Agriculture

Where a camp is located so as to be near a farm, opportunity should be given city boys to study soil, rotation of crops, gardening, etc.  In cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and under the leadership of a student of an Agricultural College, an experiment in raising vegetables may be tried in long-term camps.  A plot of ground may be plowed and harrowed, and sub-divided into as many plots as there are tents, each tent to be given a plot and each boy in the tent his “own row to hoe,” the boy to make his own choice of seed, keep a diary of temperature, sunshine, rainfall, when the first blade appeared; make an elementary analysis of soil, use of fertilizer and other interesting data.  Prepare for an exhibit of vegetables.  Whatever the boys raise may be cooked and eaten at their table.  Free agricultural bulletins will be sent upon application to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Farmers’ Bulletin 385 tells about Boys’ Agricultural Clubs.

Forestry

The subject of forestry is akin to camping.  Much valuable instruction may be given boys regarding the forests of the locality in which the camp is located, kind of land, character and use of woods, how utilized—­conservatively or destructively—­for saw timber, or other purposes, protection of forests, forest fires, etc.  Send to United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., for Forest Service Circular 130, “Forestry in the Public Schools;” Farmers’ Bulletin 173, “A Primer of Forestry,” Part I; Farmers’ Bulletin 358, “A Primer of Forestry,” Part II.

Scoutcraft

The Handbook of the Boy Scouts of America is full of information regarding knot tying, signalling, tracking, use of compass, direction and time calculator, etc., which every boy should know.  Scoutcraft would furnish recreational education for scores of boys.

Record Books

Boys like to carry home some permanent record of personal achievements while at camp, autographs of fellow campers, etc.  A rather unique record is used by the boys at Camp Wawayanda.  The illustration shows the card which was used.  “A Vacation Diary,” in the form of vest pocket memorandum book, bound in linen, is published by Charles R. Scott, State Y. M. C. A. Committee, Newark, N. J. Price, 10 cents.

Kites

Scientific kite flying is one of the best things a boy can indulge in.  Hiye-Sho-To, a Japanese, gives this interesting information about kites.  “To all Japanese the kite is symbolic of worthy, soaring ambitions, such as the work upward to success in school, or in trade, and so on.  When a child is born, little kites are sent up by modest households to announce the arrival.  Kites are also flown to celebrate birthdays.  To lose a kite is considered an omen of ill-luck.”

“For the control of a box kite, I prefer the lightest steel wire to a cord.  This wire is about the thickness of an ordinary pin, with a tensile strength at the point of breaking of quite three hundred pounds.  In handling a kite with such a wire-ground connection, a boy should always have rough gloves on his hands, that the wire may not cut them.