Chapter XVIII

CAMPS AND CAMPING

Camping in the mountains, fields, and forests is one of the most delightful features of life in the summer-time. But a good deal of the fun depends upon doing things the right way.

To experienced campers many of the following ideas and descriptions may be familiar, but among them there may be some suggestions that will be found of value.

The tent is the all-important thing, and to make one large enough for two or three boys is not a difficult matter. What the boy does not know on his first camping expedition, necessity will teach him, and much satisfaction may be had in constructing bunks and tables and the other varied paraphernalia of camp life.

A Tent of Medium Size

Fig. 1 shows a serviceable and roomy tent and fly of medium size, which measures eight feet wide, ten feet long, and seven feet high to the peak or ridge. The side drops or aprons are thirty inches high, and against them on both sides of the tent cots may rest on the ground as shown in the illustration.

The fly is ten feet wide and fifteen feet long, and is an extra covering for the tent in case of a hard rain-storm; while in clear weather and with another ridge-pole and upright, it can be used to lengthen the tent by extending it out beyond the front, where it is to be held fast with stakes and stanchion-ropes.

The plan shown in Fig. 2 gives the dimensions of canvas, and when the final sewing is done the edges CC at both ends of the tent are brought together and securely overcast with stout waxed cord.

The only openings are at front and back, and they can be closed by means of tabs and button-holes at one side, and large bone buttons made fast to the other edge in a corresponding position to the tabs.

Where the iron pins of the uprights project through the canvas, make a circular patch at least six inches in diameter with two or three thicknesses of the canvas, and sew it fast both at the hole and around the outer edge. This will strengthen the canvas at the most vital point, and prevent it from tearing if a heavy wind should strain the tent.

Twilled cotton sail-cloth is the proper material of which to make the tent, but if this cannot be had, then a stout quality of unbleached muslin will answer very well for clear weather; but in wet weather it will not shed the water so well as the twilled duck. The seams can be sewed on a machine, but they will be much stronger if sewed by hand with white cotton cord well waxed. All the edges of the cloth should be bound with rope about the size and strength of clothes-line, so that any attachments made to the edges will be borne by the rope instead of all the strain coming on the canvas.

On the dotted lines DD in the plan, which indicates the inner edges of the aprons, one-inch harness-rings are to be sewed on the straps, through which to reave the guy and stanchion ropes. There should be four straps to this tent, making five strips of canvas two feet wide; and these strengthening straps are three-quarters of an inch in width, and made by lapping the canvas over and sewing it along both edges as shown in the little diagram marked E below the plan in Fig. 2.

If a closed end is preferred instead of the flaps at the rear of the tent, a back, in one piece, as shown in Fig. 3, can be made and sewed all around the edges, bringing the edges AA against the edge B, and joining the vertical edges CC to the ends of the side aprons on the main sheet.

For ventilation, a flap opening may be made at the top of this end as you can see in Fig. 3; and with tabs and buttons this can be closed when necessary, or tied back with strings, either to the inside or outside of the tent, where they should be caught to small harness-rings sewed to the canvas.

The fly is bound with rope all around the outer edge, from which ropes extend out from each end, so that in hot weather, if the sun plays on the tent, it may be kept cool by raising the outer ends of the fly and propping them up with poles at the four corners, and perhaps one extra one at the middle of each side. (See the illustration for the canopy over the table and seats, Fig. 10).

The ridge-pole to hold up this tent is of pine or spruce, ten feet long, one inch and a half thick, and four inches wide. The uprights are two inches square, with the sharp corners planed off, making them octagonal in shape, and they should be from seven to nine feet in length. The upper ends of the uprights are bound with cord or an iron band to prevent them from splitting when the iron pin is driven in place. They are to be bored to receive a half-inch pin, so that eight inches of it will project above the top of the upright as shown in Fig. 4. Five-eighth-inch holes are bored in the ridge-pole one inch and a half from each end, and through these the pins in the uprights will pass.

The stanchion-ropes are caught around the heads of long pegs or stakes, twenty-four inches long, two inches wide, and one inch in thickness, with a notch cut three inches from the top as shown in Fig. 5. Cleats four inches long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick are provided with two holes through which the stanchion-ropes pass, and they are used to draw the ropes taut, as shown in Fig. 5, where the strain on the long rope pulls the short end down and chocks the rope.

The stakes are to be driven into the ground so that but five or six inches of them project. The lower they are the better purchase they get in the ground and the more securely the tent is anchored.

The extra ridge-pole for the fly can be cut at one end so that it will lap in a corresponding manner on the front end of the tent ridge-pole as shown in Fig. 6. For long tents, where it is necessary to have the sticks in short lengths, for convenience in carrying them, the ridge-pole can be in two or three pieces, lapped together at the ends as shown in the figure drawing, so that the pin in the upright will complete the union.

When erecting the tent, dig two holes for the uprights to rest in, and embed them so that seven feet of pole will be above the ground, on which the ridge-pole will rest, and in turn the canvas covering. The stakes are driven three feet out on either side of the aprons so that the stanchion-ropes will line with the pitch of the tent.

A Large Camping-tent

For a company of boys numbering from four to eight a large camping-tent is shown in Fig. 7.

If it is made twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet high to the ridge-pole, it will accommodate six cots and two hammocks swung from the ridge-pole.

A plan by which to cut the cloth and make the tent is shown in Fig. 8, and in Fig. 9 the plan for the back is given. If an open back be preferred, the flaps shown at the bottom of Fig. 8 may be duplicated at the rear of the tent.

This tent, when erected, is twenty feet long and eight feet high from the ground to the ridge-pole, with the aprons at the sides three feet high instead of thirty inches as in the smaller tent. Three uprights two inches and a half square support the ridge-pole, which for convenience of transportation may be in two pieces and lapped at the middle as shown in Fig. 6.

This tent is made in the same manner as described for the smaller one, and a fly twenty-two feet long and eighteen feet wide is supported over the tent where, in clear weather, it can be propped up at the outer edges as shown at the left side of the illustration. The fly is drawn back at the right side to show how the guy and stanchion ropes are attached to the stakes, so as to prevent the wind from blowing the tent backward and forward as well as from side to side.

A flag-pole four feet high may be erected on the middle upright by leaving the pin at the top longer, so that it will extend up and into a hole bored in the lower end of the flag-pole. The lower end of the pole must be bound with cord or wire to prevent splitting. A small pulley at the top, and a set of halyards, will make it possible to raise a club flag or pennant.

All around the lower edge of the tent one-inch galvanized rings should be sewed fast about twelve inches apart. Through these the apron and ends may be tied fast to short stakes or wooden pins driven in the ground. This will be quite necessary in the event of a storm or strong wind, as otherwise the lower part of the tent will blow up and flap around in a disagreeable manner.

When erecting a tent of this size, care should be taken to anchor it securely and brace it well with the stanchion and guy ropes, for its size offers considerable resistance to a strong wind. A little care and forethought will sometimes avert a catastrophe with a tent, and when erecting one do not trust anything to luck, but snug your tent and keep ropes taut.

If it is possible to get some boards and a few joist, it would be well to make a flooring, if you are to stay in one place for any length of time.

Always select a level, dry place for the tent, and if possible erect it on ground that is slightly higher than that around it so as to drain the surface-water away.

Flies and Canopies

Every camping-tent should have a fly—that is, an extra canvas roof—for no matter how good the canvas of which it is made, it will become thoroughly soaked in a heavy rain; but if protected by a fly the latter will lead the water off and receive the greater part of the wetting. Such a fly is shown clearly in the illustration of the large camping-tent. Fig. 7.

The fly should always be a trifle wider than the tent is long, and in length it should be long enough to cover the roof of the tent and extend a foot or eighteen inches beyond the sides, where it rests on the stanchion-ropes and is lashed fast to pegs in the ground. The overhang, or extension, leads the water out beyond the apron of the tent and prevents the ground from becoming wet close to the tent.

Another use for this overhang is to prevent the rain driving against the aprons of the tent and wetting them close to the cots. In fair weather, when it is possible to dine outside the tent, the fly can be used as a canopy, if drawn over a ridge-pole and held up at the ends by means of poles and stanchion-ropes.

A canopy of this kind is shown in Fig. 10, where it is erected over a table and seats. It is always well, indeed, to have two flies to a tent, so that one can be used for a canopy or an auxiliary tent, under which a fire can be built and meals cooked and eaten when it is raining.

