Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L 1
 
 This book is DI 
 
 i 
 
 192' 
 
 J below 
 
 JAN 4 
 
 STATE HOBMAL SCHOOL
 
 The Corn Lady
 
 THE CORN LADY
 
 The Corn Lady 
 
 The Story of 
 
 a Country 
 
 Teacher's 
 
 Work 
 
 2772 
 
 By 
 
 JESSIE FIELD 
 
 County Superintendent of Schools 
 Pagf County, Iowa 
 
 A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 
 CHICAGO
 
 COPYBISHT 1911 
 
 BV 
 A. FLANAGAN COMPANY
 
 Education 
 library 
 
 \_ 
 
 :^H 
 
 F4 
 
 DEDICATED TO MY FATHER 
 AND ALL OTHER NOBLE, IN- 
 TELLIGENT FARMERS THE 
 PRODUCERS UPON WHOM 
 WE ARE ALL DEPENDENT.
 
 Tke Corn Lady 
 
 2 772- 2- 
 Wheaton, Iowa, September 3, 1910 
 
 DEAR DADDY : Yes, I have really taught 
 my first day of country school. I do like 
 it, just as I always thought I would, for 
 there is so much that must be done. You 
 know how I love the country, Daddy, and 
 how way back in those dear days at Sunny- 
 side Farm, I used to declare in my few seri- 
 ous moments that I was going to be a coun- 
 try teacher when I grew up. I remember 
 how your brown eyes twinkled as you looked 
 at my cropped head and bare brown feet 
 and said: 
 
 "But is it possible that my tomboy daugh- 
 ter will ever sober down enough to be a 
 dignified teacher?" 
 
 Then I would run under the colt, jump on 
 his back and slide off just to show you 
 what I could do; or I'd scamper away to
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 whisper my hopes and ambitions to the lit- 
 tle mother who had taught me to love all 
 growing things. Her eyes would look very 
 gentle, as though they saw far into the fu- 
 ture, as she said: 
 
 "Yes, little daughter; if you try hard and 
 study and work, you may sometime be a 
 great teacher." 
 
 "And can I be a great teacher and teach 
 in the country?" I would ask. 
 
 Her blue eyes, so clear and true, would 
 search deeper than ever in my brown ones 
 as she answered: 
 
 "Yes, the greatest of teachers and teach 
 in the country if you only have the eyes 
 to see and understand your opportunity." 
 
 Mother knew r , didn't she? And in the 
 days that are to come, I shall try to build 
 so well that I can carry out what she said. 
 I already see the great chance for service 
 and, surely, the greatest teacher is the one 
 who helps the most. 
 
 I saw some goldenrod and purple asters 
 as I came to school this morning and have 
 had a bouquet of them on my desk all day. 
 They have brought a flood of happy mem- 
 ories of those days when I walked back and 
 forth over country roads from Sunnyside
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 11 
 
 Farm to high school in town. I always 
 felt sorry, when I came to the corner by our 
 country school, that a person ever had to 
 learn so much that she couldn't go to coun- 
 try school any longer. I also remember the 
 night when I was caught in a heavy rain 
 
 A COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE 
 
 and the sickness that came to me because of 
 it. But it was fine when I began to get 
 better. The doctor said I couldn't go back 
 to school for a whole year and that I had 
 better be out of doors a great deal. So you 
 let me help you and I even learned to milk
 
 12 THE CORN LADY 
 
 cows! I raised ducks, too dear little yel- 
 low swimmers and planted some cornl 
 When I was tired of this, which I must con- 
 fess was not very often, mother let me go 
 into the attic and rip up all the old clothes 
 and make them over for the children, or 
 make bread and get supper all by myself. 
 
 Weren't we so happy when the chance 
 came for me to work my way through col- 
 lege? For there were so many of us that 
 you couldn't very well afford to send me. 
 During all those years in college, I still 
 was getting ready and wanting to be a coun- 
 try school teacher. When my senior year 
 came, though, the professors and the fact 
 that I could make more money to help the 
 girlies through school finally persuaded 
 me to take a position in the high school. 
 
 I liked that year in high school work. The 
 boys and girls were so kind that I felt just 
 like one of them. I was only twenty years 
 old and I guess they thought I wasn't a very 
 cross chaperone, for they always were want- 
 ing me to go with them on their picnics. I 
 liked it and yet, in the corner of my heart, 
 I was hungry for the country. I think it 
 was more than the corner that was hungry, 
 but I was so busy that I crowded it into a
 
 THE CORN LADY 13 
 
 corner and kept a smiling face. You un- 
 derstand, Daddy, for you have just the 
 same feeling for the country. I believe I 
 inherited it from you this love for the open 
 country and the soil and farm people. 
 Thank you for the heritage. It is the best 
 thing I have known. 
 
 It was like Providence when Mr. Brown 
 came in and told me that they w r anted a 
 good teacher for the Oak Grove School next 
 year, and that they would pay me as much 
 as I was getting in high school. Didn't I 
 just jump at the chance? You should have 
 seen the look on the face of Grace Berry 
 the brilliant sophisticated teacher of history 
 in our high school when I told her. She 
 looked as though she would faint away as 
 she exclaimed: "Going to teach a country 
 school?" She is too polite to say what she 
 thinks, but her face told me that she believes 
 I am going backward in my profession, in- 
 stead of progressing. Poor, ignorant spin- 
 ster lady that she is; she has entirely failed 
 to keep up with the times. Her mind is too 
 shallow to hear the call of the country; to 
 appreciate the great stretches of green fields ; 
 to know the delicious odor of upturned sod 
 and to understand the gladness, the peace
 
 14 THE CORN LADY 
 
 and the satisfying fulness of it all. But, 
 if she were half alive, she might realize how 
 refined and splendid country homes are get- 
 ting to be; that country people have all the 
 modern conveniences and comforts without 
 the gossip, unrest and envy of the town 
 folks. 
 
 In my district there are some very nice 
 homes. One is as beautiful as any I have 
 seen anywhere. Not so grand, perhaps, but 
 homelike, with the lawn soft and velvety, 
 roses climbing over everything and a big, 
 inviting porch. Inside, there's a splendid 
 library containing many good books and 
 magazines, nice rugs, a bathroom, and a cosy 
 dining room where such wholesome things 
 to eat are served. And the people that live 
 here? They are good, unselfish, farseeing 
 country people, well educated and interested 
 in the Farmers' Institute, the State Agricul- 
 tural College and everything that will help 
 make country life all it can be. You ought 
 to see the road in front of this house. It 
 is a regular boulevard and the farmer told 
 me it was made so simply by the use of the 
 King road drag. Well, when I looked at 
 it, I was sure of one thing he was never too 
 busy to drag it when it was needed.
 
 THE CORN LADY 15 
 
 Best news of all. It just makes me want 
 to dance a jig. I am whistling a tune as 
 I write this. I know r I'm a teacher, but 
 there's no one to hear but you and you 
 
 THE SCHOOL GARDEN 
 
 don't mind for you've heard me before. I 
 am going to get board there. It is about a 
 mile from the schoolhouse but I don't mind 
 that, for it will be the happiest place to stay 
 and they will help me.
 
 16 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Not all the homes are like this. Some are 
 farmed by renters, who look as though they 
 were not caring very much and as though 
 their corn would not go more than twenty 
 bushels to the acre. There are, evidently, 
 all kinds of people in this district. 
 
 But, even the most run-down homes and 
 farms compare favorably with the school- 
 house and yard. The house needs paint- 
 ing; the coal house has holes in it; the fence 
 is falling down and it looks as though no 
 one cared very much whether it kept step 
 with the advance in country life or not. The 
 schoolhouse is not clean inside, either. The 
 director said he was soriy about this, but 
 could find no one to do the work. 
 
 Such a school it is, for thirty-one bright 
 boys and girls. Just an ordinary country 
 school, such as you were director of twenty- 
 five years ago. Sometimes a better teacher 
 would come for a term and try to improve 
 conditions by making it an imitation of a city 
 school. People do not need to look further 
 than to just such a school as this, to know 
 why the young people are leaving the f arms 
 and crowding our cities. 
 
 I am going to try, in my country school, 
 to teach the children in terms of country life.
 
 THE CORN LADY n 
 
 I want to make it of real service to the dis- 
 trict to the farms and the homes. I will 
 write and tell you in the old "Honest Injun, 
 cross my heart and hope to die" way just 
 how I succeed. 
 
 Love to mother and the girlies. If you 
 see Tom, invite him up to supper and try to 
 keep him from getting lonesome until he 
 goes to college again. I am missing you all 
 to-night, but I will write often and tell you 
 all about your girl, who is very proud to 
 sign -herself, 
 
 A COUNTRY TEACHER.
 
 18 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, October 4, 1910 
 
 DEAR DADDY : Well, the first month has 
 gone and I surely do think that teaching 
 country school is the best work in the world. 
 The country is beautiful these early autumn 
 days. The corn is tall and straight, with the 
 ears hanging down as though they were quite 
 weary of their own weight. I wish you were 
 here. Shut your eyes and think of hills and 
 hills and valleys covered with rows of corn; 
 with grain and alfalfa fields between 'and 
 here and there pretty white houses and 
 red barns. Daddy, doesn't the sight do your 
 heart good? 
 
 I have spent most of the time, when I 
 could get my school work finished, in getting 
 acquainted with the people. I have been to 
 see them all and they were glad to have me 
 come. There is one family that is very poor. 
 They came here from the mountains of the 
 South about a year ago. The father is not 
 very well and he doesn't understand farming 
 at all. It is a large family, the oldest an in-
 
 THE CORN LADY 19 
 
 telligent, ambitious btoy about fourteen years 
 old. He cannot come to school this Fall, 
 for it is necessaiy for him to stay home and 
 help with the work; but I am going to teach 
 him during evenings and he is looking for- 
 ward to the time when corn husking is fin- 
 ished so that he can start in. 
 
 You should know another of my boys 
 whom I like. They tell me that last year 
 the teacher had to use the stove poker on 
 him and the director finally found it nec- 
 essary to expel him for the good of the rest 
 of the pupils. He is seventeen years old and 
 has a dark, forbidding face. But, under- 
 neath the mask that he wears to hide his real 
 feelings, I can see strength and promise of 
 a better manhood. I am finding a way to 
 help him to waken up his good side and I'll 
 tell j^ou about it later. 
 
 We had a school cleaning bee and all 
 turned in and made the schoolhouse just 
 shine. The boys carried water; the girls 
 washed the windows and desks and blacked 
 the stove and I scrubbed the floor. We 
 were all so proud of the house, when it was 
 clean, that I didn't mind my aching muscles 
 a bit. They all cleaned their feet the next 
 morning without being told and I even
 
 20 THE CORN LADY 
 
 saw them rubbing out marks in their books. 
 I sort of believe they have cleaner hearts for 
 having a clean school home, too. 
 
 Mr. Brown, my director, heard that the 
 schoolhouse was clean and he came over to 
 look at it. He was well pleased and said 
 he liked the cover I had made for the chart, 
 too, and the good way in which the children 
 were behaving. Before he left, he said he 
 thought that since we had done the work 
 of cleaning the schoolhouse we should have 
 the pay. So he gave us an order for three 
 dollars, which was what they would have 
 had to pay to get it done. We couldn't 
 think what to get at first, but we finally de- 
 cided to get a water jar, with a cover and a 
 faucet, and each pupil said he would get 
 a cup to use. So Daddy, you see we are 
 getting very sanitary ; we have a clean, clean 
 schoolhouse and individual drinking cups. 
 
 We also decided there were some more 
 things we needed. So we voted for a com- 
 mittee of the big boys and girls to plan a 
 pie and coffee social to raise some money. 
 We had such a nice time and there was 
 enough money as a result to buy material for 
 some pretty sash curtains, and to put a set 
 of supplementary readers in the school
 
 THE CORN LADY 21 
 
 library for my first, second, third and eighth 
 grade classes. Mr. Brown is going to have 
 the schoolhouse papered for us. We bought 
 a beautiful copy of Sir Galahad, too, and 
 
 INDIVIDUAL DRINKING CUPS 
 
 the boys made a frame for it. They love 
 the picture of this knight of the pure heart. 
 1 think Edward, the dark-browed boy that
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 I told you about, likes it best ; but he doesn't 
 say anything much about it. 
 
 You should have heard the children dram- 
 atize "Farmer John." You remember that 
 old poem: 
 
 FARMER JOHN 
 
 Home from his journey Farmer John 
 Arrived this morning safe and sound; 
 His black coat off and his old clothes on, 
 "Now, I'm myself/' said Farmer John, 
 
 And he thinks, "I'll look around." 
 Up leaps the dog : "Get down, you pup ! 
 Are you so glad you would eat me up?" 
 And the old cow lows at the gate to greet him, 
 The horses prick up their ears to meet him. 
 
