Part 11 (1/2)

What use is made of oats; barley, rye, and buckwheat? Some of these grains are useful in two or three ways.

There is another grain which we find on almost every table. It is rice.

The rice plant, when growing, resembles wheat; but, unlike wheat, it needs a great deal of moisture. So the rice-grower sows it in fields which he can flood or drain at will.

Do you know what people live on rice without any meat at all? Ask your teacher to tell you how rice is raised in China and j.a.pan.

You ought to find something to tell your teacher and cla.s.smates about the grains.

Perhaps you would enjoy drawing some of the grains you have seen.

Choose one of the grains, and write what you have Learned about it from conversation and observation.

We plow the fields, and scatter The good seed on the land, But it is fed and watered By G.o.d's almighty hand.

He sends the snow in winter, The warmth to swell the grain, The breezes and the suns.h.i.+ne, And soft refres.h.i.+ng rain.

LESSON x.x.xI.

FRUITS.

Name some trees upon which grow things to eat. What do we call such trees?

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”THE ORANGE TREES ARE LOADED WITH GOLDEN FRUIT.”]

What fruit trees have you seen? What do we call the place where many fruit trees grow?

Did you ever pick berries? What makes it hard to pick blackberries?

Name fruits that grow about here. Which grow on trees? Which on bushes?

Which on vines?

Mention the different uses of these fruits.

The orange is one of the most delicious and wholesome of fruits. It grows only in the warmer parts of our country. In winter as well as in summer, the orange trees are loaded with golden fruit and fragrant blossom. The blossoms are white, and are very beautiful.

Name other fruits that grow in warm parts of the country.

People who live in cold countries need such food as will make them warm.

What kinds of food are best in cold countries? What people live mainly on fish and the flesh of animals? Do any fruit trees grow in very cold countries?

What kinds of food are best in hot countries? The people cannot eat fatty food, for that would heat the body. Do we find in such countries grain, vegetables and cooling fruits for the people to live upon?

_Write_ answers to some of the questions asked in the lesson, so as to make a composition about fruits.

LESSON x.x.xII.

USEFUL PLANTS.