There are two sovereign cures for the ills of modern life: Work and outdoors. It is the purpose of this book on "Outdoor Work for Young People" to teach the gospel of these two remedies, not in lessons nor sermons, but in the form of confidential talks, which are intended to be both practical and inspiring.
The guiding principles in the preparation of this book are three: 1, to help young people to earn money; 2, to help them build character; 3, to help them make better citizens.
1. The most obvious reason why children wish to work is that they "want to earn money," to spend as they like. Here is a great opportunity and a considerable danger. The opportunities are to help support the family, to learn self-reliance, to gain in efficiency, to appreciate the sacrifices made by parents, to purchase innocent pleasures, and to save toward a college education. The dangers are that children may become too commercially minded, grasping, even dishonest, make dull playmates, and become stunted in character for lack of play and wholesome stimulus to the imagination. If you will analyze these dangers you will find that they are all the results of overdoing good things. The old rule of the Greeks, "Nothing too much" is the golden rule to measure perfect commercial relations between parents and children.
2. But far more important than money making is character making. And therefore one of the principles of this book is to suggest in a thousand ways that money making may go too far. For example, I would encourage boys to gather and sell nuts, but not to take nuts from a neighbour's trees without permission nor destroy young trees whose future crops belong to a future generation of boys. I encourage trapping but urge the use of humane traps to avoid cruelty. I encourage the gathering and selling certain wild flowers, if abundant, but warn against the danger of exterminating species, or of robbing the public of pleasure. I have gone over all of the things that children do out of doors and have tried to select the best occupations. I have studied the worst things they do and have suggested their opposites—constructive work that earns money, develops character, or preserves public property. For example, instead of collecting birds' eggs I suggest methods of attracting birds, building houses for them, and providing food and protection from enemies.
3. The book is addressed to the citizens of nineteen hundred and twenty. Will not busy boys and girls make better citizens than idle ones? Practical patriotism becomes second nature to children who learn early to regard the rights of others, to respect the laws, and to protect public property. The boy who raises wild fowl and liberates them or refrains from mutilating for purely selfish ends a fine tree is doing his share in the great work of conservation.
But the young workers cannot do it all. You will be disappointed if you give this book to a child for a birthday or Christmas present and expect him to "do the rest," without further help. There is no substitute for affectionate parental interest. This book will surely fail you if you do not thoroughly believe in the dignity of manual labour and experience the uplift that rewards work with your own hands. Although in theory we may all believe in the dignity of labour (for other people), many of us make mental reservations to suit our own cases and persist in regarding certain forms of labour as distinctly beneath our dignity. Children see through that attitude every time. When I used to be acquainted with the citizens of the George Junior Republic, they had a saying that even the President and the Judge could not maintain standing with the others unless they took their turn now and then working in the ditch. And so I say, work with your children, with common tools, out in the dirt. The scratches will heal and the dirt will wash off, but the sense of kinship with workers will stay.
Have a "You and I" club, with you and the children for members. Meet once a week to discuss schemes for earning money to buy what the children want. It is easier to go out and earn the money and give it to them to spend, but where do they come in? Read parts of this book aloud when outside information or suggestion is needed. Make a list of your children's occupations; consider whether they are the best ones. If you know any better ones than I have put into this book please tell me, for I, too, have children and I wish them to have the very best works and plays that children in this world can have.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The Best Ways of Earning Money | [3] |
| II. | Harvesting Nature's Crops Wild berries—Wild fruits—Nuts—Tree seeds—Christmas greens—Medicinal plants—Walking sticks—Wild flowers for city children—Corn husks—Fragrant herbs and grasses—Balsam leaves—Birch bark—Porcupine quills—Maple sugar—Wild rice—Spruce gum—Mushrooms. | [9] |
| III. | Raising Domestic Animals Colts—Sheep—Goats—Calves—Pigs—Chickens—Guinea fowls—Turkeys—Peacocks—Ducks—Squabs for market—Pheasants. | [101] |
| IV. | Raising Animals for Pets Shetland ponies—Rabbits, guinea pigs, and cavies—Fancy pigeons—Bantams—Fancy fowls—Dogs—Goldfish. | [203] |
| V. | Work and Play with Trained Animals Dairy cows—Training pet animals—Training young horses—Treadmills and cranks—Making animals happy—Taming wild animals. | [241] |
| VI. | Making Brooks and Springs Useful Reclaiming a trout stream—Reclaiming a Spring—Making a swimming pool. | [271] |
| VII. | Keeping Bees | [287] |
| VIII. | Raising Silkworms | [338] |
| IX. | Making Collections Plants—Shells—Insects. | [350] |
| X. | Odd Jobs Kindling-wood—Cleaning a carriage—Work in the orchard—Making rustic furniture—Selecting seed corn—Making cider vinegar—Making grape juice—Making leaf mould—Making lavender sticks—Drying corn—Making a tennis court—Shovelling snow—Mowing lawns—Utilizing wood ashes—Planting crocuses in the lawn—Making ice—Cutting seed potatoes—Pruning—Cleaning rugs. | [405] |
| XI. | Making the Country a Better Place to Live In Improving home grounds—Outdoor clubs—Attracting birds—Domesticating wild game—Protecting wild flowers—Preventing forest fires—Killing weeds—Getting rid of poison ivy—Lessening the plague of mosquitoes—Fighting flies—Trapping—Curing and tanning skins. | [450] |
| Appendix | ||
| Free Printed Matter: How to Get It | [514] | |
| List of Books and Bulletins by Experts on Outdoor Work | [518] | |