 "Well, well, old Bay, 
 
 Ha, ha, old Gray, 
 Do you get good food when I'm away?" 
 
 "You haven't a rib," says Farmer John; 
 "The cattle are looking round and sleek; 
 The colt is going to be a roan, 
 And a beauty, too ; how he has grown ! 
 
 We'll ween the calf in a week." 
 Says Farmer John, "When I've been off 
 To call you again about the trough, 
 And watch you and pet you while you drink, 
 Is a greater comfort than you can think;" 
 And he pats old Bay, 
 And he slaps old Gray, 
 "Ah, this is the comfort of going away!"
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 "For, after all," says Farmer John, 
 "The best of a journey is getting home; 
 I've seen great sights but I would not give 
 This spot and the peaceful life I live 
 
 For all their Paris and Rome; 
 These hills for the city's stifled air 
 And big hotels and bustle and glare; 
 Lands all houses, and roads all stones 
 That deafen your ears and batter your bones ! 
 
 Would you, old Bay? 
 
 Would you, old Gray? 
 That's what one gets by going away." 
 
 "There Money is king," says Farmer John, 
 "And Fashion is queen, and it's very queer 
 To see how sometimes when the man 
 Is raking and scraping all he can, 
 
 The wife spends, every year, 
 Enough you would think for a score of wives 
 To keep them in luxury all their lives ! 
 The town is a perfect Babylon 
 To a quiet chap," said Farmer John. 
 
 "You see, old Bay, 
 
 You see, old Gray, 
 I'm wiser than when I went away." 
 
 "I've found this out," said Farmer John, 
 "That happiness is not bought and sold, 
 And clutched in a life of waste and hurry, 
 In nights of pleasure and days of worry, 
 
 And wealth isn't all in gold, 
 Mortgages, stocks and ten per cent, 
 But in simple ways and sweet content,
 
 24 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Few wants, pure hopes and noble ends, 
 Some land to till and a few good friends, 
 
 Like you, old Bay, 
 
 And you, old Gray, 
 That's what I've learned by going away." 
 
 And a happy man is Farmer John 
 Oh, a rich and happy man is he! 
 He sees the peas and pumpkins growing, 
 The corn in tassel, the buckwheat blowing, 
 
 And fruit on vine and tree; 
 The large, kind oxen look their thanks 
 As he rubs their foreheads and pats their flanks ; 
 The doves light round him and strut and coo; 
 Says Farmer John, "I'll take you, too; 
 
 And you, old Bay, 
 
 And you, old Gray, 
 Next time I travel so far away." 
 
 TROWBRIDGE. 
 
 The whole school has a part in it and the 
 front of the schoolroom is the barnyard. One 
 of the big boys read the play and the rest 
 acted their parts. One youngster delighted 
 to be the dog and how he did jump and bark 
 at the right place ! The little primaries were 
 the doves. Two of the girls were "Old Bay" 
 and "Old "Gray." When my Tennessee boy 
 was through reading it the other day, I said : 
 
 "Do you like the farm best?" 
 
 "Indeed, I do," he answered.
 
 THE CORN LADY 25 
 
 My intermediate reading class likes the 
 poem: 
 
 THE BOY WITH THE HOE 
 
 'Say, how do you hoe your row, young chap, 
 Say, how do you hoe your row? 
 
 Do you hoe it fair, 
 
 Do you hoe it square, 
 
 Do you hoe it the best you know? 
 Do you cut the weeds as you ought to do 
 And leave what's worth while there? 
 
 The harvest you garner depends on you, 
 
 Are you working it on the square?" 
 
 "Are you killing the noxious weeds, young chap. 
 Are you making it straight and clean? 
 
 Are you going straight 
 
 At a hustling gait, 
 
 Do you scatter all that's mean? 
 Do you laugh and sing and whistle shrill 
 And dance a step or two? 
 
 The road you hoe leads up a hill ; 
 
 The harvest is up to you." 
 
 I have made some "Farm Charts" for my 
 little people and I'll send you some pictures 
 of them. Of course, one cannot do many 
 things for children until she knows them, 
 but I believe they are already learning to 
 love the farm. There are so many little 
 ways in which to interest the children in the
 
 26 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 found 
 
 corn 
 
 good 
 
 ear 
 
 papa 
 
 I found a food ear of corn. 
 Papa tested and planted it. 
 It Had even rows. 
 I like good corn and some day 
 I will ^row it on my farm. 
 
 A READING CHART
 
 THE CORN LADY 27 
 
 country. I wish you could see all the dif- 
 ferent products that they have brought for 
 our "farm corner" apples, corn, gourds, 
 pumpkins and flowers. 
 
 I have written to the Extension Depart- 
 ment of the State College of Agriculture 
 and, also, to the National Department of 
 Agriculture for all the helps they have for 
 teaching agriculture and home economics in 
 country schools. Also, I have asked them 
 for information in regard to the gravest 
 problems of the farms and the homes in this 
 part of our state. They have sent me some 
 very helpful printed matter and have writ- 
 ten letters showing their great interest. And, 
 Daddy, you should see me devour the farm 
 paper I have subscribed for. I read it even 
 before I do the Ladies' Home Journal and 
 I am getting so many helpful things from 
 it. 
 
 We are planning to do so much this 
 month. I will tell you about it in my next 
 letter. Lovingly your 
 
 COUNTRY TEACHER.
 
 28 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, November 1, 1910 
 
 DEAR DADDY: We have just finished 
 putting in our tulip bulbs. The boys 
 brought their spades and rakes from home 
 and have been working before school a.nd at 
 recesses all week getting the ground ready. 
 We put our bed up close to the schoolhouse, 
 on the south side. Each of the youngsters 
 has two bulbs that he calls his own and we 
 planted them to-day, during the afternoon 
 recess. Then, we covered the bed over with 
 leaves and left it for the winter, knowing 
 that through the cold the roots would be 
 reaching down and gathering;, strength for 
 the burst of gold and crimson in the early 
 spring. 
 
 The county superintendent sent us our 
 tulip bulbs. They were given by a man who 
 is interested in beautiful school grounds 
 enough for every school six thousand bulbs. 
 The superintendent has a Babcock Milk 
 Tester, too, which she sends out to the dif- 
 ferent schools that wish to learn how to use 
 it. She let us have it for two weeks last
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 29 
 
 month. I was very glad, indeed, as there are 
 two men in the district who have quite a 
 number of cows. 
 
 The pupils brought samples of the milk 
 from their cows at home and we tested it the 
 
 PART OF THE TULIP BED 
 
 first thing in the morning to find the per- 
 centage of butter fat that it contained. We 
 found some cows that tested as low as two 
 and a half per cent, and others that tested 
 as high at six and six tenths per cent. We 
 had some problems from this and actually
 
 30 THE CORN LADY 
 
 found out that the cow that gave only two 
 and a half per cent was not paying her 
 board. The man who has the largest num- 
 ber of cows came up and asked me if he 
 
 OUR TULIP BED 
 
 could use the tester after we were through 
 with it at school. I told him I would ask 
 the superintendent and she said he might; 
 so he took it and tested his cows very care- 
 fully with the help of his son, who had
 
 THE CORN LADY 31 
 
 learned to do so at school. Pretty soon I 
 heard that he had sold six of his cows and 
 bought some splendid, high-testing Guern- 
 seys to take their places in his herd. Isn't 
 that good? He was just paying for the 
 privilege of milking those scrubs, and the 
 good cows will furnish a profit for buying 
 more books and other things that his boys 
 and girls need. 
 
 October tenth was set by our State Col- 
 lege of Agriculture as Seed Corn Picking 
 Day. I explained how important it was that 
 farmers pick their seed corn early, before 
 the first frosts can catch it and kill the germ 
 so that it will not grow next Spring, and 
 asked the pupils that day to each go out in 
 the fields at home and pick for me the best 
 ear of seed corn they could find and bring 
 it to school the next morning. Then I asked 
 one of the fathers, who was a good seed corn 
 judge, to come and talk to the children on 
 the good points of an ear of corn for seed. 
 He came and gave a splendid, sensible talk, 
 illustrating it with the ears of corn the chil- 
 dren had brought. You should have seen 
 their eyes shine the children's who found 
 this information about real things most in- 
 teresting; the man who was doing something
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 for his school and, well, the teacher was 
 happy enough for her eyes to shine, too. 
 
 The next day, for language, we wrote an 
 account of what we had learned about corn. 
 I never had secured before such clear ex- 
 pression; such good sentences, or correct 
 punctuation, writing and such neat and 
 thorough work. I had them take their work 
 home when it was completed, and I heard 
 many good words about it. Best of all, I 
 saw that most of the farmers had picked 
 their seed corn carefully from the strongest 
 stalks in the field and hung it up; not wait- 
 ing to throw out the best ears from the 
 wagons after the freezing weather had killed 
 much of it. 
 
 In geography, we have drawn maps of 
 all the farms, showing the fields and what 
 had been planted in each for the past four 
 years. In connection with this> we had some 
 study of soils and considered the importance 
 of crop rotations in keeping the soil fertile. 
 One of the boys brought some alfalfa and we 
 examined the little tubercles that draw the 
 nitrogen into the soil from the air. Some 
 of the fields in this district have been planted 
 to corn for the last ten years, because corn 
 is the "money crop" as they call it; yet the
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 33 
 
 farmers who do this seem to be making but 
 little money. 
 
 We have drawn maps of the township, in- 
 dicating the amount of products along every 
 
 LOOKING FOR SEED EARS 
 
 line, as shown in the assessor's books at the 
 county auditor's office. Then we drew the 
 county, showing the banner townships for 
 corn, oats, hay, wheat, alfalfa, apples and
 
 34 THE CORN LADY 
 
 other fruit. And we did the same thing with 
 the state, showing the banner counties. 
 
 I wish you could come and see us. We 
 are having the best school and it's a coun- 
 try school, too. I think in its strength its 
 open-heartedness its wholesome spirit 
 and in the things we are learning, you would 
 know that it belonged with broad fields and 
 country freedom. 
 
 I tell you it is great fun to be just 
 
 A COUNTRY TEACHER.
 
 THE CORN LADY 35 
 
 W heat on, Iowa, December 4, 1910 
 
 DEAREST DADDY: There is so much to 
 tell that I hardly know where to begin. But 
 I think you'd like best- to hear about our 
 "Farm and Home Day." As it came along 
 toward the end of November, the children 
 were all wishing for a program. We talked 
 it over and decided that we would have an 
 exhibit of corn; and of cooking and sewing. 
 Each boy was to bring the best single ear of 
 corn he could find and, also, the best ten 
 ears. The girls were to bake a loaf of bread 
 and some cookies. They were to make two 
 buttonholes on gingham and a work apron. 
 The one having the best in each class was to 
 get a blue ribbon, and the next best a red 
 ribbon. 
 
 Then, too, we thought for our program 
 we would have some good essays on prac- 
 tical subjects such as: "How to Make Good 
 Bread;" "The Benefit of Pure Air in Our 
 Homes;" "The Selecting and Storing of 
 Seed Corn;" "Crop Rotations to Keep the 
 Soil Fertile;" "Why I Like to Live on the
 
 36 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Farm" and "The Use of the Babcock Milk 
 Tester." Each pupil selected what they 
 were most interested in and looked up all 
 they could in farm journals, bulletins and 
 papers. They asked their fathers and neigh- 
 bors for pointers, too. 
 
 The little people learned some songs. 
 "The Whistling Farmer Boy" was their mas- 
 ter piece. Then they had a corn drill, 
 dressed to look like ears of corn and the dear 
 little girl, our school baby, held an ear of 
 corn and played she was the "Mother Ear." 
 
 Almost everyone came for the afternoon. 
 I had selected a committee of men and an- 
 other of women, who had no children in 
 school, to judge the exhibits; and I had taken 
 all the names off from the entries and num- 
 bered them. After the ribbons had been put 
 on, we had the program, and then we told 
 whose corn and sewing and cooking had 
 won. 
 
 How can I tell you how glad I was when 
 I saw that the blue ribbon had gone on the 
 single ear that my mountain boy had selected 
 and on the ten ears that the boy with the 
 dark face and the dark past had brought.' 
 Max, the mountaineer, prizes that little blue 
 ribbon more than anything he ever had be-
 
 THE CORN LADY 37 
 
 fore. I could see all the royal strength of 
 his blue-blooded Scotch Calvinist ancestors 
 in him, as he stood so straight after school 
 and said: 
 
 "Teacher, I wouldn't take ten dollars for 
 this ribbon and this ear of corn." 
 
 And Edward, the dark-faced boy, looked 
 almost sunshiny as he asked: 
 
 "Now, will we get to take our corn to the 
 County Farmers' Institute?" 
 
 "Surely we will, Edward," I answered. 
 "And you have all done so well that, per- 
 haps, we can win the beautiful trophy for 
 our school district." 
 
