of furniture is made. What kind of a tree might I be? etc. Then we purchase (?) trees for Primrose Cottage. We set out the apple trees in little rows (such an opportunity for number), and we plant horse chestnuts, maples and elm trees around the house. The trees are twigs, of course, but that doesn't matter. The simple little Patty Pink and Betty Blue tree talks were really a preparation' for our own Arbor Day, and I am sure that the planting of the sturdy little maple meant more to the children than would have been possible without the PattyBetty play. ILHELMINA and Peter are the dearest, oddestlooking little couple! Such 'roly-poly little folks! Not that they are plumper than children of other countries, but because of the way in which they are dressed just like their mother and father. Wilhelmina is a very little girl, just beginning to walk, but she wears a little white cap with wings that turn back from the face. The waist of her dress is tight and a kerchief is folded over her shoulders, her skirt is very full and she wears I don't dare tell you how many petticoats for fear you won't believe me - but her mother wears thirteen! Pieter his name isn't spelled just like our Peter's, but it sounds the same wears a tight little brown coat with big buttons, full baggy trousers, with still larger buttons on the band, a red kerchief around his neck, and a tall round hat. Both Wilhelmina and Pieter wear klompen on their feet, and the name sounds just like the noise the klompen make on the cobblestones. They are shoes hollowed and shaped from a block of wood, the toes pointed and turning When they are old they make fine boats. I've been told that once in a while they are used as cups by the children of course. On the toes of Wilhelmina's little klompen, cher up. ries are carved. Dear me, I haven't told you yet where Wilhelmina and Pieter live! Their home is in Holland, a part of the Netherlands. The land is all lower than the sea, and a part of it was once the bottom of lakes. The water of the lakes was drained off into broad, deep canals, and high banks, called dykes, were built around, so if the water should rise higher than the canals it could not overflow. Against the sea, too, strong dykes are built of huge rocks and timbers, made solid with earth. The dykes have to be watched all the time for fear the great sea billows pounding against them will force their way in, and roll oyer the villages and farms, To show you how much the people of Holland think of their home-land, I must tell you that all the big rocks and slabs of granite, that help make the dykes strong, had to be brought from other countries, for in Holland, hardly a stone "grows" big enough for a boy to skip over the water. If you stood on the top of a dyke (they are broad enough sometimes for a road and a row of houses), you could see canals everywhere, cutting the land into squares. You would see fields of long, bright green grass, cottages with red roofs, and wind-mills, wind-mills twirling their merry arms, 'way off to "the edge of the world." Holland would be like a great wet sponge if the rain water were not pumped out, and that is the work the wind-mills are doing, and flinging the water into the canals. When the canals are frozen in winter the people of Holland can have splendid times skating. They just buckle on their steel-shod wooden skates, and away they fly! They skate from one city to another, to market, and even to school-I wonder if the boys and girls go "straight in" when they get there. Let us take an airship and fly low over some of the cities and notice a few of the things about them that we do not see in our own country. You may ask questions and I will answer them, only do not lean over too far and tip the ship. "What are those girls and women doing on their knees in the street?" "Why, they are so neat, they are pulling weeds and grass from between the cobblestones." "Why are there little mirrors outside the windows of some of the houses?" "Those are 'spies' or 'busy-bodies.' The lady inside can see, by looking in one who is at the door or what is going on down the street." "Oh, look at the piles of red and yellow cannon balls on the sidewalk!" "Those are cheese balls. This is cheese market day in that city." "See, there's a bridge swinging away from that canal, and a man above is dropping a fish line, with a klomp tied to it, into the boat that is passing through." "He is collecting toll for opening the bridge." "Do you see that dog harnessed to a big cart filled with big bright cans? Why is that old lady dressed in a blue cloak lined with red, and a big glazed cap, and standing holding a flag? And look at that boat on the canal with a whole family in it, just as if they lived there, and "Wait a minute. You will fall out of the airship if you get too excited. That is a 'truly' dog-cart carrying milk to the customers of the woman who walks