For a small camp a fly or canopy, twelve feet wide and eighteen feet long, will prove very useful in many ways; but for a larger camp it should measure fifteen by twenty-five feet. Under one of this size a party of ten or twelve people can be comfortably seated, with plenty of room all around.

Flies or canopies should be bound with rope all around the edges, and at distances from twelve to eighteen inches apart three-quarter-inch galvanized rings should be made fast. Through these stanchion-ropes may be reared wherever it is necessary to attach the sheet to branches or poles set in the ground.

A House-tent

One of the latest features in the modern camp is the house-tent, in which the lower part is floored and boarded half-way up, while the balance of the sides and the roof are of canvas. This style of camp-tent has become very popular in California and through the Southwest, where at least six months of each year are spent out-of-doors. For the boys who are about to build a permanent camp for several years’ use, a house-tent such as shown in Figs. 11 and 12 will prove very satisfactory, and more desirable than the plain pitched tent.

Fig. 11 shows the house-tent closed in stormy weather or at night, while in Fig. 12 the house is open for fair-weather living. One wooden side is let down to form a piazza, and the canvas side above it is propped out with poles so as to act as a canopy or sunshade.

The frame is twelve feet long, eight feet wide, and nine feet high from the roof to the peak. The wood sides are three feet and six inches above the floor, and out beyond the sides of the house the joist may extend to support one or both of the wooden sides, which can be let down by means of hinges along the bottom. When the sides are lowered they act as piazzas and nearly double the floor space of the house-tent; while the canvas sides, when propped out with long, slim poles, add equally to the roof area in the way of sunshades.

In Fig. 13 a clear idea is given for the framing, which is of spruce planed on the four sides. The uprights and rafters are of two-by-three-inch stock, while for the under timbers two-by-four or preferably two-by-six rough stock can be used. The joist or flooring beams rest on the ends of posts embedded two feet in the ground, to which they are spiked with long, steel-wire nails. The flooring, of four-inch matched boards, is laid on the space within the four corner uprights, and the same or wider boards may be employed for the sheathing.

If both sides are to let down, a window can be set only at the back of this house-tent; but if only one side lets down the window may be arranged at the enclosed side between uprights the same as the rear window is placed.

The triangular end-pieces of canvas are attached to the frame with copper or tinned tacks, so that they will not rust, and the roof and both sides are of one piece made by sewing together lengths of canvas or twilled sheeting. At the front and back it is drawn over the edges of the end rails, forming the roof, and tacked to hold it in place.

At the front, on either side of the doorway, the canvas may be arranged to roll up in clear weather. The rolls are held to the upper frame-bar with cord or straps as shown in Fig. 12.

The front door is thirty inches wide and is made from boards and battens, and provided with a knob lock by means of which it can be opened from either side.

The side that lets down to form the piazza is battened on the outside, as may be seen in Fig. 11 where the house is closed. When the side is down the battens drop in between the extended floor joist or beams.

Folding-cots can be used in this house, or bunks may be built in against the side and end—two at the side and one at the end under the window. When the drop-side is up and fastened for the night, another cot can be placed at that side, while from corner to corner a hammock may be swung.

When camp is broken up in the fall the canvas is to be removed from the framework and kept for next season, but the frame may be left standing. It would be better to remove the door and sashes and slide them under the floor, for they would offer too much resistance to the wind if left standing in place, and might break or cause the framework of the house to rack and become rickety during the winter storms and high winds.

A coat or two of paint on the wood-work will improve its appearance greatly and preserve the wood, if the house is to be used for a number of seasons.

The New Tent

One great drawback to the pitched or army tent is that in wet weather, when one has to stay in-doors, it is not a comfortable abode unless you sit down or keep close to the ground, for there is little or no head room.

In the illustration of the new tent with French roof (Fig. 14) you can readily see the great advantage of this new method of construction, for it affords a great deal of head room.

Two uprights, three ridge-poles, and four angle-bars will be required for the frame, and some long, slim poles with crotched ends can be cut to prop the guy-ropes out from the tent as shown in the illustration. For a party of three or four boys this tent should measure seven feet and six inches high, six feet and six inches broad at the top, eight feet at the bottom, and ten or twelve feet deep. The sides and top are in one piece, twenty-one feet long and ten or twelve feet wide. The rear end is made in one piece and sewed fast to the edges of the sides and top.

At the front two flaps are sewed to the top and sides. They each measure seven feet and six inches long at the inner edge, four feet across the bottom, three feet and five inches at the top, and seven feet long at the outer edge. They are cut as shown in Fig. 15A, and when the tent is set up the canvas will appear as shown in Fig. 15B.

The frame is composed of two uprights two inches square and nine feet long, eighteen inches of which is set into the ground. There are three ridge-poles two inches in diameter and ten feet long; and four brace-bars two inches square, four feet and three inches long, bevelled at the lower ends to fit against the upright post as shown at Fig. 16A. An iron pin (Fig. 16D) is driven in the top of each upright and at the outer ends of the brace-bars over which the ridge-poles fit, they having been provided with holes for the purpose. Angle-irons are screwed fast to the bevelled ends of the brace-bars, and a collar of iron is made and screwed to the uprights so that the tongue end of the angle-irons will fit in them as shown at Fig. 16B. Stout screw-eyes and wire hold the braces in position at the top, as shown at Fig. 16C, and so prevent the outer ridge-poles from straining the canvas.

One of the best anchorages for the guy-ropes of a tent is made with the lock-stake and deadeye cleat shown at Fig. 17A. A stake with a notch to hold the rope is driven into the ground, and another notched stake is driven in close to the head, so that when in far enough the notch in the latter will hold the head of the former as shown at Fig. 17B. The deadeye cleat is cut from hard-wood seven-eighths of an inch thick, and is two inches wide, six inches long, and provided with two holes three inches apart. At one end a jaw is cut, so that a rope may be caught in it as shown in Fig. 17A. Steel wire nails are passed through the holes indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 17C, and riveted at the point ends to strengthen the deadeyes.

The manner in which it is used is shown at Fig. 17A, and if the holes are made the same size as the diameter of the rope, the harder you pull on the tent end of the rope, the more securely the deadeye cleat holds, and the loose end of the rope caught first in the jaw can be given a turn or two around the cleat to make it fast.

The double-peg anchorage is better than a single one, and with this new rope-fastener it will be an easy matter to stay a tent to withstand any wind-storm.

Canvas Cots and Hammocks

Cots are very necessary parts of the camping outfit, and may be made either of canvas and poles or of boughs and leaves. The canvas cot is, of course, much more comfortable than the one of boughs, but sometimes it is not possible to transport them, and then the bough bed must be resorted to.

A simple canvas cot is easily made from two pine or spruce sticks seven feet long, two inches in diameter, and free from knots or sappy places. A piece of light canvas or twilled cotton duck fifty-four inches wide and seventy-two inches long is sewed together so as to form a cylindrical case thirty-six inches wide and seventy-two inches long. Lay it flat and crease it along the edges, then run two or three lines of stitching along both sides four inches in from the edges. This forms the sleeve through which the poles are to be passed.

Crotched sticks are to be embedded in the ground to support the ends of the poles as shown in Fig. 18. These are to extend a foot or eighteen inches above the ground, and should be three inches in diameter and quite strong, so as to avoid breakage and a possible fall.

If a folding-cot with portable ends is desired, it can be made to appear as shown in Fig. 19 by constructing two folding ends, a middle pole, and four iron brace-hooks.

To make the cot twenty-six inches wide, procure the canvas and poles as directed for the first cot. Bind the ends of the poles with wire or have a blacksmith band them with iron ferrules, then bore the ends and drive threaded pins in, having nuts at the ends as shown at Fig. 20A. From maple or oak two inches wide and an inch thick cut four legs thirty-two inches long, and bore holes at one end and midway between ends, as shown in Fig. 20B, to receive the bolt ends in the poles. Bevel off the lower ends of the sticks and place them in opposite directions, so that when opened, in the form of an X, the ends will lie flat on the ground as shown in Fig. 19. From pine or spruce cut a stick two inches square, and provide the ends with bolts and nuts as shown in Fig. 20C. This is for the under brace, and extends from end to end where the bolt passes through both legs, and is attached with a nut and washer.