 Florence had the best apron. I haven't 
 told you about her. She is the oldest girl in 
 a big family. Her father is the kind of man 
 who is always "agin things." They live off 
 the road and seldom visit anyone. For years 
 this man has made trouble in school. If one 
 of his children he has six in school is rep- 
 rimanded, he comes up and tells the "school 
 ma'am" what he thinks of her for punish- 
 ing his children when they haven't done a 
 thing wrong. He thinks what was good 
 enough for him is good enough for his 
 "younguns." He regards school taxes as 
 altogether too high and has been waiting for
 
 38 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Florence to grow big enough so she could 
 work out. 
 
 Well, Florence wanted to make an apron 
 but her father wouldn't let her buy any 
 cloth. He said he didn't believe in such 
 
 ,T'v*V. '"V .' . * ?' 
 
 ^.VX*-' 
 
 THE BOYS* FARM CLUB STUDYING CORN 
 
 things having any place in school anyway. 
 So I bought some pretty gingham and gave 
 it to her, and showed her how to cut and 
 make her apron. She had never had a 
 thimble on her ringer, but she worked so
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 carefully and patiently. She would come as 
 early as she could in order to sew before 
 school commenced in the morning and, 
 sometimes she would study so hard that she 
 would get some extra time for her sewing. 
 She was doing much better work in all her 
 studies, too. 
 
 She finished her apron a week before the 
 entertainment, and took it home and washed 
 and ironed it. It was just beautiful. Every 
 stitch seemed perfect. I met her father the 
 evening before our Farm and Home Day 
 and urged him to be sure to come. I asked 
 him if he had seen what a beautiful apron 
 Florence had made. He scowled and 
 growled out: 
 
 "I don't take no stock in sich things. They 
 don't have no place in school nohow." 
 
 He was so big and so cross that the tears 
 started in my eyes. I just tried to smile and 
 hurried on home. 
 
 The next forenoon, when the blue ribbon 
 had been put on Florence's apron, she came 
 up to me and when I leaned down, she put 
 her arms around my neck and whispered: 
 
 "Teacher, please may I go home and tell 
 ma and pa about my apron?" 
 
 "Certainly you may, and tell them to come
 
 40 THE CORN LADY 
 
 this afternoon if they possibly can. Do not 
 stay. Just go long enough to tell them." 
 And away she flew down in the woods to 
 the little gray house where the man lived 
 "who didn't take no stock in sich things." 
 
 Florence didn't come back alone; she 
 brought her father along, who looked quite 
 good-natured and her little bent mother, with 
 her tired eyes and peevish baby. I took 
 them over to the apron the best of the 
 fifteen aprons that were on exhibit and 
 said : M 
 
 "It is such a beaumul apron; every stitch 
 is just perfect." 
 
 "Yes, it is nice," the little mother said 
 proudly. "But I never could get her to sew 
 any at home. She wouldn't take any inter- 
 est in it." 
 
 "She's a pretty smart gal," the father 
 added, "and I want you to jest take her as 
 far as you can; take her as far as you can." 
 And all the little brothers and sisters, and 
 the big brother stood around and looked 
 proud, too. 
 
 The little girl, Gladys, who made the best 
 buttonholes, is an orphan. That is, her 
 mother died last year and since then she has 
 been trying to keep house for her father and
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 41 
 
 go to school. She is only twelve years old. 
 When she was working on 
 her buttonholes, she came to 
 me and said: 
 
 "Mother told me once 
 that grandmother could 
 make buttonholes so well 
 that you couldn't tell the 
 right side from the wrong 
 side. I am trying to learn 
 to make them as well as she 
 
 Bless her heart, I am sure 
 if her mother knew what 
 good buttonholes her 
 daughter did make, she 
 would be glad. I noticed, 
 too, that her dresses which 
 had been pinned up with 
 buttons off, and her hair 
 that was not always combed 
 well, became far neater; and the work at 
 home, which she had always seemed to 
 dread, began to be less of a burden. 
 
 The girl who had the best loaf of bread 
 is the youngest in a family of eleven girls. 
 They are all grown up and out of school 
 
 CHAMPION 
 BREAD MAKER
 
 42 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 and she should, really, be in high school this 
 year; but she is not very well and so had to 
 stay at home another 
 year. I do not claim 
 the least credit for her 
 good bread; her 
 mother is a splendid 
 cook and taught her 
 how to make it, but the 
 girl is certainly full of 
 new hope and ambi- 
 tions, since she gained 
 this recognition. 
 
 And ' the cooky girl 
 is just a dear little 
 roly-poly, healthy 
 country girl from a 
 good home. Her 
 mother says she is very 
 glad that she is getting 
 interested, though. 
 Her father, who is a 
 prosperous, hard-head- 
 ed farmer said: 
 
 "It just seems 
 mighty worth while to 
 me to get the girls in- 
 terested in home things. For what's the use 
 
 THE COOKY GIRL
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 of farmers raising better stock and more 
 corn, except to have money to make better 
 homes ? And how can we have better homes 
 unless the girls are interested in and care for 
 such things?" 
 
 There were some good essays on the pro- 
 gram. How we did laugh when one of the 
 girls read the following in her essay on 
 "Why I Like to Live on the Farm:" 
 
 "I milk four cows every morning before 
 breakfast. I like to live on the farm because 
 I can sing and whistle as loud as I want to 
 while I milk them, and I do not bother any- 
 one. In fact, it seems the louder I sing, the 
 more milk they give." 
 
 We are going to take all our best work 
 to the County Farmers' Institute next month 
 and see if we cannot win the county school 
 district trophy that is offered to the school 
 district making the best display at the Boys' 
 and Girls' Corn Show and Industrial Ex- 
 position held then. The boys are going to 
 compete for a place on the Boys' Corn 
 Judging Team, which represents our county 
 at a state contest, to be held at the State Col- 
 lege of Agriculture in January. We are get- 
 ting all the information we can, and the boys 
 are studying nights on it.
 
 44 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 I think I am going home for Christmas. 
 We haven't had any vacation yet this year 
 and I believe we will have two weeks then. 
 Tom will be home from college, too; so you 
 and the little mother can expect a merry 
 time. 
 
 The time is just flying along, and your 
 girl is still a happy 
 
 COUNTRY TEACHER. 
 
 HOMEWARD BOUND
 
 THE CORN LADY 45 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, December 20, 1910 
 
 FATHER DEAR: Our school did win the 
 trophy for having the best work from our 
 district at the County Farmers' Institute. 
 When we heard it, we marched out and ran 
 up our school flag. Everyone helped, for 
 all the entries that mothers, fathers, big 
 brothers and sisters and hired men made, 
 counted; as well as those the school children 
 made. 
 
 A hired man from one of our farms 
 showed the best corn in the hired men's class. 
 I asked him where he learned to know good 
 corn, and he said he had learned it reading 
 out of those bulletins Jim brought home from 
 school with him. 
 
 We had a great many things in our ex- 
 hibit: Aprons, cushion covers, buttonholes, 
 hemming, bread, cookies, cakes, farm devices, 
 model chicken houses, a model country 
 schoolhouse and grounds, wheat, oats, pota- 
 toes and corn. 
 
 Florence's apron was the best in the 
 county, and there were hundreds entered.
 
 46 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Daddy, can you think how proud and happy 
 her father is? He is fully converted and 
 can't help enough, now. When they found 
 that our district had won the trophy, the di- 
 
 THE STATE TROPHY 
 
 rectors gave us a day to attend the Institute. 
 There was a splendid program, with speak- 
 ers from the State College of Agriculture, 
 who spoke on "Good Roads," "Crop Rota-
 
 THE CORN LADY 47 
 
 tions," and "What They Can and Cannot 
 Accomplish." A lady from the State Col- 
 lege spoke on "Modern Improvements for 
 Country Homes." It was all very good. 
 
 And the exhibit of course, we expected 
 it to be a grand exhibit ; but it surpassed our 
 greatest expectations. When we saw the blue 
 ribbon on Carl's potatoes that he had not 
 planted until so late that we thought they 
 would freeze; the blue ribbon, too, on Max's 
 single ear with its beautiful straight rows 
 the best out of one hundred and twenty ears ; 
 another prize ribbon floating with the flag 
 on the flagstaff of our model country school- 
 ground; the red ribbon on Floyd's handy 
 farm knots and the honor given to Florence's 
 apron that we were all so proud of, we were 
 just sure it was the most marvelous exhibit 
 we had ever even dreamed of. 
 
 There was a corn house, where the bushels 
 were exhibited from the boys who had tried 
 in the acre yield contest. Standing near the 
 corn house w r as the happy, little white-headed 
 twelve year old Anton, who had succeeded 
 in raising the largest number of bushels to 
 the acre and would get a prize of fifty dol- 
 lars from a bank interested in boys. Which 
 fifty dollars Anton told me he was going to
 
 48 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 put at interest in the bank to help buy a 
 farm with some day. Anton lives on the 
 other side of the county, but we are all very 
 proud of his record. 
 
 By the cooking and sewing exhibits were 
 many bright-faced girls, with their fathers 
 and mothers usually near by. The cooking 
 
 RAISING THE FLAG 
 
 exhibit room, I noticed, was very popular 
 with the men. I wonder why? Would you 
 have made such a bee line for that if you 
 could have been here? Tom says he is sure 
 that he would, for he thinks cooking is one 
 of the fine arts. I'll see if I cannot learn 
 more about it, myself. I heard one little
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 49 
 
 girl say: "Next year I will bring many 
 more things." It makes them try so much 
 harder when thev see what other children can 
 do. 
 
 The trophy is beautiful and we are very 
 thankful that we were able to win it. I will 
 send you a picture of it. We have to win 
 it three years in succession to keep it always. 
 We will surely try to do this. 
 
 PRIZE TEN EARS OF CORN 
 
 I must not forget to tell you that Max, 
 the mountaineer, won a place on the boys' 
 corn judging team. He will have his ex- 
 penses paid to the State College for a two 
 weeks' short course, and while there he will 
 compete for the state trophy on a team with 
 two other country boys from our county. 
 The trophy is awarded to the best boys' corn
 
 SO THE CORN LADY 
 
 judging team in the state. He will start 
 the day after Christmas. After school was 
 out to-night, he came to me and tried to 
 thank me for helping him. He has that fine, 
 sensitive southern face and such quiet man- 
 liness. I said: 
 
 "The best way you can thank me, Max, 
 is just by keeping on and trying your very 
 best to make use of every opportunity that 
 comes to you." 
 
 "I will try," he replied, quietly. 
 
 I have a new name. Last week I attended 
 my first box supper. The young ladies bring 
 boxes trimmed so beautifully with paper 
 and artificial flowers and filled with good 
 things to eat; and the young men bid them 
 in. Of course, I took a box. I had some 
 paper napkins with a design of ears of corn 
 on them. I decorated my box with these, 
 making a border all around it of the ears 
 of corn cut out and then I put a nice ear 
 of corn on top, tied with ribbons. It was 
 really pretty, and full of good things to eat. 
 
 When the auctioneer put it up, I heard 
 someone say: "Whose box is that?" and two 
 or three answered at once: 
 
 "Why, don't you know? It is the Corn 
 Lady's." The Corn Lady's box brought a
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 51 
 
 good round sum and now everyone that 
 knows me well is taking up the name and 
 they say it in the nicest way, with a friendly 
 look and a tone that seems to say, "We like 
 
 SELECTING PRIZE-WINNERS 
 
 you quite well, Miss Corn Lady. You are 
 interested in the things we are interested 
 You are one of us." 
 
 in.
 
 52 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 And Daddy, maybe it seems strange to 
 you, but this girl of yours, because she likes 
 the land and the people who raise the corn, 
 likes to be called 
 
 THE CORN LADY. 
 
 TESTING CORN
 
 THE CORN LADY 53 
 
 Ames, Iowa, January 6, 1911 
 
 DEAR DADDY: Here I am at the State 
 College of Agriculture for the short course. 
 I wish I might have stayed at home longer, 
 but it was so good to be there for Christmas, 
 anyway; and you and mother were so splen- 
 did to urge me to secure this work. 
 
 It is a wonderful place up here, with its 
 great buildings, fine equipment and intelli- 
 gent teachers, to train students in the science 
 of agriculture. Just now it is vacation time 
 for the regular college students, and there 
 are six hundred farmers with their wives, 
 boys and girls taking the two weeks' short 
 course. The men and boys have classes in 
 corn and stock judging; lectures on soil and 
 farm machinery; and many other subjects. 
 The girls and women have lessons in cook- 
 ing, sewing and home making. 
 
 I am playing boy like I used to and 
 taking the work in corn and stock judging. 
 I had to live up to my name, you see. I am 
 going to try for a corn judge's certificate at 
 the end of the two weeks. Do you suppose 
 I can get one? 
 