beside it. The old lady is signaling at a railway crossing; and families do live. on the canal boats summer and winter." "Don't you see the narrow canal, and the little bridge, with a gate at one end of it standing up alone? The canal is the farmer's fence." "Oh! see the lovely rainbow trailing over the fields! It looks as if there might be a pot of gold at the other end!" "The rainbow is miles and miles of beautiful hyacinths, purple, lavender, pink, and white-each color in a long bed by itself, with paths between. There are tulips there, too, pink, white and yellow. The yellow tulips are as fragrant as the hyacinths." "Those houses look as if they were holding up their skirts to go in wading." "That is to keep their floors from getting wet when the tide comes in. They are built on timbers, set up firmly on end." Now let us turn - how we have to dodge the wind-mills! Here we are, back to Wilhelmina and Pieter's home. Their father, who is a fisherman, can see only the tops of the two chimneys of the cottage, when he is in a boat on the other side of the dyke. The smoke goes through one chimney, but the other is a "make-believe" to coax the storks to build a nest there. The people of Holland are very fond of storks and think they bring good fortune with them. The door of the cottage is in two parts so the upper half can be swung open, while the lower half is closed to keep the baby from tumbling out. We will make a picture of a stork and of the cottage, then we will go inside and make a call. How pretty the blue and white dishes are, in long rows behind the rails, and how all the metal dishes shine! Then there is the carved wardrobe, and the big fireplace with its wooden canopy and cloth ruffle. But we must finish our picture. We will put in it a few wind-mills, a big dyke, a narrow canal, and a cow. Now Pieter will tell us about some of the good times the little folks have in Holland. "We have fun just before Easter, when the market men come around leading their fat cows, to show us what a good roast we may have for our Easter dinner. An orange is stuck on each horn of the cow, and a rosette and streamers of colored paper are tied to her tail. The butter men come too, and bring us a sheep made of butter, with currant eyes, and the baker brings a cake tied with ribbon. Then the mother boils eggs hard, and dyes them pretty colors, and on Easter she hides them in the long grass. The one who finds the most, without their shells broken, gets a chocolate egg. I got one last year. "But the day we love best of all is Saint Nicholas day." "Is that Christmas?" "Oh, no." (Pieter's mother says, "Saint Nicholas' day is the sixth of December.") "It is the day we have our presents. Saint Nicholas comes the evening before, dressed in a long red robe, trimmed with white, and a funny cap. "When he comes in we sing: 'Saint Nicholas, kind man, Comes every year from Spain; He is a rich, rich uncle.' (We cannot make it rhyme as Pieter did.) "Saint Nicholas tells of the naughtiest things we've done. since he was here; and if we've been extra good he praises us for that. Then he scatters sugar plums about and we scramble for them. When he goes we sing: 'Saint Nicholas put some in my shoe, Put some in my boot, Thank you, Saint Nicholas.' Fig. 5 May Baskets for Primary T ARIANNA KELLEY, Bristol, Conn. HERE may be children who do not know what May baskets are for. If so, there is a new pleasure in store for them. These baskets are to be filled or "partly filled" with candy, popcorn or peanuts; a bunch of wild flowers being placed on top. Then you hang one mysteriously in the early evening on the door of a friend's house. You ring the bell and then run and hide while your friend exclaims over the basket or runs out to find the giver. On the first evening in May, one should be all ready for adventures, for the hangers of May baskets will be half way down the street or watching your door from behind a tree within a second after the jerk of the door bell. The more baskets you have to hang the more fun there is. If you have no candy to put in them the flowers alone will do very well, they are really more suitable than anything else. nicely made basket does not need very much in it. A Teachers will be able to get plenty of concentration on this kind of work which certainly may be made very educational. The models given here are supposed to be made from white drawing paper, though other paper may of course be used if the colors are harmonized with the decorations. In making the circular baskets, the teacher might have the children trace around cardboard disks, one disk would answer for several children. I would avoid hektographing; if the children do as much of the work as possible they will learn more and be happier. I can remember that as a very small child I had the utmost contempt for outlines ready to be filled in; no matter what the outlines were, they