From iron an inch wide and less than a quarter of an inch in thickness have a blacksmith cut four hook-braces eighteen inches long with a hole at one end and a notch at the other. With round-headed screws attach two of the braces near each end of the pole, as shown in Fig. 20C, so that when the cot is set up the notches will hook over screws driven in the upper edge of each leg near the bottom as shown in Fig. 19. These will steady the cot, and prevent it from rocking from end to end as it would do if not braced.

A hammock that can be swung between the uprights of a tent is made of canvas thirty inches wide and seventy-two inches long. It is lapped over at the ends and sewed with several lines of stitching, so as to receive a two-inch bar to which the three ropes are made fast as shown in Fig. 21. The end ropes should be twenty-four inches long and the middle one eighteen. From the bars at each end they are brought together and bound to rings which slip over hooks made fast to the tent uprights, or they can be lashed fast to the uprights. Any number of these hammocks may be made and easily carried, as they roll up snugly and occupy very little room in a bedding-kit. They are much easier to handle than a woven or braided hammock, the strands of which are forever catching in everything and anything with which they come into contact.

When making a cot of boughs the most satisfactory and comfortable affair is the basket-woven or lattice mattress of small, pliable saplings trimmed and interwoven as shown in Fig. 22. The long pieces should be alternated so that the large end of one stick will be next the small end of another, and thus distribute the strain evenly over the lattice. This arrangement applies also to the shorter or cross-pieces, and when finished the mattress is laid on a pair of poles supported with crotched sticks, as shown in Fig. 18, but without the canvas.

Over this lattice short twigs with clusters of leaves are spread, to make a soft mattress, and on these in turn a blanket or two can be spread and tied down at the corners, so that the leaves may not become dislodged.

Tables and Benches

Every boy should know how to make a table from some fence boards, a rail or two, and stakes for the legs. The table shown in Fig. 23 is made from three boards about eight inches wide and five feet long battened together at the ends and across the under side of the middle.

A rail is nailed across two tree-trunks thirty-two inches from the ground, to which one end of the boards are attached. Two stakes three inches thick are driven in the ground four feet from the trees, and across the upper ends of them a rail is nailed fast to support the other ends of the boards.

A larger table is shown in Fig. 24, and like the smaller one it is built against two trees. The boards, three or four in number, should be from six to eight feet long. They are nailed fast to four or five inch rails attached to the tree-trunks and to stout posts embedded in the ground. The middle of the table is supported by a batten, or rail, which is nailed fast to the top of a post embedded under the centre of the table.

Chairs made for camp life from rustic wood and pieces of board need not be so well constructed that any great amount of time should be expended on them, but they should be strong and serviceable.

A simple chair that any boy can make from branches or small tree-trunks, two or three inches in diameter, is shown in Fig. 25. The seat is eighteen inches high, sixteen inches square, and the back posts are thirty-six inches high. Two pieces of wood, eighteen inches long, are cut as shown at Fig. 26A, and two more, thirty-six inches long, are cut as shown at B. The laps are cut out with saw and chisel so as to receive the seat-rails, the braces, and the back board, which are made fast with steel-wire nails as shown at C. The seat is made of ordinary boards nailed to the top edges of the rails all around, and if the edge is smoothed off there will be less liability to tear one’s garments.

In the illustration of a canopy (Fig. 10, page 301), a table and benches are shown. The table is thirty inches wide and five feet long, and it can be built either detached or fast to the ground. If the corner-posts are embedded a foot or eighteen inches in the ground it will make the table firmer and less liable to rack than if built loose or detached.

Two benches running the length of the tables are made in a similar manner to the chairs, but if the corner-posts or legs are to be embedded in the ground the side braces will not be necessary. The seat should be eighteen inches high, sixteen inches wide, and from five to eight feet long, as occasion requires, and with a middle brace it will appear as shown in Fig. 27.

Camping Equipment

In fitting out for a camping expedition it is always best to make a memorandum of the things you will need some time before you start, for so surely as you do not do this there will be some important things forgotten. The stuff that will fill an ordinary clothes-basket should be enough for a company of four boys, but for a greater number the supply must be increased accordingly.

In this list there must be included a kettle, two pans, tin or enamelled dishes, a frying-pan or two, a broiler, a wooden pail for water, and smaller tin pails; a lantern, candles, matches in tin boxes, hatchet or axe, blankets, knives and forks, spoons, and a few other culinary accessories. The dry groceries will have to be taken from home, unless they can be purchased near the camp or from some farm-house. From the latter it is generally possible to obtain butter, milk, eggs, a chicken or two, and other food that you may stand in need of if hunting or fishing fail you.

In Fig. 28, showing a corner of the tent, a portable table is supporting some of the things it would be well to have in camp, and while a boy may think that he knows what is wanted, it would be well for him to take his mother’s or older sister’s advice on the subject.

Lockers and Mess-kits

Lock-boxes with handles, in which to store dry groceries and foods, and mess-kits for the kitchen and dining ware, are among the most important parts of the camping outfit. They may be made from ordinary well-constructed boxes, and provided with hinged lids, a hasp and padlock, and handles at either end by means of which they may be carried easily.

The lock-box shown in Fig. 29A is eighteen inches wide, twenty-four inches long, and twelve inches deep, and with two thin boards four compartments are made as shown in Fig. 29A. A lid is made of three boards and two battens, and securely attached to the box with strap hinges.

A hasp and padlock as well as two handles can be purchased at a hardware store and screwed fast to the chest.

A mess-kit may be made of a box with both lid and bottom nailed on securely. It is then sawed around three inches from one side, dividing it so that quite a little of the wood is fast to both sides. With hinges these are fastened together like a Gladstone bag, and on the inside, pockets and straps can be arranged to accommodate cooking-utensils and food-stuffs. Fig. 29B shows this kit, and with a trunk-strap and a rope it can be easily carried from place to place.

For knives, forks, spoons, kettle-lids, and other small paraphernalia of the camping outfit a nest of pockets may be made from denim or unbleached muslin, like the one shown hanging on the wall in Fig. 28. The pockets are commodious and will accommodate many little things, and the nest can be folded over and tied at the corners with stout cord. A nest of this description should be three feet long, thirty inches high, and with three lines of pockets as shown in the illustration. The sewing should be done by hand with heavy linen or carpet thread, so that the stitching will not break.

A carry-all (Fig. 30) is made of denim or light sail-cloth, and will be found the most convenient sort of a catch-all, for it may be folded over and rolled up, then bound with a shawl-strap to carry it easily.

A piece of denim a yard wide and forty-two inches long is folded at the dotted lines AA as shown in the plan (Fig. 31). The edges will then reach the lines BB. Sew the flaps at the two ends and divide the long pockets into smaller ones as shown in Fig. 30. Knives, forks, spoons, and a variety of small things can be kept in this nest of pockets, and when in camp it may be hung from one end by rings, so that the pockets occupy a horizontal position and the contents can be easily gotten at.

A Stone Stove and Camp-fires

The old-time tripod and kettle over an open fire of brush and logs is an unhandy means of cooking, for a sudden gust of wind will blow the smoke and sparks in all directions and dissipate the heat as well.

The up-to-date campers will make a stone stove similar to the one shown in Fig. 32. This holds the fire within the stone enclosure, and retains the greater part of the heat, which in the open fire is blowing to the four winds and giving very little benefit to the pot.

Flat stones should be used in the construction of this stove, and if it is possible to get some clay from the bed of a brook it can be used in place of cement for sealing the joints. This of course will make the fire burn better, as the only draught will then enter at the bottom, or doorway, through which the sticks are fed to the fire.

These doorways or draught-holes should be made on two or three sides of the stove, and when one is in use the others may be closed or left open, according to the strength of the wind and the direction from which it is blowing.

The pot should be hung on the ridge-pole so that it touches the top of the stove and holds in the heat. Fish may be fried in a pan or broiled much better than over an open fire, and water can be boiled quicker and coffee made easier.

This stove can be made either round or square, and if bricks are available for use they will be better than stones as the joints are closer and they are not so ungainly to handle. Over the stove a ridge-pole or bar should be supported on a yoked stick at one end and a twin-stick tripod at the other. The yoked or crotched stick is embedded in the ground, or it can be the sawed-off stump of a small tree. The lower ends of the twin sticks should be let into the ground for a foot or eighteen inches, so that the ridge-bar can be removed without its supports falling over.