 There are several hundred farmers in my
 
 54 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 class, and seventy-five in my section. They 
 are all very good to me and try to show me 
 about the corn, and explain the different 
 points to me. We are learning to use the 
 
 LEARNING TO JUDGE HORSES 
 
 corn- judging score-card and there are so 
 many, many things to consider. The work 
 is "very practical, and the old gray-headed 
 farmers seem to be just as keenly interested 
 in it as the young men. 
 
 This morning there was a farmer in the 
 corn- judging room who came up and spoke
 
 THE CORN LADY 55 
 
 to me before the class. At first I could not 
 think who he was. He laughed and said: 
 
 "Don't you remember me? Many a time 
 I have seen you walking over the hills to 
 school in the country." Then I knew him. 
 It was Fred Walker, the man whose father 
 gave him such a big farm next to ours, and 
 who always worked so hard. He told me 
 that he had been coming up here for five 
 years to the short course. He said he wished 
 his father had given him a chance to go 
 through the college. 
 
 "It would have been nice," I said, "but he 
 left you a farm, didn't he?" 
 
 "Yes, he left me a farm; but he worked 
 early and late and took me out of school to 
 help work to save mone} T to buy the farm. 
 I'd rather have had a chance to get an 
 education here than to have the farm. I 
 tell you, my boy is going to have a chance, 
 and so are all the other children down at our 
 country school, I hope." And he said it with 
 that hungry look that comes into men's eyes 
 when they see a chance that they have lost 
 forever. 
 
 We are almost ready to start home and 
 are taking the state boys' corn- judging 
 trophy with us to our county. I took ex-
 
 56 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 animation for the corn judge's certificate, 
 but will not know for some time whether I 
 passed or not. 
 
 All these farmers and their sons will be 
 going back to their farms to-day with a new 
 vision of what farming means not only in 
 greater profit but in better standards of 
 living. We cannot estimate the good that 
 our College of Agriculture is doing, both in 
 its regular work and in the message that the 
 Extension Department is carrying to the peo- 
 ple. If I go again next year, as I am hop- 
 ing to do, I expect to take the work in home 
 economics, but I am so glad that I took the 
 corn and stock this time. 
 
 Back to school again Monday, and I 
 am anxious for Monday to come now. 
 
 Your own 
 
 HELEN. 
 
 THE CORN-JUDGING CONTEST
 
 THE CORN LADY 57 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, February 5, 1911 
 
 DEAR DADDY: Well, we organized our 
 regular class in agriculture as soon as school 
 started after the holiday vacation. The big 
 boys were all present and I thought they 
 surely should have some definite work. We 
 are taking up a text-book on agriculture and 
 this, together with experiments and observa- 
 tions in the neighborhood, talks by promi- 
 nent farmers, and use of the farm bulletins, 
 makes our work very interesting. The boys 
 are keeping regular note-books for their work 
 in agriculture. 
 
 The girls have organized a Girls' Home 
 Club and we meet each Friday afternoon 
 for a half -hour after school. Some of the 
 girls in the district who cannot attend school, 
 corne in for this, too. We are not trying to 
 do any very complex work; but the simple, 
 homely things that we are learning, we are 
 learning to do well. We have taken up 
 patching and darning; hemming and mak- 
 ing buttonholes. We have thoroughly studied 
 bread-making and the girls have all tried it
 
 58 THE CORN LADY 
 
 at home. Butter-making, sweeping and 
 dusting, and even dish-washing has had a 
 share of our attention. The mothers have 
 helped us in many ways. One little girl said 
 to me at the last club meeting: "Isn't it 
 strange, there seems to be a right and a 
 wrong way to do everything?" 
 
 I mentioned our using the "Farm Bul- 
 letins" wjth our work in the agriculture class. 
 The older pupils wrote to our State College 
 of Agriculture and to the National Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., 
 and secured a large assortment of them. 
 Then Edward, who has come to be our right- 
 hand man in school, made a rack for them 
 out of strips of wood and fastened it to the 
 wall. We sorted the bulletins according to 
 subjects and filed them in the rack where 
 they can easily be used for reference by the 
 class in agriculture, geography, reading and 
 physiology. In all the classes from fifth 
 grade up, we have been having these farm 
 problems once a week. They bring in many 
 of the problems from home. I enclose a 
 page of the problems we have had this week, 
 so you can see what they are like. 
 
 One German father stopped me in the 
 road the other day to tell me how glad he
 
 THE CORN LADY 59 
 
 was that his boy was learning arithmetic 
 down at the school that he could use. "Why," 
 he said, "John used to come home at night 
 and I would give him the scale tickets to fig- 
 ure up and he couldn't do it nor the cream 
 checks, either. He said he could figure it 
 out if it were about oranges like it was in 
 the arithmetic book, but he wasn't used to 
 working problems with corn and cream in 
 them. He used to say when he was trying 
 to figure out his problems for to-morrow, 
 'Pa, do you times this, or is it into?' He 
 don't ask such silly questions now. You've 
 taught him to really know what he is doing 
 in arithmetic. I tell you what, I am mighty 
 thankful to you for it, too." 
 
 John is a bright boy, all right, but it was 
 necessary for him to learn to do some real 
 thinking, and that is what he is doing now. 
 
 So, if you want some expert farm book- 
 keeping done, just come down and call on 
 some of my boys and girls. I think they 
 would enjoy doing it for you, too. 
 
 Lovingly your 
 
 COUNTRY GIRL.
 
 60 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, March 2, 1911 
 
 DEAR DADDY: I haven't told you about 
 our literary society, have I? We have been 
 holding meetings every two weeks since the 
 first of December. We meet on Friday even- 
 ings and are organized in the regular, old- 
 fashioned way. I am the secretary and a 
 young farmer, who lives in the next district, 
 is president. We have had some good meet- 
 ings, with speeches, debates, readings and 
 singing. Many of the people of the district, 
 who were very much afflicted with stage- 
 fright at first, are now so that they can hold 
 their own before an audience in a dignified, 
 efficient way. 
 
 We have debated everything from con- 
 solidated schools to parcels post and had 
 talks and essays about "Alfalfa," "Good 
 Roads," "Care and Feeding of Hogs," 
 "How to Get Rid of the House Fly," "The 
 Use of the Gasoline Engine on the Farm" 
 and many, many other things. I am so glad 
 we have had this literary society. It seems 
 to me that country people need leaders; the 
 ability to express themselves better; and
 
 THE CORN LADY 61 
 
 these things we are gaining. Best of all is 
 the social side; it is so good to get together 
 and become better acquainted and away from 
 the grind and monotony of "all work and 
 no play." 
 
 CORN DAY IN THE COUNTRY CHURCH 
 
 Our country church, which is about three 
 miles from here, has such a good pastor. He 
 believes in making the church really serve 
 the people. He had all the people of the con- 
 gregation and their families come together 
 one evening at his home for a party. There
 
 62 THE CORN LADY 
 
 a Farmers' Progressive Club was suggested, 
 and a committee appointed to make out the 
 constitution. At a meeting held a week later, 
 the Farmers' Progressive Club was organ- 
 ized with about fifty members. They de- 
 cided, as one feature of their Club, to ob- 
 serve Corn Sunday and Monday at the 
 church. On Saturday the people brought 
 corn and other farm products to the church 
 and arranged them beautifully. On Sun- 
 day, the sermon was on the text: "Whatso- 
 ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 
 It was a "corn" sermon and you would have 
 been surprised and delighted, I know, if you 
 could have heard it and all the ways the 
 preacher found to bring into his sermon, 
 practical, homely farm illustrations. 
 
 On Monday afternoon your daughter, 
 who now has her state corn judge's cer- 
 tificate, went over after school and judged 
 the corn for them. I disliked to do it,for 
 I felt as though I didn't know enough about 
 corn from a practical standpoint, but I just 
 thought I couldn't very well refuse when 
 they asked my help. That evening we had 
 a big meeting and talks by the men and 
 boys who had the best corn. They sang their 
 Club Song and were given a talk by the
 
 THE CORN LADY 63 
 
 president of the Club. The next day they 
 came and loaded up the farm products that 
 were displayed and gave them to the 
 preacher. Now, they are so interested that 
 they are planning to have an expert come 
 from the State College of Agriculture and 
 hold another exhibit later on. 
 
 The boys have built a work-bench in the 
 basement and brought some tools from home, 
 and we are having some manual training. 
 We are working out a few useful farm de- 
 vices, such as gates, milking stools, racks, in- 
 dividual hog houses and so forth. We have 
 found work in rope-splicing and making 
 halters even more useful and interesting for 
 the children than basketry and mat-weav- 
 ing, and it has the same value in training 
 their hands. I will send you some pictures 
 of our rope work. The boys and girls have 
 also learned how to make rope halters for 
 calves and colts. 
 
 It has been very cold and snowy, so we 
 have used some of our noon hour for hand 
 work. The girls have finished the sash cur- 
 tains for the windows. They hem-stitched 
 them and each girl pinned her name on her 
 own curtains. We have our new wall paper 
 and some new books for our library. We
 
 64 THE CORN LADY 
 
 scrubbed the schoolhouse several times, and 
 every Friday night I try to give it an extra 
 good cleaning. So we are just as homelike 
 and cozy as can be in our school room dur- 
 ing these cold winter days. They are almost 
 over now, though, and I am almost sorry, 
 for what if the big boys should have to drop 
 out of school soon to help with the spring 
 work? 
 
 I was so glad to know r from your last 
 letter that you and mother liked the way I 
 was working. I do want so much to really 
 do something for these country children. 
 Sometimes it seerns to me as though I had 
 done very little when I think how much there 
 is that should be done. 
 
 Lovingly your 
 
 COUNTRY TEACHER.
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, April 3, 1911 
 
 DADDY DEAR: The men are busy in the 
 fields now, but the boys have all stayed in 
 school. I cannot tell you how glad I am. 
 Edward's father said to me: 
 
 "Well, I just couldn't think of taking Ed- 
 ward out of school this year, until it was out, 
 for he is so interested and learning so much. 
 And he is learning things he can use, too." 
 
 Everyone of my pupils has enrolled in 
 the State Junior Boys' and Girls' Club, or- 
 ganized and planned for by our Extension 
 Department. The girls will take the work 
 in cooking, sewing and home management, 
 so they will be busy on this work all sum- 
 mer, whenever they have time. The boys 
 will be learning to "put their head into the 
 game of farming" by taking the courses in 
 the acre yield contests and the individual ear- 
 test. The boy in the state who has the larg- 
 est number of bushels of corn on his acre, 
 with the least expense, is to have a trip to 
 Washington, D. C., next fall, and his mother 
 may go, too. How we all wish that this
 
 66 THE CORN LADY 
 
 might be one of our boys and his mother! 
 The boys have been reading the accounts of 
 what the boys of the South have done in 
 raising corn. There was one boj^ in South 
 Carolina who raised two hundred and twen- 
 ty-eight and three-fourths bushels of corn 
 on one acre. How is that for a record? 
 
 We have been doing some special lan- 
 guage work that I am proud of. Each pupil 
 selected some farm or home subject that in- 
 terested him, and wrote an illustrated com- 
 position on it. Those who could, drew their 
 illustrations; others cut them from farm 
 journals and bulletins. Some clinched their 
 points with clippings from magazines and 
 papers. We expect to send these booklets 
 to the county fair. 
 
 We have cleaned and raked our yard and 
 are getting the ground back from the road 
 and the playground, ready for our school 
 garden. We are putting out a number of 
 vines and some seed that our Congressman 
 was kind enough to send us. We think our 
 radishes and lettuce will be ready to eat with 
 our lunches before school is out. We are 
 going to start a little experimental plot for 
 alfalfa, too. 
 
 The girls in the Home Clui) served lunch
 
 THE CORN LADY 67 
 
 to us the other day. We brought from home 
 the different things needed ; put our primary 
 table in front and set it carefully. Each fam- 
 ily had been told what to bring that day and 
 
 HIS OWN TULIP 
 
 the girls made chocolate on the stove, too; 
 then they served the dinner We had studied 
 at our meeting just before this, how to serve, 
 and they were carrying their teaching into 
 practice. After it was over, Sam came up 
 and said:
 
 68 THE CORN LADY 
 
 "Wish you'd let us do that sometime and 
 serve the girls." 
 
 I only wish you, mother and the rest might 
 have been here, for you surely would have en- 
 joyed the spread that my girls gave. 
 
