Home Geography for Primary Grades Part 11

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.

What plant supplies us with much of our clothing? Name articles of clothing made of cotton.

Did you ever see a field of cotton? In the summer the young plant is covered with pretty, pale-yellow flowers. In the autumn you see the pod or boll which contains the cotton.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "YOU SEE THE POD OR BOLL."]

As the pod ripens, it bursts open. The cotton-field is now a pretty sight--the bright green leaves, yellow blossoms, and snowy cotton all mingled together. Form a picture in your mind of a field of cotton in bloom.

The cotton is now picked. The first thing is to separate it from its seed. This is done by a machine called a cotton-gin.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "FLAX IS A SMALL PLANT."]

Now it is ready to be pressed in great bales and sent to market. It will, at last, go to the cotton mills and be spun into thread, then woven into muslin, calico, etc.

Are the seeds of any use? They contain a great deal of oil, which is pressed out by machinery. What is the name of this oil? What use is made of it?

There is another plant from which clothing is made.

Do you know what plant linen is made from? Linen comes from the flax plant.

Flax is a small plant which grows two or three feet high, bearing on the top a bunch of pretty blue flowers. A field of flax in bloom is a very pretty sight.

The flax does not grow in a pod like cotton. The stalk of the plant is covered with a bark, or skin, containing fibers. These fibers are spun into thread, which is woven into a cloth called linen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A PLANT THAT YIELDS NO FOOD."]

The seeds are used for making an oil called _linseed oil_. For what is linseed oil used?

Do you think people who live in hot countries need the same kind of clothing as those who live in cold countries?

What kind of clothing should you think was needed in cold countries?

Would such clothes be comfortable in hot countries?

There is a plant that yields no food, drink, or clothing, yet it is used in nearly every country in the world. Can you tell its name?

Every one has seen it growing. It is tobacco.

Do you think the tobacco plant is as useful as the cotton and flax plants?

Everybody eats sugar. Did you ever see a table set for supper without a sugar bowl?

[Ill.u.s.tration: "SUGAR-CANE IS A TALL PLANT."]

The sugar in common use in this country is made chiefly from sugar-cane.

The sugar-cane is a tall plant which looks much like Indian corn when growing. It is called the sugar-cane because it is filled with the sweet juice that is made into the sugar.