Always build a fire or a stove in the shade, for it will not burn so well if the sun plays on it. In rainy weather a canopy over this stone stove will keep it dry and cause it to burn better than if exposed to the elements.

Here are some other ideas for camp-fires proper. Let us suppose that the party is provided with the necessary utensils for camp-cooking—a camp-kettle, coffee-pot, frying-pan, saucepan, and some sort of baking-pan. These should prove sufficient, unless the party intends having quite elaborate menus. If it is intended to remain at the camp only while cooking one or two meals, make your fire in this manner: Cut two green poles about five or six inches thick and about two feet long. In these cut notches about a foot apart. Level the ground where you intend to build your fire, and lay these poles down with the notches up and about three feet apart. Now cut two or three poles about four feet long and lay them in these notches. Gather a good supply of dry wood, grass, bark, or chips, and make your fire on the ground between the poles. The air will circulate under and through the fire, and the poles will prove just right to set your cooking-utensils on. Do not pile on wood by the armful. Add a little at a time, and you will find you can cook rapidly and well, and not burn your face and hands while attending to your cooking.

If it is intended to remain several meals at the camp it will pay to put up a crane. This is built in this manner: Cut two green posts two or more inches thick and three feet long, having forks at one end. Drive these into the ground at each end of your fire. Cut another green pole the same diameter and long enough to reach between the forks. Flatten the ends so that they will set snug in the forks.

The poles should be driven into the ground so that when the bail of the kettle is slipped on the crane the bottom of the kettle will just clear the fire.

If the camp is to be of a permanent nature, or it is expected to remain there for some days or weeks, it will be well to arrange for a better kitchen that will not be affected by the winds, the bÊte noire of camp-cooking. Dig a trench (cutting the sides square) as long as the distance between your uprights, and about eighteen inches wide and a foot deep. Make your fire in this hole, on the ground, and you will find that the wind will not worry you one-half as much as before (Fig. 33). If you wish to take the trouble, and the material is handy, the plan in Fig. 35 is a most excellent one to follow. Wall up the sides of the trench with brick, add a little chimney at one end, and get several iron “S” hooks from which to suspend your kettles. This will save the lifting of the crane every time you wish to handle the kettles suspended over the fire. By this method you will economize on fuel and save heat.

The plan used in the army for camp-cooking and described below is the best for all-around work. To make this kitchen takes more time and a little more labor, but in the end the laborers will be well paid for their work. It is particularly adapted for clayey soil. Dig a hole about three feet square and two feet in depth, generally in the slope of a hill. On one side run a shaft laterally, about one foot square and six feet in length, and one foot from the surface of the ground. At the extreme end sink a shaft vertically and form a chimney, and at equidistances pierce holes of sufficient diameter to prevent the kettles from slipping through. By this mode the kettles can be placed over the fire to boil, or on the side to simmer, with less difficulty than by any other means. Fig. 36A and B.

I want to tell the young camper how to bake his own bread in camp, so if he camps far from a store or house where he can buy his bread he will not have to eat crackers, or those indigestion-producers, flapjacks, that the youthful camper knows how to make, or thinks he does. I have eaten many a one in my young days before putting on the “army blue,” but their weight in gold would not induce me to eat some that I swallowed as a boy and thought “fine.” We will assume that before going into camp your dear mother has taught you how to mix a batch of dough or a pan of biscuit. We will now make an oven in which to bake the bread or biscuit. A bank from four to six feet is the best for the purpose. Dig down the bank to a vertical face, and at the base excavate a hole, say three to four feet horizontally, care being taken to keep the entrance as small as possible. Hollow out the sides of the excavation and arch the roof, till the floor of the oven is about two feet wide and the arch about sixteen inches at the centre. Fig. 37A and B.

Now carefully “tap” the back end for the chimney, and insert a piece of stove-pipe if handy. A hole from four to six inches will give a good draught. Wet the inside of the oven, and smooth over the walls so that the mud presents a hard finish, and leave to dry for a day. When you are ready to bake, build a good fire in the oven, and when it is well heated remove the fire, scrape out all ashes, and place the pans of dough inside. Close up the entrance with a board, and cover with mud so as to keep in all the heat. With proper care this oven will last several weeks.

A bank may not be handy in which to build an oven of the kind described above; if such proves the case, it is not a difficult matter to construct a good oven on the level ground by following the method below. If a flour-barrel is handy, use it; if not, make use of willow twigs stuck in the ground and bent over so as to form a mould. Over the barrel or willow mould plaster a stiff mortar made of mud, commencing at the base. Lay it on about six inches thick. Allow it to dry for a day or two, and when nearly dry cut out a door at one end and the flue at the other. A small mud chimney will increase the draught if a piece of stove-pipe is not at hand. If a barrel has been used as the mould it may be burned out without danger to the oven. Carefully remove all dirt, and keep up a fire for half a day before attempting to bake. Fig. 34. (See page 321.)

Camp-cooking

Even the finest of camps is a dreary place unless the commissary department is well organized. “Uncle Harry,” who is an old and experienced camper-out, gives some useful suggestions to his nephews, and other boys will doubtless appreciate his lectures on things culinary.

“Let us suppose,” begins Uncle Harry, “that you have gotten the camp into ship-shape order, and after your hard day’s work are ravenously hungry and very impatient for supper, or rather dinner, for the last meal of the day in camp is always the most important one. We will appoint Aleck as cook, and while he is busy over the fire neither of the others shall interfere with him or his duties, for no axiom is more true than that ‘too many cooks spoil the broth.’

“Ben and Bob must see that the cook is well supplied with water and has plenty of small-split firewood close at hand. Then Bob will set the table, while Ben goes a-fishing and catches half a dozen trout or other small fry from the lake. In the mean time Aleck has pared and washed a dozen potatoes. These are placed in a kettle nearly full of water, and hung over the fire half an hour before supper-time. He will keep them boiling furiously until he can run a sliver of wood easily through the largest one. Then the water must be drained from them, and, still in the kettle, they must be set aside, but near enough to the fire to keep hot until wanted.

“Ben’s fish all weigh less than a pound, and so are too small to do anything with but fry. After they are cleaned, Aleck rolls them in corn-meal and lays them carefully in the frying-pan, which is already on the stove, and in which a small quantity of cotton-seed oil is sizzling merrily. If you should have no oil, pork fat will do nearly as well, only have it boiling hot before placing the fish in it.

“Aleck has heard of half a dozen methods of making coffee, and hesitates before deciding which to try. He has been told to put his coffee in cold water and let it come to a boil, and that the coffee must not see the water until it is boiling; he has heard that coffee must never be boiled, and that the only way to extract its strength is to boil it; and so in thinking it all over he is much perplexed. Finally he remembers a method which his old uncle who is in the army has mentioned to him, and decides to try it.”

“Oh, Uncle Harry, you are not a bit old,” interrupts Aleck.

“In preparing coffee by his old uncle’s method,” continues Captain Archer, only noticing the interruption with a smile, “Aleck fills the coffee-pot with water, and sets it on the broiler wires, which he has laid across from one log to the other of the stove. While it is coming to a boil he measures out his coffee at the rate of a heaping table-spoonful for each cup to be made, puts it into his tin cup, pours in all the hot water it will hold, and sets it in a warm place on the stove. As soon as the water in the coffee-pot boils, he pours off some, so as to leave the pot about three-quarters full, and empties in his cupful of soaked coffee. Setting the pot back, he allows its contents to again come to a boil, and then lifts it from the fire. He pours out a tin cupful of the coffee, and pours it slowly back into the pot, throwing away the residue of grounds that remain in the cup. For about a minute, or while the rest of the dinner is being served, the coffee-pot stands in a warm place near the fire, and then its contents are ready for drinking.

“If either of you had wanted tea, Aleck would have put in the pot a teaspoonful of tea leaves for each cup to be made, poured boiling water over it, let it stand in a warm place two or three minutes, and it would have been ready for you.

“Here you have a plain, easily cooked dinner of fried fish, boiled potatoes, and coffee, to which you can add from your supplies bread and butter, or crackers, pickles, condensed milk, salt, pepper, and sugar. I think you will find it enough for a first experiment.

“For breakfast next morning you will have coffee, fried potatoes and breakfast bacon, and griddle-cakes.”