 We have been testing seed com the past 
 week. Each pupil already had the ears of 
 corn at school that they had picked on Seed 
 Corn Picking Day. We had hung these up 
 and kept them. Then each of the pupils 
 brought two more ears. So altogether we 
 had quite a lot of corn to test. One of the 
 boys brought a box and two of them went 
 about a mile through the snow to get some 
 fresh saw-dust. We wet the saw-dust thor- 
 oughly, then covered it with a strong muslin 
 cloth on which we had marked out and num- 
 bered squares for each ear. The boys num- 
 bered the ears and arranged them in rows of 
 ten each on the floor. Then each pupil put 
 in six grains from each of his ears of corn. 
 These six grains were taken from different 
 parts of the ear. We took another cloth and 
 placed it over the corn and on this we put 
 some more saw-dust. In about five days the 
 corn had sprouted. Almost every ear that 
 had been picked early sprouted perfectly, 
 every grain growing, but some of the other
 
 THE CORN LADY 69 
 
 ears did not grow at all, and some were weak. 
 The boys say they will never plant any corn 
 that does not test one hundred per cent 
 
 TESTING CORN 
 
 strong, for it doesn't take any more work to 
 tend a perfect stand of corn than a poor one 
 and there are much greater results from it. 
 
 Lovingly, 
 
 HELEN.
 
 70 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, May 5, 1911 
 
 DEAR DADDY MINE: Our tulips have 
 blossomed and they are just glorious. Every- 
 one who passes, stops to look at their gold 
 and crimson beauty. But the children love 
 them best of all. The first morning that 
 they blossomed we were all out around the 
 bed before time for school. Each one 
 claimed his or her own blossoms and really 
 thought they were the prettiest ones in the 
 bed. 
 
 And Charles my rough, motherless boy 
 who used to swear so at the beginning of 
 the year, loves them so. He is the boy w r ho, 
 when I talked with him about swearing said : 
 "Teacher, I don't want to swear. I'd want 
 you to lick me for it, if I thought it would 
 do any good; but it wouldn't. When I git 
 to playing ball and something goes wrong, 
 I just forget." Charles was down on his 
 knees that morning by the bed, touching two 
 great red blossoms with boyish eagerness 
 and saying, "Aw, you don't need to think 
 yours are the prettiest. Mine's the most
 
 THE CORN LADY ?i 
 
 reddest of all." And there was no one who 
 could gainsay him. 
 
 He had thrown his torn straw hat down 
 beside him, and I shall never forget how he 
 looked with the morning sun catching the 
 
 THE GIRLS TULIPS 
 
 bright lights in his tousled hair, his fair boy- 
 ish face strong and fearless, his caressing 
 touch on the crimson flowers and, finally, the 
 look of reverence which stole into his eyes, 
 which told of a new-born love for the beau-
 
 72 THE CORN LADY 
 
 tiful that had found room in his heart. No, 
 of course, he has not sworn since. There's 
 no room for roughness and oaths in the heart 
 of a boy who has learned the lesson he did 
 that morning. 
 
 A rabbit came one night and ate off some 
 of the tulips. Such mourning as there was 
 in camp the next morning. I am glad they 
 enjoy the flowers so much. We must have 
 even more next year. And I hope we can 
 have some hyacinths and crocuses, too. 
 
 The eighth grade class all did creditable 
 work in the examinations. My mountaineer 
 was about ready to give -up on grammar. 
 He found it so hard and did not think he 
 could get it. But I said, "Do you mean 
 to tell me, Max, that a boy who knows as 
 much about corn as you do, will let gram- 
 mar get the best of him?" Then he buckled 
 down. We had the strongest class in the 
 county, the superintendent said. They were 
 alive and interested, and had done their best. 
 I knew that. 
 
 We made a collection of different kinds 
 of weed seeds last Fall and this Spring, 
 when the farmers were buying their seed, 
 we examined samples of it to see if we could 
 identify any weed seeds in it. We found
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 73 
 
 one sample of red clover-seed that had 
 enough Canadian thistle in it to ruin the 
 man's field. He had bought the seed of a 
 seedsman in whom he had confidence and 
 
 THE MAY BASKET 
 
 had not examined it. I am very glad that 
 it wasn't sowed. 
 
 I wish you might have a look at my beau- 
 tiful May Basket. It was such a surprise. 
 The girls made it of raffia and filled it with 
 violets hundreds and hundreds of them a 
 solid mass of purple and some green violet
 
 74 
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 leaves around the edge. It is surely the 
 prettiest May Basket I have ever seen. 
 
 Spring is here. Everything is waking up 
 and it makes me so happy to be in the coun- 
 try where I can enjoy it. 
 
 Lovingly your 
 
 COUNTRY TEACHER. 
 
 FATHER'S WHEAT FIELD
 
 THE CORN LADY 75 
 
 Wheaton, Iowa, June 3, 1911 
 
 MY DEAR DADDY: My heart is so full 
 that I can only tell you to-night of our last 
 day. We had been busy in school right up 
 to the last and thought we would not plan 
 for a big program, but that we would just 
 have a quiet little picnic by ourselves. We 
 haven't talked much about it, either, for we 
 have all been sort of dreading this last day. 
 
 I told the boys and girls that we would go 
 down to the woods the day before the last 
 day and eat our dinner together, and tell 
 stories and have a good time. James asked 
 me what woods and I said: "Well, I sup- 
 pose the North woods will be the best." That 
 was all, but the next forenoon I surely 
 thought there was something the children 
 knew and were not telling me. Noon came, 
 how r ever, and nothing happened, so we took 
 our dinner pails and started to walk to the 
 North woods, but before we had reached 
 there I began to see buggies among the trees 
 and table-cloths spread on the ground, and 
 I knew all the people who were there the
 
 76 THE CORN LADY 
 
 people of our district Daddy, every one 
 of them. They had come to surprise me and 
 tell me good-by. 
 
 Such a dinner as we had fried chicken, 
 cake and ice cream and when we were just 
 finishing, a splendid woman one of my 
 nicest and most helpful mothers arose and 
 made the kindest speech. She said they ap- 
 preciated all I had done for the children; 
 how interested I had been in them in every 
 way; that I had not only helped them but 
 that I had made the whole neighborhood a 
 pleasanter and a better place to live in. She 
 said that all my friends wanted to give some 
 expression to their gratitude, which I could 
 take with me and have all my life. Then 
 she presented me with a gold watch and 
 chain from all the people and children of the 
 district. It was all unexpected, for they 
 hadn't even spoken of it over the telephone 
 for fear I would hear them. Something 
 caught hold of my throat and I thought I 
 just couldn't say anything, but I did manage 
 to say a few words. What they were, I 
 could not tell you now. But all had tears in 
 our eyes until Mr. McCormick, with his 
 jolly good nature, began to joke and tease 
 me and then we felt a little more natural.
 
 THE CORN LADY 77 
 
 Of course, I am coming back next Fall 
 at better wages and will have some new 
 equipment to work with in the school. I 
 think we could have a new schoolhouse but, 
 we have talked a good deal about consolida- 
 tion and are waiting to see if that is decided 
 on before we invest in a new schoolhouse. 
 
 They are just the best people in the world, 
 I know. And the boys and girls well, I 
 can't write about them to-night for already 
 I am missing them so. It has been a won- 
 derful year. It has helped and developed me 
 in many ways and I have been so glad to 
 have had the opportunity to try to re-direct 
 a country school so that it would fit country 
 life. There is such an awakening along this 
 line throughout the United States that all 
 of us who are trying know that we are 
 doing our part in a great national move- 
 ment. And I have had the part I like best, 
 because it is nearest to the real work. I 
 would rather work it out in this one district 
 school, than to be on the president's Farm 
 Life Commission. It is easy to see that 
 something must be done, and to give advice, 
 but to really meet actual conditions and 
 work them out, that is a task well worth any- 
 one's time and strength and mind. We have
 
 78 THE CORN LADY 
 
 found that we could do some things this 
 year and next year we hope to do much more. 
 
 And I, for one, would rather be a coun- 
 try teacher than do anything else. Of 
 course, Tom thinks when he is through with 
 that post-graduate course in agronomy and 
 animal husbandry and gets on to his farm, 
 that some day he can persuade me that there 
 is one thing better than being a country 
 teacher, even. Do you suppose he can, 
 Daddy? 
 
 I'll be home soon and how glad I am. It 
 is hard to leave here, but the weeks at home 
 and the summer work at Normal School will 
 be just what I require. 
 
 Until I see you, 
 
 Lovingly your 
 
 HELEN.
 
 THE CORN LADY 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 
 
 Reckoning Farm Crops 
 
 The ordinary rule for figuring ear corn in the 
 crib is to count two bushels to each five cubic feet. 
 Multiply together the length, width, and depth of the 
 crib in feet and take two-fifths of it, which will give 
 you the number of bushels. 
 
 1. A crib of corn is 10 feet wide, 32 feet long, 
 and has an average of 10 feet of corn in it. How 
 many bushels? 
 
 2. A crib of corn 10 feet wide is made up of 
 three 16-foot sections. Two of these sections are full 
 to the top, 10 feet high throughout. The third 16- 
 foot section is 8 feet high with corn at one end slop- 
 ing off to 4 feet* at the other end. How much corn 
 in each of the full sections, and how much in this 
 last one partly full? How much corn in crib alto- 
 gether ? 
 
 *Take average height (8 feet plus 4 feet divided by 
 2, equals 6 feet). 
 
 79
 
 80 THE CORN LADY 
 
 3. Measure a crib of corn at home and figure out 
 the number of bushels it contains. 
 
 4. A round slat pen of corn is 20 feet across and 
 2 sections, or 8 feet, high. How much corn does it 
 contain ? 
 
 5. A rick of ear corn piled out doors is 10 feet 
 \vide at the bottom, tapering to a point in the middle 
 C feet high. It is 50 feet long. How many bushels 
 in it? 
 
 6. A round pile of corn on the ground is 20 feet 
 across, tapering to a point 10 feet high in the middle. 
 How many bushels does it contain? 
 
 In estimating bushels of shelled corn or small grain 
 in the bin, take four-fifths of the number of cubic 
 feet. 
 
 7. How many bushels of oats in a bin 10 feet 
 wide, 40 feet long and 8 feet deep? 
 
 8. .How many bushels of shelled corn in a wagoc 
 bed 3 feet wide, 10 feet long, and 27 inches deep? 
 
 9. The common practice in estimating ear corn 
 from the field is to count one bushel for every inch 
 in depth of an ordinary wagon bed 3 feet wide and 
 10 feet long. How does this agree with the rule pro- 
 viding for 2 bushels for 5 feet? 
 
 As potatoes and apples are always sold by heaped 
 measure, the rule for estimating them is 3 bushel.- to 
 each 4 cubic feet, or a slightly larger bushel than 
 small grain or shelled corn, which is always sold by 
 level measure.
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEM s 81 
 
 10. An ordinary freight car is 8 feet wide by 32 
 feet long, and is generally filled about 4 feet deep. 
 How many bushels of apples would this be? 
 
 An acre of land is 160 square rods. To find the 
 number of acres in any field, multiply together the 
 length and the width in rods and divide by 1GO. 
 
 11. An 80-acre field has a strip 2 rods wide and 
 160 rods long taken of? for road. Besides, there is a 
 pasture 10 rods wide by 25 rods long, and the house, 
 orchard and feed lots take a strip 20 rods wide by 30 
 rods long. If all the rest of the 80 acres is planted 
 in corn, how many acres of corn will there be? 
 
 12. If the corn in this field fills 3 16-foot sections 
 of crib 10 feet deep and 12 feet wide, how many 
 bushels of corn is that per acre? 
 
 13. How many acres in a piece of land 12 rods 
 wide and 80 rods long? 
 
 14. If this land is sold at $100 per acre, what 
 will it bring? 
 
 15. If a mistake of 3 feet is made in measuring 
 the width of the piece, how much difference would it 
 make in the price received for the land? 
 
 16. A piece of land 80 rods long is 50 rods wide 
 at one end and 30 rods wide at the other end. How 
 many acres does it contain? 
 
 IT. If this land is planted in oats and the crop 
 fills a bin 10 feet wide, 12 feet long and 12 feet deep, 
 what is the yield per acre? 
 
 18. When corn is planted in rows 3 feet 8 inches
 
 855 THE CORN LADY 
 
 apart, the custom is to count 9 rows to an acre in & 
 field a quarter of a mile long. Is this rule correct? 
 19. In husking corn in a field where the rows are 
 80 rods long, 4 rows make a 30-bushel load. What 
 is the yield per acre? 
 
 Threshing and Harvesting Problems 
 
 1. If a field of oats is half a mile long and 40 
 rods wide, how much should be paid for cutting it at 
 75 cents per acre? 
 
 2. If the man who cuts it gets it done in 4 days, 
 how much is he making per day ? 
 
 3. Find the amount of this threshing bill: 
 1,200 bushels of oats at 2 cents per bushel. 
 
 860 bushels of wheat at 4 cents per bushel. 
 2,600 pounds of coal at $4 per ton. 
 4 men and teams at $3 per day, for a day and a half. 
 6 men at $1.75 per day, for a day and a half. 
 
