LEAFLET LXI
IN THE CORN FIELDS.[79]
By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
(Compare Leaflets [XLII] and [XLIII].)
"Caw caw!" said Jim Crow as he flew over our heads. "Was he jeering at us?" we wondered, the children and I. Perhaps he was inquisitive to know what business we had in the open country and in the fields of corn. Perhaps he was not concerned with us at all. Very likely crows are less concerned with us than we think they are.
Jim Crow flew on out of sight, but we stayed among the ripening corn. The ears were filling out. The ends of the silk were turning brown. We saw many things that we had planned to look for in vacation: the tall stem, the brace roots, the long strong leaves and the way the ribs extend in them, the ruffled edges of the leaves, the two kinds of blossoms, and where each silken thread is attached. The whole story was before us.
Fig. 315. Over the fields in corn-harvest time.
But this is the harvest time and we are ready to learn a new lesson from the corn fields. As we watch them now let us answer the following questions:
2. How many ears do you find on a stalk?