“Oh, Uncle Harry, I can’t make griddle-cakes,” exclaimed Aleck.

“I think you can, if I tell you how, and you try hard. At any rate, you had better try, for they enter largely into the composition of camp meals. To make the simplest flour griddle-cakes, put into a pan a quart of your prepared flour, a teaspoonful of salt, a handful of corn-meal, a table-spoonful of brown sugar, two eggs, if you have them, and mix with cold water into a batter. Stir thoroughly until no lumps are left, and then fry on a hot griddle. In frying use as little grease as possible. More griddle-cakes are spoiled by the use of too much grease in frying than in any other way. A bit of pork rind or an oiled rag rubbed over the griddle is sufficient. Take turns in frying the cakes, so that two of you can be eating them as fast as they are done. They are only fit to eat when hot from the griddle.

“The cold boiled potatoes left from dinner the night before may be cut up and fried with half a dozen slices of breakfast bacon, and when all is ready you will have a breakfast to which I think three hungry boys will do ample justice.

“When you become tired of fish, catch frogs. They are considered delicacies on first-class tables, and add a pleasant variety to a woodman’s fare. Catch them with a light rod, short line, and small hook baited with a bit of scarlet flannel, or at night by use of a jack-light. Stupefied by its glare, they will let you pick them up. Kill your frog by a tap on the head, cut off his thighs and hind-legs, skin them, roll them in Indian-meal, and fry brown in hot oil or pork fat.

“You will also probably have an opportunity of adding squirrels to your bill of fare. When you have got your squirrel, chop off his head, feet, and tail, cut the skin crosswise of the back, and strip it off in two parts, fore and aft; also cut the body crosswise into two parts. Throw them into a kettle, and let the hind-quarters parboil until tender. Then fry them, until of a rich brown, in oil or pork fat, hissing hot. Use the fore-quarters for a stew.

“To make a stew use almost any kind of flesh or fowl. The chief thing to be remembered in making a stew is to stew it enough. An old camp jingle runs thus:

“Let your meat boil for more than an hour, or until it begins to fall from the bones. Add potatoes, pared and quartered, an onion sliced, salt, pepper, and a thickening made of flour and melted butter, to be stirred in gradually.

“In making a meat soup provide plenty of meat, and do not be afraid to let it boil. It is hard to boil it too much, and three hours is not too long. When nearly done, scrape a potato into the soup for thickening, and season with salt and pepper.

“To cook rice, let a cupful soak overnight. In the morning pour off the water in which it has soaked, place it in a kettle of cold water, and boil it slowly, without stirring, until the kernels are soft. Remember to salt it. Rice is good with condensed milk, sugar, butter, or syrup. It is good to add to your soups and stews, and it is particularly good when added to the batter from which you make your griddle-cakes.

“To make mush stir corn-meal into boiling water; season with salt. Eat hot with syrup. Save what is left over, and fry it next morning. The same rule applies to hominy.

“These are the rudiments of camp-cookery. Not an extended bill of fare, but I think you will find it appetizing and nourishing.”

And the boys agreed with him.

The Care of a Gun

Aside from the pride and satisfaction which every sportsman should take in keeping his favorite weapon bright and free from spots, inside and out, it pays to keep a gun clean. The residue left in the barrel after firing contains acids, which will soon eat “pits” or spots in the metal, and when once started, it is almost impossible to prevent them increasing in size and number. When badly pitted, the recoil is increased by the roughness in the barrel. A gun can be cleaned by the following directions: The cleaning-rod should have at least three tools—a wool swab, a wire scratch-brush, and a wiper to run rags through. Have plenty of water at hand—warm if you have it, if not cold will do nicely. Put a swab on the rod, and some water in a tin basin or wooden pail. By placing one end of the barrel in the water, you can pump it up and down the barrel with the swab. When it is discolored take fresh water, squeeze out the swab in it, and repeat the operation, until the water comes from the barrel as clean as it went in. If the gun has stood overnight, or longer, since using, it is best to put on the scratch-brush after the first swabbing, and a few passes with this will remove any hardened powder or leading. The next step is to fill the wiper with woollen or cotton rags, and dry the barrel thoroughly. When one set becomes wet take another, until they come from the barrel perfectly dry. Then stand the barrel on end on a heated stove, changing it from end to end, taking care that it does not become overheated. By the time it is well warmed up, the hot air from the stove will have dried out every particle of moisture left in the barrel. If no stove is at hand, the last set of drying rags used must be plied vigorously up and down the barrel until it becomes quite warm from the friction. Drying is the most important part of cleaning, and if the least particle of moisture is left in the barrel it will be a rust spot the next time the gun is taken from its case. The gun may now be oiled, inside and out, with sewing-machine oil or gun-grease, which can be had in any gun store. The woollen rags used for greasing soak up a great deal of oil, and should be dropped into the gun-cover for future use.

In regard to the safe handling of guns, almost all rules centre in that of always carrying the gun in such a way that if it should be accidentally discharged it would do no harm. If this rule is borne in mind, and strictly obeyed in the beginning, it becomes a habit and is followed intuitively. The gun may be carried safely on either shoulder, or in the hollow of either arm, with a sharp upward slant. When momentarily expecting a bird to rise, and obliged to have the gun cocked, it should be carried across the breast with a sharp upward slope to the left. This is the only way the gun should be carried cocked. A breech-loader is so easily unloaded that there is no excuse for getting into a wagon or boat, or going around a house, without unloading. Never hand a loaded gun to any one who asks to look at it. Whenever you pick up any kind of a gun to examine it, always open it to see if it is loaded, and the habit will grow so that you will do this almost without knowing it. It seems needless to say never pull a gun towards you by the muzzle through a fence or out of a boat or wagon, yet the violation of this rule is the cause of more accidents than anything else. Never climb a fence with your gun cocked.

In learning the art of shooting on the wing—and this is the only way in which a shot-gun should be used—the following suggestions may be of some help, but no amount of printed directions can teach you to shoot. Practice is the best teacher. Nine out of ten young sportsmen shoot too quickly. A game bird rises with a startling whir of the wing (and sometimes when least expected), which gives the idea that he is making much greater speed than he really is. Beginners are apt to become excited, and throw up the gun anywhere in that direction, and blaze away with no definite aim. For this reason it is best to begin with blackbirds, rice-birds, and rails.

In almost every shot it is necessary to hold ahead of the bird, to allow for the time it takes to explode the cartridge and throw the shot to the bird. Even in this short space of time a cross-flying bird would be safely out of the shot circle if you aimed right at him. If a bird flies straight away from you, neither rising nor dropping, you should aim right at it. If flying straight across, you should hold well ahead of it. If quartering, still hold ahead, but less.

Many will ask how far to hold ahead, and this is a difficult question to answer accurately, as we have no means of knowing just how far ahead we do hold. One might say six feet and another six inches. What might appear to be an inch at the muzzle of the gun might really be a foot in front of a bird forty yards away. It must be learned by experience, and when accustomed to it the aim will be taken almost instantly, governed by the direction of flight, the speed of the bird, and the distance from the shooter.

It is best to ask permission of the owner to shoot over his land. You will seldom be refused, and will frequently be given permission to shoot over land which is posted “No Shooting.” The land-owners know that it is the lawless hoodlums who do them damage.

Every true sportsman strictly obeys the game laws, and it is to his advantage to do so, although in many States the laws are practically a dead letter. Shooting out of season has nearly killed the game in many localities, when it would still be abundant if the game laws had been observed.

Snares and Deadfalls

The ways of trapping are as various as the ingenuity of savage or civilized man can devise. I like best the traps that one can make. They seem to give the animal a fairer show; they develop our own constructive faculties; and the nearer we can get to the savage way the more fun it always is. Steel traps have a place that wooden traps can never fill; but give me something that I can make with my own hands, with the simplest tools, out of whatever materials the spot affords where the animal lives.

Of all the animals in this country there is none that affords less harmful sport than the rabbit—more properly hare—of which there are several species. Its wonderful powers of increase enable it to hold its own, as far too many of our best and most valuable animals do not. Furthermore, rabbits are very easily trapped.