 4. The field in which this 1,200 bushels of oafg 
 were grown is 120 rods long and 50 rods wide. What 
 was the yield per acre ? 
 
 5. The wheat field was 86 rods long and 80 rods 
 wide. What was the yield per acre? 
 
 6. Counting the cost of cutting at 75 cents per 
 acre, and the shocking at 25 cents per acre, what has 
 been the total cost of harvesting and threshing? 
 What does this amount to in expense per bushel ? 
 
 7. If a self-binder receives proper care, it will last 
 12 years. It is run each year on an average of 5 days
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 83 
 
 of 10 hours each, (a) If the binder cost $120 and 
 simple interest on the investment is allowed at 6 per 
 cent, what is the cost of one hour's work of the 
 binder? (b) If by carelessness in handling and the 
 leaving out of doors when not in use, the life of the 
 binder is reduced from 12 years to 4 years (4 years is 
 the average life of the binder), what is the cost per 
 hour of its use ? 
 
 8. A crib of corn is weighed in, in Xovember, as 
 67,200 pounds. How many bushels would this be ? 
 
 9. How many feet deep would it fill a crib 10 feet 
 wide and 32 feet long? 
 
 10. Allowing that the shrinkage on ear corn is 3 
 per cent a month of the original amount for six 
 months from Xovember on, what would this crib of 
 corn weigh out next June? 
 
 11. If the corn can be sold at gathering time for 
 50 cents a bushel, would it pay better to sell it then 
 or hold it till next June and sell it for 60 cents, 
 allowing 3 per cent shrink a month for 6 months ? 
 
 12. A quarter-section farm is divided up as fol- 
 lows: Corn land, 80 acres; oats, 20 acres; hay land, 
 30 acres; pasture, 20 acres; orchard, 5 acres; waste 
 land, lots, buildings, etc., 5 acres. Draw a sketch of 
 this farm as you would lay it out. 
 
 13. The corn grown filled 4 16-foot sections of 
 crib 12 feet wide and 10 feet deep. The oats filled a 
 bin 10 feet wide, 12 feet long, and 11 feet deep. The 
 hay filled a mow 30 feet wide, 100 feet long, and 15
 
 84 THE CORN LADY 
 
 feet high. The apples filled a bin 10 feet wide, 12 
 feet long and 7 feet deep. Figuring the crops at the 
 present local prices and allowing a fair rent for the 
 pasture land, what was the income from the farm for 
 the season ? 
 
 14. If corn is checked 3 feet 8 inches apart each 
 way, how many rows to the acre? 
 
 15. With 3 stalks to the hill, how many stalks to 
 the acre ? 
 
 16. If it takes 100 ears to make a bushel, how 
 many bushels to the acre would you have, with one 
 good ear from each stalk? 
 
 17. Which is the best crop, 5 stalks to the hill 
 with small ears requiring 200 to make a bushel, or 3 
 stalks to the hill bearing good ears requiring 100 to 
 make a bushel? 
 
 18. If a field of corn is good enough to make 70 
 bushels per acre, but the squirrels take out 100 hills 
 to the acre, in a 10-acre piece, how many bushels will 
 be lost from the crop? 
 
 Cost of Growing Farm Crops 
 
 In estimating the cost of growing crops in the 
 following problems, count the time of a man and a 
 team at $3 per day, or man alone at $1.50 per day. 
 
 1. A field is 80 rods long and 60 rods wide. How 
 many acres ? 
 
 2. How many days will it take to plow it, allow-
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 85 
 
 ing 2y 2 acres a day as fair work for man and team ? 
 What would be the cost? 
 
 3. If a man and team can harrow 15 acres a day, 
 how long will it take to harrow it twice ? What will 
 be the cost? 
 
 4. If a man and team can plant 15 acres a day, 
 how long will it take and what will it cost? 
 
 5. If a man and team can cultivate 7*/2 acres a 
 day, how many days will it take to cultivate it 4 
 times, and what will it cost? 
 
 6. If this field of corn makes 2,000 bushels, what 
 is the yield per acre? What will it cost per acre to 
 husk it at 3 cents per bushel ? 
 
 7. What is the total cost of the field of corn in the 
 way of labor? How much per acre? Allowing rent 
 at $5 per acre, what is the total cost per acre? 
 
 8. What would this field of corn bring at present 
 prices? How much per acre? 
 
 9. What would be the net return per acre after 
 deducting all cost in the way of labor and rent? 
 Have any items of expense been omitted? If so, 
 figure them in. 
 
 10. What would be the cost per acre of growing 
 wheat, allowing for plowing at 3 acres per day, 2 
 ha r rowings at 15 acres per day, seeding at 15 acres 
 per day, 6 pecks of seed at $1.00 per bushel, cutting 
 at 75 cents per acre, shocking at 4 acres a day to each 
 man, and a threshing expense of 7 cents per bushel 
 on a yield of 24 bushels per acre.
 
 86 
 
 11. What would be the net return on 30 acres on 
 a crop of 24 bushels of wheat per acre, after paying 
 all the above expenses and selling the wheat at 90 
 cents per bushel and paying $5 per acre relit? 
 
 Comparison of Different Crops Rotation of 
 Crops 
 
 1. Suppose a 40-acre field planted to corn for 5 
 years in succession produces 60 bushels per acre the 
 first year, 55 the second, 43 the third, 33 the fourth, 
 and 30 the fifth, what will be the value of the corn 
 grown in the 5 years, at 40 cents per bushel? 
 
 2. Suppose instead of growing corn continuously 
 he had practiced the following rotation : 
 
 First year 40 acres corn, 60 bushels per acre, at 
 40 cents. Second year 40 acres oats, 60 bushels per 
 acre, at 30 cents. Third year 40 acres clover, 3 tons 
 per acre, at $8 per ton. Fourth year 40 acres tim- 
 othy, 2 tons per acre, at $9 per ton. Fifth year 40 
 acres corn, 70 bushels per acre, at 40 cents per bushel. 
 
 What would have been the value of the five years' 
 crop? 
 
 3. Which of the two plans would produce the most 
 money in the five years? How much more? Which 
 would leave the land in the best condition at the end 
 of five years? Are there any other advantages to 
 either plan ? 
 
 4. The average good stand of corn is about 12,000
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PEOBLEMS 87 
 
 stalks per acre. If by careful selection of seed corn 
 each stalk can be made to bear an average of one 
 ounce more of corn, what will be the increase in 
 yield per acre? What will be the increase in cash 
 return on 70 acres, if the corn is 40 cents per bushel ? 
 
 5. Eight pounds of seed corn will plant an acre. 
 How many bushels would it take to plant 70 acres f 
 
 6. If a man put in a day on the selection of each 
 bushel of corn, what would be the cost of selecting 
 seed for 70 acres, counting his time at $2 per day? 
 How much per acre? 
 
 7. If by such selection he can increase the yield of 
 his corn 5 bushels per acre, and corn is worth 40 cents 
 per bushel, what will be the increase in value on 70 
 acres of corn ? How much per acre ? 
 
 Dairy Problems 
 
 [n working out these problems, have the pupils get 
 prices on feed by inquiring of the local dealers. It 
 might be well, too, to keep the market quotations on 
 feed and farm crops posted on the blackboard and 
 changed weekly. If possible demonstrate the use of 
 the Babcock milk tester. Have pupils actually test 
 milk. A Babcock tester can be secured complete for 
 $5.00. 
 
 1. A good ration for a dairy cow is 10 bushels of 
 corn and 10 bushels of oats ground together, and one
 
 88 THE CORN LADY 
 
 ton of clover hay. This amount should feed a cow for 
 75 days. At present prices, what will be the cost of 
 supplying this ration for 225 days and pasturing the 
 cow the balance of the year at $1.50 per month? 
 
 2. Allowing that the labor cost is 50 cents per 
 week per cow, what is the total cost of the cow's keep 
 for a year ? What is the cost per month ? Per week ? 
 
 3. If butter fat is worth 25 cents per pound, how 
 many pounds must each cow produce per year to 
 balance the expense of her keep? How much per 
 month ? Per week ? 
 
 4. A cow gives 3 ^ gallons of milk per day 
 (weight 8% pounds per gallon). If the milk tests 
 4.8 per cent, how much butter fat does she yield per 
 week? Per month? 
 
 5. If the milk tests 2.8 butter fat, what is the 
 yield per week ? Per month ? 
 
 6. Of two cows, one gives 3 gallons of milk per 
 day, testing 2.8 per cent butter fat, the other gives 2 
 gallons per day, testing 4.8 per cent butter fat. Which 
 cow is the most profitable? How much more per 
 month ? 
 
 7. Allowing that the labor cost is about the same 
 under each method, which would pay best, to sell milk 
 at 5 cents per quart or butter fat at 25 cents per 
 pound, if the milk tests 4 per cent ? 
 
 8. If you allow that after taking out the butter 
 fat the sweet skim milk is worth 5 cents a gallon to 
 feed to pigs, which plan will pay best?
 
 89 
 
 May 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 750 
 
 754 
 
 730 
 
 670 
 
 690 
 
 680 
 
 650 
 
 640 
 
 520 
 
 450 
 
 test '' 
 
 test S 
 
 tests 
 
 test 
 
 test 
 
 test 
 
 testS 
 
 test% 
 
 tests 
 
 tests 
 
 4.4 
 
 4.4 
 
 4.2 
 
 4 
 
 4.2 
 
 4.2 
 
 4 
 
 3.8 
 
 3.6 
 
 3.6 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 Ibs. 
 milk 
 
 780 
 
 775 
 
 750 
 
 700 
 
 670 
 
 670 
 
 650 
 
 630 
 
 600 
 
 500 
 
 testT 
 
 t?st ' 
 
 test 
 
 test 
 
 test 
 
 test 
 
 tests 
 
 test! 
 
 tests 
 
 teatS 
 
 3.2 
 
 3.2 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3.2 
 
 3 
 
 2.8 
 
 2.8 
 
 2.8 
 
 9. Find the yield of milk and the yield of butter 
 fat for the year from each of these cows. 
 
 10. If the average value of butter fat for the year 
 is 24 cents per pound, what is the money return from 
 each cow? 
 
 11. If the cost of keeping each cow for the year 
 is $32.50, what is the net profit from each? 
 
 12. If feed is high and the cost of keeping each 
 cow is $43.00 per year, what is the net profit from 
 each? 
 
 13. Figuring the ration given in problem No. 1 
 at present prices for feed, 225 days on dry feed and 
 the balance, of the year pasture at $1.50 per month 
 and not making allowance for labor, what would be 
 the profit from each cow?
 
 90 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Poultry 
 
 1. A flock of 100 hens average 85 eggs a year 
 each. If the average price of eggs for the year is 16 
 cents per dozen, what is the value of these eggs ? 
 
 2. Suppose it takes 12 bushels of corn at 45 cents, 
 5 bushels of oats at 25 cents, and $7 worth of other 
 feed, to keep this flock for one year, what is the profit 
 over and above the cost of the feed ? 
 
 3. Some flocks of hens have a record of as high as 
 200 eggs each in a year. What would be the cash 
 return from this flock of 100 hens if they did as well ? 
 What would be the net return over the cost of feed ? 
 
 4. At present local prices, what would be the 
 amount received for 34 hens weighing 7^/2 pounds 
 each? How much would this be for each hen? 
 
 5. At present local prices, what would be received 
 for 34 hens weighing 4% pounds each, if the dealer 
 docked them 1 cent per pound from the regular priceB 
 because they were small and thin ? 
 
 6. Have the pupils get figures on actual sales of 
 poultry and figure the returns. Have each pupil bring 
 several such records, if possible. 
 
 Birds, Weeds and Insects, and Their Relation to 
 Field Crops 
 
 1. How many acres in a section? How many sec- 
 tions in a township? How many townships in your 
 county? How many acres in the county?
 
 91 
 
 2. The damage done by insects in Iowa averages 
 58 cents per acre. What would this amount to for 
 your county? For the farm you live on? 
 
 3. Wild birds average about 450 to the quarter 
 section. How many would this be for the county? 
 For your farm ? 
 
 4. Allowing that each bird eats 50 insects per day 
 (a low estimate), how many insects would the birds 
 of the county destroy in the five summer months? 
 How many on your farm ? 
 
 5. Estimating 100,000 insects to the bushel, how 
 many bushels would this be ? How many bushels per 
 day? 
 
 6. The birds that stay all winter eat principally 
 weed seed. Allowing one bird to the acre and % 
 ounce of weed seed per day for each bird, how many 
 tons of weed seed would the birds eat in three months 
 in the whole county? How many pounds on your 
 farm? 
 
 7. One plant of plantain bears about 14,000 seeds, 
 weighing about one ounce. Forty of these seeds will 
 easily seed a square yard of ground. Suppose all the 
 seeds were allowed to live, how many square yards 
 of ground would one plant seed? What harm do 
 plantain and such weeds do ? How can we keep them 
 from spreading and crowding out the crops? 
 
