Very often it is impossible to carry cots on a trip, and that is where a knowledge of woodcraft comes in.  The softest, sweetest, downiest bed in the world can be made with no other materials but those which grow in the forest—­if we know how.  At least the tired camper will think it is soft and will sleep on it like a top and wake up refreshed in the morning.  Perhaps if we had our choice we would prefer our own bed at home, but in the woods we do not have this choice.  Most people call this a bed of “pine boughs.”

[Illustration:  How the bough bed is made]

Why I do not know as it never should be made of pine under any circumstances.  The best wood for the bough bed is balsam.  If this does not grow in the neighbourhood, hemlock, spruce, or even cedar will do.  To make a bough bed properly means a lot of work.  The first step is to cut four straight sticks.  The side pieces should be six feet and a half long and the end pieces three feet and a half.  They should be notched on the ends with an axe and either nailed or tied together from saplings or from a tree that you have felled.  Small balsam boughs should be broken off with the fingers and laid one on the other until the whole bed is filled with them.  On this, the rubber blanket or poncho should be spread and the blankets over all.  All the boughs should be shingled with the stems down to keep them in the best condition.  This kind of a bed will require remaking every day.

A better bed for the boy camper is made as follows:  Take a piece of heavy bed ticking and sew it into a bag about three feet by six feet.  When you reach camp you can make a regular mattress by filling it with whatever material is most easily found.  Dry leaves? grass, hay, even moss or wet filler can be used if nothing dry can be found, but in this case the rubber blanket will be an absolute necessity.  Of course it is much better to use some dry material.

Be sure to have a comfortable bed.  No matter what ideas you may have about cowboys and soldiers rolling up in their blankets and snatching a few hours’ sleep under the stars by lying on the bare ground, a boy who is used to a good bed at home will never have much fun out of a camping trip if he tries to sleep on the ground with a rock for his pillow.

For a summer camping trip, one blanket is enough.  You must learn to roll up in it.  Lie flat on your back and cover the blanket over you.  Then raise up your legs and tuck it under first on one side and then the other.  The rest is easy.  This beats trying to “roll up” in it, actually.  The common summer blankets used at home are not much use for the camper.  These are usually all cotton.  A camper’s blanket should be all wool.  You can buy a standard U.S.  Army blanket, size 66 x 84 inches, for five dollars.  They can often be purchased in stores that deal in second hand army supplies for much less and are just as good as new except for some slight stain or defect.