Every one knows its little trail, as broad as one’s hand, through the bushes or broom-hedge, or its footprints as it hops over the clear snow. Here, where the path goes under a fence-rail, it has stopped to gnaw. The rabbit follows this path in season and out, though in the far North, where the snows keep piling and piling up, its little road may change with each successive snowfall. Trappers there put out a large number of snares, setting them right in the middle of these paths. In Fig. 1, No. 20 soft brass or copper wire is used—a piece say twenty inches long being bent into an oval or round noose some four inches through, the end being twisted around a convenient limb or root, or stick thrust into the snow over the path, and the space on each side bushed in with evergreen twigs, so that the rabbit will be sure to pass through the noose. Snares are easily taken up and set somewhere else after each snowfall. The best way is to rig the noose to a spring-pole (Fig. 2). The spring-pole that I have seen the Indian trappers make is simply a pole lashed to the side of a convenient sapling, the heavy end being high in the air, while the short end is caught under a stake with a crotch or little limb sticking out, driven into the ground at the side of the path. A “twitch-up” is a sapling bent down, but this generally needs to be held down in another way. On each side of the path a stake is firmly driven into the ground. About seven inches from the ground, and on the sides which face, a deep notch is cut into each stake, and a stick flattened at each end is placed across, like the letter H. The sapling is bent down, a strong cord fastened to the end, and tied around the middle of the cross-piece. The noose dangles below, clearing the ground by two inches (Fig. 3). If the pole is strong enough it lifts the game into the air out of reach of predatory animals. All stakes bearing strain of pulling must be firmly driven into the ground, or in wet weather they will pull out.

Rabbits, as gardeners know, are fond of carrots and other vegetables, as well as apples. There are many ways of rigging a snare with bait. The trap is arranged so the rabbit puts its head through a noose, and springs the trap as it touches the bait. One of the best traps I know of this kind is called, in northern Vermont, a “French twitch-up” (Fig. 4). This trap can be made at home, and carried and set wherever needed. It is made as follows: Take a board about twenty inches long and ten inches wide. Measure off eight inches from one end, and with a pair of dividers describe a circle five inches in diameter. Around this circle bore holes three-eighths of an inch in diameter an inch apart, through the board, and drive in pegs five inches high. Five inches from the other end bore a larger hole, and set up a square peg (or a round one with flat side) seven inches high. Procure a half-inch stick long enough to reach from the centre of the circle of pegs to the upright and three inches beyond it. Screw this stick fast to the upright at a point two inches from the board—loosely, so it will work up and down, sharpening the end inside the pen, and cutting a notch on the upper side at the other end as shown in Fig. 4. Cut another notch near the top of the upright post, and fit into the two notches a half-inch stick with chisel-shaped ends. This arrangement resembles very closely the figure 4. A strong cord from the middle of this short stick leads to the spring-pole at a point about a foot from the end.

A noose of fine, soft wire or plaited horse-hair is fastened to the end of the spring-pole, and laid evenly around on the tops of the circle of pegs, which must be of an equal height. An apple or a carrot is speared upon the sharp end of the bait-stick. The rabbit smells the bait, puts its head over the fence and through the noose to take a nibble. When it touches the bait-stick, up goes the noose, and it is caught. But the snare on top of the little fence is likely to fall or be rubbed off, so a deep, sharp notch must be made into the top of every peg into which the noose fits. This is undoubtedly a Yankee improvement on a very old device. Formerly there was no pen and the noose was laid on the ground.

One of the very best traps for rabbits is a kind used in the South (Fig. 5). How often on a frosty morning would one’s heart thump as one came into view and looked to see if the trigger was up and the door was down!

It is made of rough boards twenty to twenty-four inches long, one being an inch shorter, and all at least six inches wide, nailed into a long box. The rear being closed up with a board, and the top being an inch shorter, there is room for a door which slides up and down. Two thin strips are nailed upright to the front of the side-pieces, to keep the door from falling outward; small cleats inside complete a channel, in which the door slides easily up and down. Then with an auger or bit two holes are bored into the top five-eighths to one inch in diameter, one hole being nine inches from the front, the other nine inches to the rear of the first. Into the one next the door a stake is set up about ten inches high, with a crotch at the top. Then a stick eight inches long and as thick as a lead-pencil is cut; five inches from one end a cut is made half-way through, and a deep notch taken out the short end. This is dropped, notch upward, into the other hole. A stiff stick eighteen inches long is then cut, a string tied to each end, and then balanced in the crotch. The door is raised five inches, and one string tied to a nail in the top. The other string is tied to the upper end of the trigger, the notch of which is caught on the under side of the top board. The trap thus set is placed at right angles to the path, not directly in it. Foolish Bunny comes along. A good hole is something a rabbit is ever on the lookout for. Here is a new one; he will look into it and see what it is like. It is not necessary to put even a carrot or an apple inside. He crowds in, butts his head against the trigger at the end, up it goes, down drops the door behind, and he is fast. The trigger must be set under the front edge of the hole, otherwise the rabbit will not be able to push it from him.

Instead of a box, a section of a hollow log, called in the South a “gum,” may be used, two stakes being driven in front to hold the door. Fig. 6.

The muskrat is an abundant animal about ponds, ditches, and the banks of sluggish streams. It is easily trapped. They remind one of little beavers, and if their fur was not so very common it would be more highly prized, for it is really soft and fine. If one can find their runway (a path eight or nine inches wide along which they travel from place to place) one can always capture them by the same kind of trap that an Indian sets for beaver and otter, as well as for musquash. He calls it the “kilheg’n.” Fig. 7.

Drive two stakes two feet or more high and at least an inch thick into the ground three inches apart at one side of the path. Opposite these two sticks drive in two more, and lay a stick across between them, pushing it down nearly level with the path for a bed-piece. Then get a pole of any length whatever, lay the butt end across the path on top of the bed, hewing the sides flat, if necessary. See that it rests evenly on the bed, and keep the other end in place with a stake driven on each side. This pole is called the “fall.”

Lash each pair of stakes together at their tops with rope or tough bark or withe, to prevent spreading, and lay a stiff stick across. Cut a half-inch straight stick and lay it on top of the bed, lashing one end loosely to the stake, leaving the other end free to rise and fall. This is the trigger. Now for the “crooked stick.” It is a stick as long as from the bed to the cross-piece, and has a sudden bend at the upper end. Often one can find a small sapling an inch through with just the right bend at the end. Notch it as shown in Fig. 8. Tie a stout cord or withe around the fall, raise the same nine or ten inches, lay the crooked stick over the cross-piece, and tie the withe fast. Then bend the other end of the crooked stick towards the ground, and catch the top of it behind the trigger, which is raised just enough (two inches) for the purpose. When the rat comes along it steps on the trigger, freeing the crooked stick, whereupon the fall drops and pins the creature there. Heavy weights should be piled upon the fall alongside the path, and the sides should be brushed in to keep the animal from going around. No bait is required for this trap.

Alongside of their pond on a level spot contrive another trap (Fig. 9) in the following manner:

Take a flat stick, about two inches wide, lay it on the ground, and close to one end drive an upright stake on each side. Let them stand some six inches high. Then, beginning close to the two stakes, lay a two-foot stick at right angles, its end resting on the first one. Alongside of this lay another stick a little shorter, continuing thus, and making each successive stick shorter, until the end of the sticks is reached, thus forming a three-cornered platform, which is then weighted with heavy stones. Construct a figure 4 (Fig. 9A) out of sticks as thick as one’s finger, making the bait-stick eighteen or twenty inches long. Set the figure 4 under the platform at the very end of the stick, the bait-stick passing between the upright stakes. Bait with a carrot, a parsnip, apple, etc., and a rat should be there in the morning.

If the trap does not lie flat on the ground place sticks under it. This same trap, baited with a fowl’s head or a bird or meat, is also useful as a skunk-trap, being placed in the woods near their burrows.