 8. Five hundred small grasshoppers will eat a 
 pound of growing crops in a day. Almost all birds 
 are fond of grasshoppers for food. A cuckoo or a
 
 92 
 
 THE CORK LADY 
 
 meadow lark will eat 250 a day. How many birds 
 will it take at this rate to save a ton of small grain or 
 grass in ten days? 
 
 9. As destroyers of potato beetles and other harm- 
 ful insects, a single pair of quails is said to be worth 
 $5. If this pair produces a brood of 16 young quails, 
 what is the value of the work done by the entire covey 
 next year ? 
 
 Scale Tickets 
 
 1. A farmer sold 6 loads of ear corn (70 pounds 
 to the bushel) at 51 cents per bushel. Fill out the 
 scale ticket, and find how much money he should get 
 for each load and how much for the total. 
 
 Totals 
 
 Gross 
 weight 
 Ibs. 
 
 Weight 
 wagon 
 Ibs. 
 
 Net 
 weight 
 Ibs. 
 
 Net 
 weight 
 bushels 
 
 Amount 
 at 51c. 
 
 3480 
 3405 
 3200 
 3394 
 8382 
 3476 
 
 1310 
 1260 
 1100 
 1285 
 1220 
 1276 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Note that this kind of work is easily proved. The 
 total of the net weights of the different loads should 
 equal the difference between the total of the gross 
 weights less the total of the wagon weights. Also, the
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 93 
 
 total of the values of the different loads should equal 
 the result of figuring the total net weight at the given 
 price. 
 
 2. Make out a scale ticket and find the amount 
 received for five loads of hogs at $5.25 per 100 
 pounds. Gross weights: 2974, 3025, 2889, 2986, 3116, 
 Wagon weights: 1210, 1190, 1275, 1280, 1312. 
 
 3. Make out a scale ticket and find the amount 
 received for five loads of oats sold at 42 cents per 
 bushel. Gross weights : 2900, 2842, 2736, 2937, 2854. 
 Wagon weights: 1187, 1264, 1235, 1210, 1224. 
 
 4. Make out a scale ticket and find the amount 
 received for four loads of shelled corn sold at 52 cents 
 per bushel. Gross weights: 3664, 3580, 3376, 3610. 
 Wagon weights: 1200, 1224, 1185, 1240. 
 
 5. Make out a scale ticket and find the amount 
 received for ten loads of potatoes sold at 60 cents per 
 bushel. Gross weights : 3168, 3040, 3276, 3100, 3000, 
 2940, 2865, 2986, 3012, 2730. Wagon weights : 1262, 
 1214, 1200, 1262, 1214, 1200, 1262, 1214, 1200, 1262. 
 
 6. Find the value of five loads of hay sold at $6.25 
 per ton. Gross weights: 3180, 3375, 3464, 3490, 
 3388. Wagon weights: 1175, 1190, 1240, 1245, 1260. 
 
 7. The milk weights for a week run as follows, by 
 days : 475, 460, 450, 455, 470, 480, 485. In each case 
 the weight of 5 cans at 15 pounds each should be 
 deducted from these gross weights. If the milk tests 
 4 per cent butter fat and the price of butter fat is 
 25 cents per pound, what will be the check for the
 
 94 THE CORN LADY 
 
 week ? What will be the return if the test is 3.3 per 
 cent? 
 
 8. The weights of cream shipped each day run as 
 follows : 64, 63, 67, 70, 72, 71, 70. Deduct 15 pounds 
 for weight of can and figure returns on a price of 25 
 cents for butter fat, if cream tests 40 per cent. Figure 
 net returns after deducting an express charge of 40 
 cents per 100 pounds on the gross weight shipped and 
 5 cents each for the return of the empty cans. 
 
 9. The weights of ten bags of clover seed run as 
 follows: 164, 163, 164, 160, 162, 159, 150, 155, 154, 
 156. Allowing one pound each for the weight of the 
 bags, how much clover seed is there, and what is it 
 worth at $7 per bushel? 
 
 10. The weights of eight bags of timothy seed run 
 as follows: 107, 109, 105, 106, 101, 111, 107, 107. 
 Allowing one pound each for the weight of the sacks, 
 how much timothy seed is there, and what is it worth 
 at $1.75 per bushel? 
 
 Painting and Papering 
 
 In painting, allow one gallon of paint for every 250 
 square feet of surface to be painted. 
 
 1. A room is 12 feet wide, 15 feet long, and 9 feet 
 high. It has two windows and one door, each about 3 
 feet by 6 feet. How many rolls of paper will be 
 required to paper the walls ? How much for the ceil- 
 ing ? How many yards of border ? If the paper costs
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 95 
 
 20 cents a roll and the border 3 cents a yard, and the 
 paper hanger charges 25 cents a roll for hanging the 
 paper and 3 cents a yard for the border, what will be 
 the total cost? 
 
 2. Measure the school room you are in and find 
 out what it would cost to paper it, allowing that the 
 paper would cost 15 cents per roll and the work of 
 hanging it 20 cents per roll ? How much for the pa- 
 per alone? 
 
 3. How much would it cost to paint the outside of 
 the school house, if the paint cost $1.65 per gallon? 
 What would the painter charge for putting it on, at 5 
 cents per square yard ? 
 
 4. How much would it cost to paint the roof of 
 the school house, if the roof paint cost 90 cents per 
 gallon and the work of putting it on 3 cents per 
 square yard? 
 
 Farm Sales 
 
 1. An auctioneer gets for his pay one per cent of 
 the total received. If a sale amounts to $3,457.50, 
 what does he receive? 
 
 2. Some auctioneers get $10 and one per cent of 
 the total of the sale. What would this amount to on 
 above sale ? 
 
 3. The terms of sale are : Sums under $10, cash. 
 Amounts over that, one year's time at 6 per cent in- 
 terest, or 2 per cent off for cash. A man buys a 
 horse for $150. What will he have to pay for it at
 
 96 THE CORN" LADY 
 
 the end of the year's time, including the interest? 
 How much if he pays cash ? 
 
 4. If the terms are, one year's time without in- 
 terest or 8 per cent off for cash, what will he have 
 to pay at the end of the year? What if he pays 
 cash? 
 
 5. If the terms are, sums under $10 cash, over 
 that amount 8 per cent discount, will it pay better 
 to bid $9.50 and pay the net cash, or $10.25 and get 
 the discount? 
 
 6. Ear corn at a sale is usually sold and measured 
 off at 4,300 cubic inches to the bushel. How does this 
 agree with the common rule of 2 bushels to each 5 
 cubic feet? 
 
 7. A crib of corn 10 feet by 12 feet by 32 feet is 
 sold at 4,300 cubic inches to the bushel at 51 cents 
 per bushel. What does it come to? If the terms 
 are 8 per cent discount for cash, what will be the 
 net cost ? What will be the net cost per bushel ? 
 
 8. Have the pupils get the figures on some actual 
 transactions at farm sales and figure up the discount 
 and the interest charges according to the terms of 
 the sale. 
 
 Farm Labor and Its Payment 
 
 In counting up time, count 26 working days to a 
 month, 10 hours to a day, and 6 days to a week. 
 1. If a man is getting $30 a month, how much is
 
 FAKM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 97 
 
 that a day? How much a week? How mucii an 
 hour? 
 
 2. Which is the bigger pay $10 a week, or $40 a 
 month ? 
 
 3. A man works from March 1 to June 20, los- 
 ing four days in that time. What would his wages 
 amount to at $30 per month? (The number of 
 working days can be counted on a calendar.) 
 
 4. A man working at $10 a week loses one-half of 
 one day and two hours another day. What will he re- 
 ceive, after counting out his lost time? 
 
 5. A man working at $25 per month, begins 
 March 15 and works till August 12, losing 9 days 
 during that time. He has drawn at different times 
 $47. How much is coming to him? 
 
 6. A man in town is getting $1.75 a day and has 
 to pay $4 a week board. Another man is working on 
 a farm at $30 a mcnth and board. Which is really 
 the bigger pay? How much? 
 
 7. Which is the bigger net pay $30 a month and 
 board, or $10 a week and pay $3.50 a week board? 
 
 8. An acre contains 160 square rods, or 4,356 
 square feet. Corn is ordinarily planted 3 feet, 6 
 inches, each way. How many hills to an acre ? 
 
 9. If a man is hired to cut up corn at 10 cents a 
 shock, 14 hills square, how much is this an acre? 
 How much an acre if the shocks are 16 hills square? 
 
 10. If a man is paid 3 cents per bushel for husk- 
 ing corn, what will he earn for the week if his loads
 
 98 THE CORN LADY 
 
 run as follows, allowing 1,200 pounds out for the 
 weight of the wagon each time: Gross weights of 
 loads 3650, 3630, 3700, 3760, 3750, 3710, 3420, 
 2910, 3400, 3450, 3510, 3580? 
 
 11. Have each pupil bring to school the actual fig- 
 ures on a. settlement for farm labor, and have the 
 class work it out. 
 
 Farm Drainage 
 
 1. A 40-acre piece of low land (a quarter of a 
 mile across) is 3 feet, 4 inches, higher at one side 
 than the other. How much fall will this be to the 
 rod?" 
 
 2. If the tile cost $20 per 1000, each tile being a 
 foot long, and the laying of them costs 25 cents per 
 rod, wiiat will it cost to lay four strings of tile across 
 this 40 acres? 
 
 3. How much will this amount to per acre ? 
 
 4. If it increases the yield of corn on this land 
 an average of 5 bushels per year for ten years, what 
 will this increase of corn be worth at 40 cents per 
 bushel ? How much on the whole 40 acres ? 
 
 5. What will be the net gain per acre over the 
 cost of tiling? What will be the net gain on the 
 whole 40 acres ? 
 
 6. A 40-acre field is a quarter of a mile (80 rods) 
 each way. How many rods of tile will it take to run 
 diagonally across it, coming in at one corner and out 
 at the other corner? Draw a diagram of this.
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 99 
 
 7. Measure the distance across the school ground 
 the long way and estimate the number of tile it 
 would take to lay one string of tiling across it. How 
 much would it cost, reckoning the tile at $20 per 
 1000 and the laying at 25 cents per rod? 
 
 8. The very wettest of land can be thoroughly 
 drained (if a proper outlet can be had) by laying 
 lines of tiling three rods apart. To drain a field 20 
 rods wide and 80 rods long in this way, running the 
 tile the long way of the field, how much tile will 
 be required, and what would it cost ? Draw diagram. 
 
 9. The gain in yield from tiling would be at least 
 10 bushels of corn per acre, or its equivalent in other 
 crops. If the tiling lasted for 30 years, what would 
 be the total gain ? What would be the net gain ? 
 
 Handy Farm Measures 
 
 1. A bushel of small grain or shelled corn is 1^ 
 cubic feet. To find the capacity of a bin, multiply tho 
 length, breadth, and depth, together (in feet) and 
 take 4-5 of it. 
 
 2. A bushel of ear corn is 2y 2 cubic feet. To find 
 the capacity of a crib in bushels, multiply the length, 
 breadth, and depth, together (in feet), and take 
 & of it. 
 
 3. A bushel of apples or potatoes is 1 1-3 cubic 
 feet. To find the bushels, take % of the cubic feet.
 
 100 THE CORN LADY 
 
 4. The area of a circle is about % that of a 
 square of the same diameter. The exact fraction is 
 .7854. So to find the area of a circle, multiply the 
 diameter by itself, and multiply the result by .7854, 
 which is the same as taking a little over % of it. 
 
 5. The circumference (distance around) of a cir- 
 cle is a little more than three times the diameter. The 
 exact fraction is 3.1416. 
 
 6. To find the contents of a pointed heap of corn, 
 find the area of the bottom of the pile in square 
 feet, and multiply that by half the height of the 
 highest point. This will give you the cubic feet, 
 which can be reduced to bushels. To find the con- 
 tents of a circular crib of corn, find the area of the 
 circular base, and multiply that by the height. This 
 will give the cubic feet. 
 
 7. A ton of tame hay will about equal a space 
 8x8x8 feet. Wild hay, 7x7x7 feet. 
 
 8. A barrel of water is about 4 cubic feet. 
 
 9. A cubic foot of water weighs 621/2 pounds. 
 
 10. An acre is 160 square rods; 43,560 square 
 feet; 4840 square yards. 
 
 11. The board foot used in reckoning lumber is a 
 square foot an inch thick. 
 
 12. A gallon is a trifle over % of a cubic foot. To 
 find the capacity of a tank, estimate the contents in 
 cubic feet, and multiply by 8 for the number of gal- 
 lons, and divide by 4 for the number of barrels. This 
 will be very nearly correct.
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 101 
 
 13. To find the number of pounds of butter fat in 
 in milk. Take the test per cent of the number of 
 pounds of milk. For instance, if milk tests 4 per 
 cent, 50 pounds of milk will contain 2 pounds of 
 butter fat. 
 