were as absurd to me as a doll with its clothes sewed on. No doubt, many children feel as I did. Let us cultivate originality even in the rough; little children are not expected to make finished productions, but they will do many things surprisingly well. Of course hektographing has its uses in the kindergarten and perhaps in schools where the drawing supervisor's visits are rare, but let us do without it as much as possible. FIGURE 1, DIAGRAM I Cut out a 6" or 7" circle and fold it until there are four diameters, opening the paper each time before folding again. Now fold in the opposite direction on one diameter and fasten as in Fig. 1. It may be fastened by a little strip of paper pasted from one fold to the other or by tying cord or raffia through. For the handle measure and cut out an inch wide strip of paper, fold through the middle and cut in two to get the half inch width. One side of the circular paper had better be tinted before it is cut out, a delicate pink might be used. Fold the pink side in and tint the handle to match. Paper streamers may be added (pink or white) of crimped tissue or crépe paper. Make them about 10" long and about 1" wide and fasten six or more close together at the bottom of the basket, covering the fastening with a gilt star. The basket may be made very gay by fastening three or four streamers to each upper corner, but perhaps it is as well without them. Fig. 2 is made in exactly the same way except that it is fastened together differently as shown in the 'Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 4 Diagram 2 drawing. It is not necessary to put streamers on either basket. They would look pretty filled with arbutus or anemones. FIGURE 3, DIAGRAM 2 UMBRELLA MAY BASKET This is made from a semi-circular paper 7" in diameter. First fold over a narrow piece about " wide at the outer edge, as a lap to fasten the basket together. Divide the remaining space by a fold and continue to fold as shown in the diagram. Now fold outer edge over to second fold and cut a scallop, fold this curve over and trace around it with a pencil. Continue folding and tracing for all the curves. Make the handle about 7" x 1" and fasten to inside of basket. This basket may be tinted like No. 1, but it is better without the streamers. FIGURE 4, DIAGRAM 3 Make this basket 6′′ square. Fold on the light lines, cut on the heavy ones. Fold a to b, and fasten under e. Fold c to d and fasten under f. Make the handle about 10" x 3", cut the ends to a point and fasten on the outside. Tint the four corner squares before making up or even cutting out the basket. The handle may be a deeper tone of the same color. A light violet would be pretty if the basket is to be filled with violets or hepaticas. FIGURE 5, DIAGRAM 4 Draw a 6" square, sub-divide as in pattern and divide corner square into "spaces. Cut on the heavy lines, that is, cut out the whole of a and b, and treat the other corners in the same way. Fold on all the lines. Fold the outside straps over to c and d, and the next straps outside of these and paste together. Make the handles 9" x 1" and snip little triangles. from the ends to make it fit into the space on the outside of the basket. The best decorations will be "bands following the line of the straps, tint straps and handle to match bands-a good exercise with the brush. Orange yellow, yellow or light green, would look well if the basket were to be filled with marsh marigolds, or a manila paper might be painted in orange yellow toned with a bit of black. A fourth grade class might make linings for these baskets. The lining had better be another tone of the color used on the outside. It may not seem necessary to give the proportion of the handles but a slight change in the proportion or color of a model will often make or mar it. All painting should be done before making up the baskets. Inexperienced teachers sometimes meet with difficulties by having them painted the last thing. If white paper is used, strong colors will make too harsh a contrast. "There are bridges on the rivers, But the bow that bridges heaven And builds a road from earth to sky, Fig. 3 Annie's Adventures in Won- tink, tink, tankle, into the bucket was a thin clear liquid A derland (Another A, B, C Story) ALICE E. ALLEN NNIE ran gaily along the road. As she ran, she hummed a little song which she made up right in her head words and music too. All the long stormy winter, Annie had lived in Cousin Alan's house at the top of the big hill. Annie had never seen a country winter before. No wonder it seemed good to see the big snowbanks melt and the grass show green in the sunny places. Annie didn't know as much about snow and grass and trees and birds and flowers as Alan did in a minute the way Annie said it. that's But her head was stuffed brimful of fairies, dryads and naiads and pixies and brownies. Of course there weren't any fairies in New