Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1901 — FOR THE LITTLE ONES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FOR THE LITTLE ONES.

Master Harold and Hl* Cute Shetland Pony Colt. About two years ago I invested in a pair of Shetland ponies, with the idea, first, of pleasing the little boys, and, secondly, I thought they might be profitable to raise for market. I send you a photograph of the first pony bred and raised at Hickory Hill farm, shown at Fig. 333, with his young master, Harold Morse, aged three. This colt’s dam was less than three years old at the time the colt was foaled. She is thirty-eight inches tall and weighs about 300 pounds. At birth the

colt weighed twenty-seven pounds and was twenty-two inches tall. As far as we have found, the pure bred ponies are very docile and safe for the children. A very good illustration of this was an incident that occurred two days after this colt was born. I had turned the mare and colt in the back yard, and soon after we missed Master Harold. We found him in the attitude in which he appears in the picture. The mare was standing close over them, very watchful, but not at all inclined to be cross. This little mare is not a “fish cart” pony, though, by any means and can draw the two older boys, aged eight and eleven years, five miles an hour and has made one trip of twenty miles in a day this fall. The boys have broken a two-year-old this summer to drive to the cart, and it is hard telling which learned the more, the boys or the pony. I also have learned a few things about ponies and some about men too. I have found that some of the mares are nonbreeders and also that it is well to have a certificate of registry come with the pony, or he may grow and grow and grow until he is just an undersized horse, too small for a horse and too big for a ponv. Dealers in this class hurt the sale of real ponies, because they offer their stock at low prices and cause dissatisfaction among those who buy. —J. Grant Morse in Rural New Yorker.

Leaf Bud*. Do you know, dear children, that new branches are developed from I buds growing in the joints of leaves, called axillary buds? As the branch pushes out it bears a bud upon the end of it, called the terminal bud. Each branch is the result of a bud which starts out in the joint and pushes its way until it becomes a branch and in turn helps form a new bud. Mary Dennis says in a “Study of Leaves:” “Some people pride themselves upon their skill in packing trunks, but Mother Nature excels all her children in this art. She uniquely folds away a gigantic oak in an acorn, and the mightiest branches are tucked up in a tinv bud.” Game* For Winter Evenings. Have you ever played “cards in the hat ?” Take an old high hat—or a deep bowl or basket about the size of a hat will do—place it upon the floor, stand at a point about ten feet from it—the distance is optional—and hold in your hands a pack of ordinary playing cards From the top di the pack take one card and toss it, or try to, into the bat. In like manner toss the others until the pack is gone. A card resting upon the rim of the hat counts half; those going in, one point each. Great skill may be acquired after practice, and when several are playing it is real sport A Unique Street Lamp. In London they have a street lamp which provides a stream of boiling water and dispenses tea, coffee and cocoa. The neat of the lamp warms the water and by dropping a cent in the slot a gallon of boiling water may be had. Two cents brings you milk, sugar, tea, coffee, etc. The light and heat are provided by the city, which co-oper-ates with a private corporation that furnishes the rest.

A PAIR OF FARM BABIES.