The mink is another common animal, and it is found by almost every brook-side. It is a great traveller, following the stream, feeding upon fish, and picking up a bird or mouse whenever opportunity affords. For a trap I take two round poles six to eight feet long, and about three inches thick at the butt. On a level spot, never more than a few feet away from the water, I drive a stake firmly into the ground, and lay the two poles, butts together, one on top of the other, against the stake, and drive two more stakes on the other side about six inches apart. Sometimes when the ground is soft two stakes (Fig. 10) should be driven in front instead of one. A stick a foot long will serve equally well for the bed-piece. Then a pen or house is built of stakes, or long chips, or stones, or pieces of board in the form of a V or ?, about nine inches tall, eight inches deep, and six inches wide. Then two sticks are prepared—one three inches long and half an inch thick, called the “standard” (Fig. 12), the other eight inches long, and of the same thickness, called the bait-stick, one end being sharpened, the other flattened. The bait, the head of a fowl or fish, is tied to the sharp point of the bait-stick. The fall is raised, the standard set sideways on the flat end on the bait-stick, and the fall lowered, until it rests on top of the standard, the bait-stick being inside the house. As the sticks are arranged, the mink, entering over the bed and under the fall, will have to give quite a pull before dislodging the standard on which the fall rests. So take a peg, cut a notch into it near the top deep enough to secure the bait-stick, and drive it into the ground inside the pen and close to one side. Now the standard can be set much nearer the outer end of the bait-stick, and the moment the bait is tugged at, the bait-stick flies from under the notched peg, and down comes the fall. The bed may be hewn to an edge on top, and the parts of the trap should work without a hitch. A stone, or board, or sheet of bark, or a handful of evergreen boughs should be laid over the house, not only to keep the animal out, but also the rain and snow from the triggers which may freeze up and stick fast. Two pegs driven into the ground at the end of the fall will hold it in place, and, like every deadfall, it should be heavily weighted with logs as shown in Figs. 10 and 11.

There are many different ways of building traps with this simple bait-stick and standard—a combination in general use in the fur countries. Some are made large for fishers, and set on logs and high stumps for sable or marten. In Canada, where the snow is very deep, I have seen long lines of sable-traps on stumps seven feet from the ground, the other end of the fall resting on another stump of the same height. In such cases a tree is cut for the purpose, and by a skilful way of chopping, the stake in front of the trap is left standing as part of the stump, and the chips are sharpened and driven into the top of the stump for the house.

Again, a hollow is chopped into a tree, a stake driven in front, and the bait-stick thrust inside.

There are many other deadfalls in use. Among the most deadly is what may be called the “wigwam.” It is thus constructed: With a hatchet or an axe break some small sticks, and driving them into the ground in the shape of a crescent build the bait-pen or house. Bring them together at the top as in Fig. 13. Next cut a green stick about four inches in diameter and about eight feet long. Lay in front of the pen, directly up against it. Peg it firmly there by driving wooden pins against it at the ends. So much done. Now get another stick of the same length and lay it on top of the first pole. Fix it in position by driving pins against it as in Fig. 14. When this is finished take two small, round sticks or twigs, cut one about five inches in length, and the other near ten inches, or the depth of the bait-pen. Raise the top log and lay the longer of the little round twigs on it, with the end on which the bait is to be placed on the inside. The ends of the little twig must be round. Set it on end, with the upper end resting on the upper log and the lower end resting on the first little stick as in Fig. 15.

When an animal comes to get the bait he has to put his fore-legs into the pen, and the minute he touches the bait the upper log falls, catching him in the centre of the back. Skunks can be easily caught this way without the least smell. Spikes may be driven through the upper log for large game. Fig. 16 is a variation of the same idea.

Woodchucks or ground-hogs will be attracted to a trap by baiting with their favorite food; but they soon go into winter quarters, from which they do not emerge until spring. There are special traps for other animals and birds. Good judgment, knowledge of the appearance and the food and habits of the bird or animal are necessary to success in trapping, as well as an eye quick to recognize the signs of the game, particularly their runways.

Traps in cold countries need not be visited oftener than once a week, but if they are near home most boys like to go to them every day. Skinning can best be done at home. The curing of skins is a matter of great importance if the fur is to be sold, for dealers will only pay for good fur properly prepared. It must be “prime”—that is, from November to the middle of April (water fur a fortnight later) the inside of the skin will be white and the fur thick and glossy; at other times it becomes dark and thin and the fur poor. Muskrats, mink, sable, foxes, weasel, opossum, and skunk require to be cased—that is, without any cut down the middle. Wolf, badger, raccoon, bear, beaver must be open. The manner of preparing cased fur is to make a cut around the ankles, then a slit down the back of the leg to the tail, the skin to be peeled off the legs and the root of the tail to be put into the end of a split stick and the core pulled right out. Then the skin is pulled off over the head. In the case of certain animals, like the mink and muskrat, there is a scent-bag near the tail which is liable to get cut, with unpleasant consequences, so the best trappers prefer to remove the hide by commencing at the lips and peeling it off through the opening of the mouth, making no other cut in the skin save at the legs, when the skin is opened by a cut from leg to tail as at the start. The muskrat may be stretched on a pliant stick three feet long, bent into a bow, and the skin, fur inward, pulled over it. The legs are slitted and caught over notches in the side, and one end of the stick is bent squarely across and fastened either into the split top of the other or into a notch, and the loose middles of the skin tied up to the cross-piece. Fig. 17 b.

For mink, etc., never use a single board—it may tear the skin—but make a double stretcher (Fig. 17 a). Take a half-inch board of pine or cedar, two feet long and three inches wide, and taper it to two inches at one end and shave the outside almost to an edge. The board is then split in half with a saw; where no saw is at hand the two pieces are whittled out separately. The stretchers are now put into the skin, and the legs pulled out as far as they will go and tacked in place, or a slit made in each and the leg hooked over a notch in the edge of the stretcher. Then a wedge two feet long, an inch wide, and tapering to a point is inserted between the stretcher, and driven down until the skin is as tight as a drum-head. The middles are then tacked fast, and a square-pointed stick inserted into the tail. If the boards threaten to collapse, two short sticks with ends lashed together pushed over them will keep them flat. The tail-piece (Fig. 18) shows a mink-skin properly stretched. A fox-stretcher will be exactly twice the dimensions of the mink-stretcher; others in proportion. The raccoon, bear, etc., is skinned by a cut from chin to tail, cuts being made up the legs at right angles to the cut, and stretched upon a square frame (Fig. 17 d) by means of a lacing of cord or tough bark. Formerly all open skins were stretched on the hoop-stretcher (Fig. 17 c), but now only the beaver is treated that way.

Skins must never be dried in the sun nor by a hot fire. Nor should any preservatives whatever be applied, not even salt, until ready for tanning. All fat should be removed, taking care for knife-cuts.

The most delightful season in the woods, throughout the northern and middle parts of the United States, is during the summer months, and in the South right up to Christmas; while in other parts of the country, through southern Texas and California, the woods are attractive all through the year.

Brush-houses, sylvan retreats, and tree huts of various kinds are made by boys all over the country, and some very unique and original ones are often constructed from simple and inexpensive materials. Everything from the back-yard “lean-to” and the tent of sheets to the tree huts that are inaccessible when the rope-ladder is drawn up may be made by boys who are at all handy with tools, and a well-built tree hut is an ideal place in which to spend one’s vacation days.

The following ideas and suggestions may be of service, and they have all been tested in practical experience.

A Low Twin-tree Hut

A very serviceable twin-tree hut is shown in Fig. 1, and it can easily be constructed, at a small cost, from ordinary boards and timbers. If it is built high up in the trees it is doubly secure from invasion, for the ladder can be drawn up when the owners are at home and it will be a difficult matter for outsiders to enter.

To properly build this hut select a location between two trees six to eight feet apart. The trees should have comparatively straight trunks at least fifteen inches in diameter, and no cavities at the base nor indications of decay.

With an axe clear off the brush and small branches for twenty feet up from the ground at the inside of the trunks, or where the hut is to be located. From a lumber-yard obtain four or five pieces of spruce or other timber two inches thick, eight inches wide, and sixteen feet long. Saw off and nail two of these pieces to the trunks of the trees eight feet above the ground, first cutting away some of the bark and wood of the trunk to afford a flat surface for the timbers to lie against on each side. Six-inch steel-wire nails will be required for these anchorages, and under the timbers and lying flat against the tree-trunks bracket-blocks two-by-eight inches and fifteen inches long are securely spiked to lend additional support to the cross-timbers.