York. Annie had long since given up looking for them there. But in this great big country, where there was so much room left over after all the people were put in, Annie felt sure there must be fairies somewhere. And whenever anything new and strange happened, which. she couldn't understand, down in her heart she said, "Maybe it's fairies." She didn't say it aloud, because sometimes Alan laughed at the queer things she said. To-day the woods were just full of wonderful, beautiful things. On all sides there were tiny uncurlings and unfoldings. You could listen you didn't hear anything move. You could watch a long time, you didn't see anything stir. But if you shut your eyes and your ears, too, you could feel things grow. Or if you went away to-day and came back to-morrow you'd find such a change. So it did seem to Annie that the dainty little fairy folk must be hiding somewhere among the growing greening things. Shy little fern fairies, maybe, in silken trailing robes, and arbutus fairies with pretty pink and white faces who put up eager fingers to push away leaves and even snow-banks so that they might peep out into the big bright world. And of course there were fairies or dryads in the trees; why, if you kept very still, sometimes you could hear them whispering and laughing among themselves. Just then, at one side of the road, a little way in the woods, Annie saw something which made her stand still and wonder. There beside a little path, on a good-sized tree was a big red A. At first Annie thought that it stood for Annie. But all in a flash, it came to her that the A meant Aladdin. Was his wonderful lamp, itself, somewhere near? Of course, if it was, it was hidden. Fairies always hid things. Yes, there lower down on the gray tree-trunk, was something round which shone through the soft gloom. Annie hurried along the path, her heart beating fast. Was it the lamp? It looked like a bright tin bucket. And it hung on a little round spout. The spout went right into the tree itself. And coming out from the tree, through the spout, and dropping with a glad little Maybe it was oil, the magic oil that Aladdin burned in his lamp. Annie's bright eyes peered about the woods. 'Way over was another bright spot against a dark tree trunk. Softly, so as not to disturb the fairies, Annie ran toward it. There, on its tiny spout, hung another bucket. And dripping and dropping, much more like water than oil, out of the tree came the pretty liquid. And up over the spout, on the bark of the tree, was painted a big white B. "B," said Annie very softly. "B?" Oh, that's for the Babes in the Wood, of course. I wonder, was it from this tree the robins took the leaves to cover the dear little lost children? O I do wish I knew!" A plump robin, near by, might have been one of the kindhearted birds, he looked so wise. But when Annie asked him, he flew away. Annie tried to follow him he was probably a fairy himself and could show her all sorts of lovely things if only she could keep up. But Annie had no wings and the robin had. And she fell down, too. When she was right side up again, the robin was nowhere to be seen. But just in front of her on a tall straight tree was another bucket and spout. And over the spout was a blue C. "O, O!" cried Annie. "That's for Cinderella. And this is the third letter and something lovely will surely happen next. Annie tip-toed up to the tree. Carefully she set the bright bucket down on the moss, so as not to spill one drop of the precious liquid. Then she pulled out the spout. She tried to peep inside the tree. She couldn't see a thing. But some of the liquid got on her lips. And it was sweet as honey. As well as she could Annie put back the spout. Then she lifted the bucket to her lips. She had just one long delicious sip and was ready for another, when from the road came the sound of hurrying feet and jolly voices. Annie didn't drop the bucket. She held it carefully in one hand. The other hand she raised warningly. "Sh-sh-sh!" she cried as Alan and Bertram and Cyril came rushing through the woods. "Why Annie," cried Alan, "what are you doing here?" "Don't speak so loud, Alan, please," said Annie. "There are fairies around here somewhere. 'Cause they've marked three of the trees, one for Aladdin, and one for the Babes in the Woods and one for Cinderella. And they've hung dishes on the trees. And the water's so sweet. Maybe they drink it." Alan was laughing so hard he couldn't say a word. Bertram slapped his sides and cried, "Water!" But Cyril didn't laugh- that is, not much. "The fairies didn't mark the trees, Annie," he said. "That is, unless you'd call us boys fairies. You see, there are just three maples in this piece of timber-one's Alan's, one's Bertrams, and this blue one's mine A, B, C." "Yes," said Annie slowly, "but the dishes, Cyril, and the water?" "It isn't water," said Cyril; "it's sap from the maple tree. |