Soon you'll hear the old wind say, "Little leaves, good night!'

On

When will all come home?

goes the river,

And out past the mill,

Away down the valley,

Away down the hill.

Away down the river,

A hundred miles or more,

Other little children

Shall bring my boats ashore.

THE CORN SONG

HEAP high the farmer's wintry hoard!
Heap high the golden corn!
No richer gift has Autumn poured
From out her lavish horn.

Through vales of grass and meads of flowers,
Our plows their furrows made,

While on the hills the sun and showers
Of changeful April played.

We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain,
Beneath the sun of May,

And frightened from our sprouting grain
The robber crows away.

All through the long, bright days of June
Its leaves grew green and fair,
And waved in hot midsummer's noon
Its soft and yellow hair.

And now, with Autumn's moonlit eves,
Its harvest time has come,
We pluck away the frosted leaves

And bear the treasure home.

- JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.

DID you ever take a feather in your hand and look at it? Did you notice how the quill keeps the feather in shape and makes it strong?

Now find the leaf of an apple tree. Hold it before

your eyes and

let the light shine through it.

Do you see the large rib run

ning along the middle of the leaf? Do you see the fine ribs on each side of the large rib? Does not the large rib make you think of the quill of a feather?

The ribs of a leaf have fine passages or pipes in them through which the sap flows. These passages are called veins, and the large rib is called a midvein. When a leaf has one strong midvein like the quill of a feather, it is said to be feather-veined.

Let us go out of doors and find leaves that are shaped like feathers.

66

There is a peach tree. Pick a leaf and look at it. Yes, the peach leaf is featherveined. Now go to the pear tree. These leaves look like the apple leaves," you say. Here is a dandelion plant growing in the grass.

Take a leaf in your hand and look at

And so

its ragged edges. There is one straight rib or vein along the middle of the leaf. you see that the dandelion leaf is also featherveined.

You can find feather-veined leaves on the plants in the garden and on the flower stems that grow in our window boxes. And you can also find feather-veined leaves on the weeds that grow by the side of the road.

THIRD READER