 Spraying Mixtures 
 FOE BITING INSECTS 
 
 DRY PARIS GREEN WET PARIS GREEN. 
 
 Paris green 1 Ib. Paris green ^4 Ik- 
 Lime or Lime *4 to y 2 Ib. 
 
 flour ...20 to 50 Ibs. Water 50 gals. 
 
 FOR SOFT-BODIED SUCKING INSECTS 
 KEROSENE EMULSION 
 
 Hard soap (in fine shavings) y 2 Ib. 
 
 Water 1 gal. 
 
 Kerosene 2 gals. 
 
 Dissolve soap in boiling water, add kerosene to the 
 hot water, churn with spraying pump until the mix- 
 ture changes to a creamy, then to a soft, butter- 
 like mass. This gives three gallons of 66 per cent 
 oil emulsion which may be diluted to the strength
 
 102 THE CORN LADY 
 
 desired. To get 15 per cent oil emulsion add ten 
 and one-half gallons water. 
 
 FOE FUNGOUS DISEASES 
 COPPER SULPHATE 
 
 Copper sulphate 1 lb. 
 
 Water 18 to 25 gals. 
 
 Use only before foliage opens, to kill wintering 
 spores. 
 
 BORDEAUX MIXTURE 
 
 Copper sulphate 5 Ibs. 
 
 Lime (good and unslacked) .5 Ibs. 
 
 Water 50 gals. 
 
 A List of Useful Bulletins 
 
 Simply on request, a large number of government 
 bulletins on subjects of the greatest interest to stu- 
 dents in a country school, may be obtained. Ad- 
 dress the United States Department of Agriculture, 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 Circular Number 2. Gives a list of all publica- 
 tions for free distribution. 
 
 The Year Book of Agriculture. Gives much valu- 
 able information. 
 
 It would be well to have the following bulletins 
 on hand at the beginning of the term : 
 
 Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 408, 28, 188, 89, 214, 215,-
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 103 
 
 192, 77, 44, 40, 187, 170, 55, 29, 42, 63, 57, 201, 
 166, 409. 
 
 U. S. Bulletins Xos. 91, 32, 38, 75, 45, 99, 132, 
 171, 196, 141, 41, 200, 64, 408, 289, 179, 205, 49. 
 
 Your own state college of agriculture, also will 
 furnish you with many bulletins especially valuable 
 as they deal with the special problems of your 
 own state. 
 
 Secure the soil survey map of your own county, if 
 it has been made. This can be secured through the 
 State College of Agriculture. 
 
 Language in Connection With the Teaching of 
 Farm and Home Subjects. 
 
 Every pupil needs much careful training in how 
 to express himself clearly and correctly. He can 
 best learn to use good English by writing or tell- 
 ing of things of which he knows, things that are a 
 part of Ids life and his work ; or, subjects on which he 
 can get information from the people around him. 
 \Ve must have some personal interest, or some first 
 hand information in order to gain anything in try- 
 ing to express ourselves. 
 
 Let the children write on subjects such as the fol- 
 lowing: 
 
 How Can We Get Good Roads? 
 
 II'\v to Make a King Road Drag. 
 
 Home Xursing.
 
 104 THE CORN LADY 
 
 Are Birds of Use to the Farmer? 
 
 Keeping the Soil Fertile. 
 
 Alfalfa. 
 
 The Silo. 
 
 Bread Making. 
 
 The Right and the Wrong Way. 
 
 Why I Like to Live in the County. 
 
 Horses and Their Feed. 
 
 Growing Apples. 
 
 Wild Flowers and Their Use in Beautifying Home 
 and School Grounds. 
 
 Does Farming Pay ? 
 
 The Selecting, Storing and Testing of Seed Corn. 
 
 The Farmer's Library and Reading Table. 
 
 Modern Conveniences in the Farm Home. 
 
 Getting Rid of Flies. 
 
 The Story of the Life of a Great Farmer. 
 
 Many more subjects could be given. The sub- 
 jects must be suited to the knowledge and inter- 
 est of the pupils as well as to the needs of the homes 
 and the farms in the community. 
 
 Wherever possible, such composition should be il- 
 lustrated by original drawing and diagrams. Clip- 
 pings from agricultural papers and bulletins may be' 
 used to good advantage, also. Thorough, original 
 investigation should be the basis for all such work. 
 It will not only make students who can write well, 
 but it will make students who can think and judge 
 for themselves.
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 105 
 Corn. 
 
 The usual distance between hills is 3 ft. 8 in. If 
 checked at this distance apart, there are 3240 hills 
 in one acre. If there is a perfect stand, three stalks 
 in a hill, and each stalk has one twelve- ounce ear of 
 corn on it, the field will produce 104 bushels of corn 
 on an acre. Yet, the average yield in the United 
 States is only 38 bu. to the acre. 
 
 To secure a good yield of corn we must have 
 good seed, good soil and good cultivation. 
 
 Corn Judging. 
 
 The object in judging corn is to determine the 
 corn that when planted will produce the most corn 
 of the best quality. The score card used by the 
 Extension Department of the Iowa State College of 
 Agriculture is plain, logical and easily grasped. It 
 takes up the points under four heads. 
 
 I. WILL IT YIELD ? 25 points. 
 
 That is, will it yield well; has it constitu- 
 tion; can we depend upon it even when weather 
 conditions are unfavorable? 
 
 II. WILL IT RIPEX? 25 points. 
 
 That is, will it mature; will it ripen every 
 year; is it safe for the locality? 
 
 III. DOES IT SHOW IMPROVEMENT ? 25 
 points. 
 
 That is, has it breeding; has it a distinct
 
 106 THE CORN LADY 
 
 type; will it reproduce itself; has it several 
 years of careful selection and improvement back 
 of it? 
 IV. WILL IT GROW? 25 points. 
 
 That is, has it vitality ; will it germinate ; will 
 it all grow and grow uniformly, giving strong, 
 vigorous plants? 
 
 Bread. 
 
 United States Government Bulletins Nos. 52, 67, 
 101, 112 and 121 will give information on bread 
 work. 
 
 Score Card for Bread. 
 
 SCALE OF POINTS 
 
 Perfect Score. 
 
 1. FLAVOR, sweet and nutty as deter- 
 
 mined by the taste 25 
 
 2. LIGHTNESS, well risen, as determined 
 
 by weight of the loaf measured by the 
 weight of the materials used 15 
 
 3. SWEETNESS, free from sour, musty or 
 
 yeasty smell, as determined by the odor. . 10 
 
 4. TEXTURE AND GRAIN. These are 
 
 closely associated and are judged by the 
 fineness and tenderness of the crumb 
 (crumb is the inside of the loaf and 
 crust the outside). Should be elastic, uni- 
 form and smooth and free from large 
 holes , 15
 
 FARM ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS 107 
 
 5. COLOR, should be creamy white 15 
 
 6. CRUST, should be about 3-8 of an inch 
 
 in depth, of a very fine texture, and a 
 golden brown color 5 
 
 7. SHAPE AXD SIZE, should be about 
 
 3i/ 2 x7^x3 inches 5 
 
 8. DOUGHIXESS AXD MOISTURE. Bread 
 
 should spring back when an impression 
 is made by the fingers. Crust should be 
 crisp and crumble easily 10 
 
 Total 100 
 
 Rules for Making Button Holes. 
 
 1. Cut slit the diameter of the button to be used. 
 
 2. First strand the button hole by taking one or 
 more long stitches to the extreme end of the slit and 
 back again on the opposite side. The button hole 
 stitch will cover and be strengthened by them. 
 
 3. Overcast over the stranding. This overcast- 
 ing must not be deep or it will show. 
 
 4. Take the first stitch by putting the needle into 
 the slit close to the end and bring it out far enough 
 from the edge of the slit to avoid danger from ravel- 
 ling. The thread must be thrown from the eye of 
 the needle under the point in the direction the work 
 is advancing. Turn the corners of the slit by placing 
 the stitches fan-shaped around the end.
 
 Announcements
 
 For Intermediate Teachers 
 
 Busy Hands Construction Work 
 
 By Isabella F. Bowker, of the Chicago Public 
 Schools. Embracing work in cardboard folding and 
 cutting, basketry, weaving, etc. The subjects were 
 carefully chosen and are familiar to all children. 
 170 illustrations. Cloth. Price, 60 cents. 
 
 Scissors and Paste 
 
 By Grace Goodridge. A book of fifty designs for 
 cutting and pasting, with helpful suggestions for the 
 teacher. Price, 25 cents. 
 
 Memory Gems for Home and School 
 
 By L. E. Johnston. Contains 265 beautiful glean- 
 ings from a variety of sources for intermediate and 
 grammar grades. Price, 10 cents. 
 
 Stories in Season 
 
 A book of stories and poems in great variety, illus- 
 trating the seasons of the year, the months, etc., put 
 in usable form by Miss George, the well-known 
 editor of The Plan Books. Price, 50 cents. 
 
 Songs in Season 
 
 The title indicates the character of this most useful 
 book. There are twenty songs of Spring, twenty-six 
 of Autumn, and thirty of Winter, together with eight 
 flower songs, thirteen bird songs and twenty miscel- 
 laneous songs. Paper. Price, 50 cents. 
 
 A. FLANAGAN COMPANY, CHICAGO
 
 For Higher Teachers 
 
 First Steps in English Composition 
 
 By H. C. Peterson, Ph.D. Professor of English, 
 Manual Training School, Chicago. A book so 
 simple, so bright, so practical, and so pleasantly 
 productive of original work in composition writing 
 and in the orderly and correct presentation of 
 thought, that it is being hailed with delight every- 
 where. Cloth. 213 pages. Price, 40 cents. 
 
 Outlines, Tables and Sketches in U. S. History 
 
 By S. Laura Ensign. The best and most complete 
 book of outlines in U. S. History published. Over 
 one hundred thousand copies have been sold. Price, 
 25 cents. 
 
 One Hundred Authors 
 
 By Bessie H. Shedd. Outlines in English and 
 American Literature, with a Selected List of Quota- 
 tions- It treats of one hundred authors, their birth, 
 life, school, occupation, work, residence and death. 
 Cloth. Price, 30 cents. 
 
 Outlines in English and American Literature 
 
 By W. E. Wenner, State Normal School, Slippery 
 Rock, Pa. For High Schools, Colleges, Teachers' 
 Institutes and Normal Schools. Outlines, Sugges- 
 tions, Questions and Quotations arranged by the 
 different periods. Price, 30 cents. 
 
 Development Lessons in Mensuration 
 
 By Wm. F. Sell, Principal Ward School, Milwau- 
 kee, Wis. Contains over 1,000 examples and prob- 
 lems illustrating the practical use of mensuration. 
 Complete with answers, 74 pages. Boards. Price, 
 25 cents. 
 
 A. FLANAGAN COMPANY, CHICAGO
 
 Other Good Books 
 
 BACTERIA IN FOODS: A treatise on the conserva- 
 tion of Health, or the Scientific Preparation of Pure Food. 
 By Hiram H. Shepard, formerly Science Instructor in the 
 Chicago Normal School. 
 
 A valuable and interesting little work telling about Forms and 
 Growths of Bacteria. How destroyed, bacteria in fruits and 
 vegetables not dry reading but intensely interesting; various 
 means of preserving foods; also articles on dairy products, grape 
 juice, vinegar, ptomaine poisoning, sanitary milk, certified milk, 
 canning, preserving and jellying, molds, yeast and yeast substi- 
 tutes, etc., etc. A pamphlet of 32 pages. Price 10 cents. 
 
 LIFE ON THE FARM: Or Scientific Agriculture Sim- 
 plified. By Hiram H. Shepherd. 
 
 Presents in simple, untechnical and interesting language some 
 of the general principles of agriculture. Treats of the soil, air, 
 light, heat, plants, trees, germs, insects and birds. Excellent as 
 both a reader and a reference work. Cloth. 166 pages. Price SOc. 
 
 PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL: By W. F. Rocheleau. 
 With fifty-seven illustration*. 
 
 Presents a comprehensive and interesting treatment of Lumber, 
 Sugar, Cotton, Indian Corn, Wheat and Fruits. Each subject is 
 discussed at length. Cloth. 194 pages. Price SOc. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED LESSONS IN ELEMENTARY 
 AGRICULTURE 
 
 One hundred clearly denned lessons, each one stating the title, 
 season to be given, aim, materiali needed, subject matter and 
 method to use in presenting. Should be in the library of every 
 rural school. A helpful and accurate manual for those teaching 
 elementary agriculture. Price 65c. 
 
 A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 
 CHICAGO
 
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