DID you ever think how much valuable information you may gather from the things which lie all about you ? The people of your neighborhood are daily doing hundreds of things which you may sometime be called upon to do. You should therefore be interested in these activities and store up all the knowledge and experience you can.

There are farmers who, for a great many years, have been dealing with the problems of raising crops and farm animals and who, by this experience and hard work, have learned a great many things which they would be glad to tell you. These things would not only be as interesting as any of the stories studied in school, but they would possibly be quite valuable later on in helping you to make a living.

The carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, painters and other mechanics have gathered a great store of knowledge and acquired considerable skill by spending many years in careful practice at their trades. While it would be impossible for them to give you any portion of their skill, because this can be obtained only by actual practice, yet they can tell you many things which will be worth while for you to know.

Throughout your life you will be compelled to use a great many different kinds of equipment in the way of tools, implements, furniture, and even houses, barns and bridges, so the more you can know about the materials of which such things are made, how they are produced and their care and use, the more intelligently will you be able to deal with them.

These suggestions for research work are to guide you in finding out by observation and inquiry some of the practical things which every boy should know. It is particularly important that you should learn how to approach men in a genteel and polite manner and learn to talk with them intelligently about different lines of work. Almost any intelligent and right thinking man is not only willing, but glad to offer advice and information to a boy who is earnestly trying to learn. Of course nobody likes a meddler nor one who asks foolish questions out of idle curiosity or impudence. Whenever you are visiting a man's place of business to gather information, remember that he is doing you a favor and that you should not fail to appreciate it and to thank him for it. One of the best ways to get courteous treatment is to be thoroughly a gentleman yourself.

3-Voc.

1. Make a list of all the hardwood forest trees (those that shed their leaves each year) that you can find in your community. Perhaps your father or some man whom you know in the neighborhood, who is familiar with the different kinds of trees, will be willing to go with you on a tree-examining excursion. When a tree has once been named and pointed out to you, study it very carefully so you will be able to recognize trees of its kind afterward. Notice the size of the tree, the general shape of the trunk and the branches, the nature of the bark, the color and exact shape of the leaves, and any flowers, fruit or nuts which it may bear. You cannot hope to remember the different kinds of trees unless you study their characteristic features.

2. On your tree excursion did you find any damaged, unhealthy or otherwise disfigured trees? What seemed to be the cause of the improper condition of the tree? The matter of caring for trees and of doctoring them has become quite a science; you will find it very interesting to see how the tree surgeon cuts out the rotten portions and fills the cavity with cement, very much as a dentist treats a tooth. Perhaps you can find where some work of this kind is going on or has been done in your community. It is not a very difficult task, and by carefully studying the references given in this text you might be able to undertake some simple work of this kind with the help of your father or teacher. Make a list of all the influences which damage shade trees and suggest whatever remedies you can find for these difficulties.

3. Do you know of any one near your school who has a loom for weaving carpets or rugs? If you do, visit the place and find out all you can about weaving. Notice particularly how the stripes and the figures are woven. Do you know of anything produced in your locality which is used in the making of any kind of cloth? Some communities furnish a great deal of material from which the clothing of the world is made; other communities produce principally food materials. You will find it interesting to list and classify the products of your community. Possibly there are some articles manufactured in your city which are neither for food nor clothing, but which serve as equipment in aiding in the production of both. A wagon factory, for illustration, produces neither food nor clothing, but its wagons are very important in handling material for each.

4. Visit a number of farmers and ask them to explain to you how they select their seed corn. You will probably find that a large majority of them simply go to the crib and pick out the ears which they consider the best. Can they in this way know much about the mother plants which produced the chosen ears? From the references given, of what value is the knowledge of the mother plant? By careful inquiry from a number of farmers, find the average yield of corn per acre in your neighborhood. If the average acre yield throughout the United States last year was twenty-six bushels, was your community above or below the average? The farmers will no doubt be interested in finding some way of increasing their yield.

5. What hand tools do you have in your home? Are they kept sharp and in good condition for use? Visit a carpenter's shop and ask the carpenter to let you examine his stock of tools; talk to him about the care and use of tools, and see whether you think that your tools, in their present condition, would be satisfactory for a man who is working at the carpenter's trade. What have you learned from this visit which you think is worth while?

6. Did you ever see a broom being made? While most brooms are now made by machinery, yet it is not uncommon to find a broom maker who does his work largely by hand. Perhaps you will have a chance to visit such a shop. If you do, find out all you can about "broom straw." Is there any broom corn raised in your neighborhood? If not, find the reason; would it be a profitable crop in your locality?

Review Questions And Problems

1. What is meant by a Working Face, a Working Edge, a Working End?

2. What is the purpose of the Marking Gauge? How should it be used? In what other ways can gauging be done?

3. How can you tell whether the edge of a piece of material is perfectly straight?

4. In what order would you give the dimensions of a piece of lumber?

5. What tools do you use in laying out work? Name as many as you can.

6. Name all the cutting tools which you have used thus far.

7. What is meant by assembling a piece of work? How many different means of assembling have you used?

8. What is the purpose of staining a piece of work? What is the purpose of shellac ? Why is paint preferable on work which is exposed to the weather?