Cut two timbers six feet long and two others the length of the distance between tree-trunks. In the six-foot pieces cut notches at the under side as shown in Fig. 2CC. Into these the ends of bracket-timbers DD will fit. Cut the ends of the timbers forming the square frame so that they will dovetail as shown in Fig. 3. Spike the six-foot timbers to the tree-trunks so that they will rest on the first two timbers that were nailed to the trees, and from the two-by-eight-inch wood cut four brackets DD, and spike them fast under each cross-timber so each tree will appear as shown in Fig. 2. Place the remaining two timbers in position so that the ends will fit into those fastened to the trees, and nail them fast as shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 5 the first timbers can be seen spiked to the tree-trunks, where they are supported by the fifteen-inch blocks nailed fast below them. The cross-timbers are shown at AA, and the last ones, forming the frame that are let into dove-tailed joints at the ends, are shown at BB. Cut two more timbers EE, and lay them across the supporting timbers, nailed to the tree, so they will fit inside the front and back timbers BB, where they are to be well secured with long nails. The floor frame will then be complete.

From two-by-three-inch spruce construct a frame seven feet high at the front, six feet at the back, and spike the side timbers FF, forming the top, to the inside of the tree-trunks as shown in Fig. 5. The bottom of the uprights are to be mounted on the corners of the floor frame as shown in Fig. 4, where four long nails will hold them securely in place.

Cut two timbers and arrange them in an upright position at the front thirty inches apart, where the door will come, then half-way between the floor and top of the framework run a timber all around except between the door timbers. This will add a strengthening rib to which the sheathing boards can be nailed, and will also make one more anchorage to the tree-trunks. The side-rails should be spiked to the tree-trunks in a corresponding manner to that of the top or roof-strips. From a lumber-yard obtain some four, six, or ten inch matched boards, planed on both sides, and use them for the floor and sheathing.

The roof may be made from the same kind of boards, and over them a thickness or two of tarred paper is to be laid and fastened down at the edges and seams with small metal washers and nails that can be had where the paper is purchased. This will make the roof water-tight, for a season at least; and if it is given one or two coats of paint it will preserve the paper so that it may last for several years.

Two or three windows twenty-four inches square may be placed in the back and sides of the hut above the middle rib; and a door of boards held together with battens, as shown in the illustration, is to be made and hung with long, stout strap-hinges. A knob lock or a hasp and padlock will keep the door closed when the hut is unoccupied. When in use a wooden button will hold the door shut from the inside.

A ladder of hickory poles and cross-sticks should be made twenty inches wide and provided with loops at the top that will fit over large nails driven in the door-sill, so as to keep it from slipping when it bends under the weight of a boy.

Where the rungs join the side-rails of the ladder the union is made by lashing the cross-sticks fast with tarred rigging or stout cotton line. If a flexible ladder is preferred ropes may be used in place of the side-rails to which the rungs are lashed fast. When the owners are at home the ladder can be drawn up and hung on nails driven in the front edge of the roof. If a rope-ladder is used it can be drawn in and rolled up.

Inside of the hut, at either end, a seat eighteen inches wide should be built in about sixteen inches up from the floor. These seats can be used as bunks if desired. Some narrow shelving should be arranged over the windows and fastened there with brackets, on which small things may be kept.

A small table may be made from some ends of the sheathing boards and two-by-three-inch spruce sticks; and boxes may be used for seats, or small benches can easily be knocked together as shown in Fig. 6A. Under the table a ledge twelve inches wide is to be attached to the lower cross-rails that connect the legs as shown at Fig. 6B.

A wall-nest may be made from a shoe-case in which four or five shelves are arranged as shown in Fig. 6C. A door made from the box-cover is attached with hinges, and a catch or hasp will keep it closed.

A High Twin-tree Hut

Twelve or fifteen feet above the ground, and built in between the trunks of two stout trees, a high tree hut is shown in Fig. 7. Larger and more substantial trees must be selected to build this hut in than the ones for the low hut, and as a rope-ladder will probably be used a landing-deck or piazza should be built at the front of the hut.

While this hut is built between two trees it is also built against them, as the trunk of each tree can be partially enclosed in the hut. The under cross-timbers that support the floor frame are to be attached to the trees the same as described for the low tree hut, and on these the other timbers are laid and fastened as shown in Fig. 8. The main timbers extend beyond the outside of the trunks, and the supporting and floor timbers enclose each trunk. At the front the frame is carried forward two feet more than at the back, allowing this much for the width of the deck. The uprights are arranged somewhat differently also, as they are bound at the top to scantlings that butt into the trunks. Fig. 8 AA.

Instead of a flat roof like the low hut, this one is to have a pitched roof, the supporting timbers of which are attached to the ridge-poles BB, which are fastened to the tree-trunks in the same manner as the under cross-timbers. This construction is clearly shown in Fig. 8, where the location of each upright and cross-piece is indicated.

A rail is run along the front and one end of the deck, and is fastened at the top of four uprights of two-by-three-inch spruce, the lower ends of which are securely nailed to the front stringers as the illustration shows.

In place of the supporting brackets DD that are let into the timber C at Fig. 2, longer brackets or props are caught under the floor timbers and braced at the lower end against the trunks, where an additional anchorage or support is made by a stout block which is securely spiked to the trunk underneath each bracket end as shown in Fig. 8 CC. The frame is then enclosed as described for the low hut, and windows and a door are mounted as shown.

A long, stiff ladder may be used to climb up, but a more interesting ladder can be made of rope and hickory rungs. By means of a thin rope attached to the bottom rung the ladder can be hauled up to the deck so that it is out of the reach of other boys; and being fastened at the top, no one can remove it or pull it away as they could a stiff ladder.

A rope-ladder is made of stout clothes-line and hickory rungs lashed together securely with strong line as shown in Fig. 9. The rungs are of straight hickory with or without the bark on, one inch and a quarter thick and twenty-four inches long. Near the end of each rung a notch is cut on both sides for the rope to lie in, as shown at the upper end of Fig. 9, and each union is to be very securely bound with the line so as to prevent slipping.

The ladder is hung on stout wooden pegs driven into the deck through holes one inch and a half in diameter. An extra rope is to be carried from the top rung up over the pegs and down again, where a wrap is taken over one or two rungs; then it is lashed fast to the other ropes with the stout line as shown in Fig. 10.

Bunks and furniture can be made for the interior, and any other convenient accessories to the comfort and pleasure of the boy owners may be added as need arises.

A Single-tree Hut

In the spreading branches of a large oak-tree a very snug roost can be made high above the ground as shown in Fig. 11 (frontispiece).

This single-tree hut is twenty-five feet above the ground, and below it is a landing from which the rope-ladder is dropped. From this landing to the piazza or deck of the hut a stiff ladder is made fast both at top and bottom, and an opening in the floor of the deck will allow room to climb up on the deck.

As very few trees are alike it would be difficult to give a plan for the floor timbers among the out-spreading branches; but from the plans shown for the twin-tree hut some idea of the construction can be had for single-tree huts.

The main tree-trunk will, of course, have to project up through the hut, and the location in the tree should be selected so that out-spreading branches will form a support to the lower edges of the floor frame as may be seen in Fig. 12, the plan of a low tree hut.

A peaked, a mansard, or a flat roof can be placed on the hut, depending on the main trunk to give it support; and if the space in the tree will permit, a deck across the front and both sides will be found useful. The floor timbers should be well braced to the main trunk of the tree with long and short bracket-pieces or props. These will help greatly in making the hut steady in the tree, and where the lower ends are attached to the trunk large spikes should be well driven in. Cleats or blocks can be nailed fast under the ends also, as they will help to support and strengthen the anchorage.

Water and food can be kept cool by suspending them in a shady place. Water in a porous jug or earthen pitcher will keep very cold if hung in the tree branches where the air can freely circulate around it. Keep fire away from the tree huts, and do not light any matches nor burn candles, for if once a fire is started nothing will save your hut. It is too high to reach with a bucket, and, located as it is, a perfect draught will fan a small flame into a raging fire in no time.

A Low Single-tree Hut

It is not always best to build a hut in high trees, nor is it possible to do so in every case, because there may not be any high, large trees at hand strong enough to support a hut. For younger boys a low tree hut is preferable, so that if a possible misstep should result in a fall it would be less harmful than from a high tree. An apple or maple tree often affords a good support for a low tree hut, and if the trunk is substantially heavy a house similar to the one shown in Fig. 12 (page 358) can easily be constructed. The tree should be large enough to bear the weight of the house without straining it, particularly in a storm or high wind.

The general construction of the frame is shown in Fig. 12. The frame should be of two-by-three-inch spruce and the flooring beams can be of two-by-four-inch spruce or other timber. One or two windows and a door may be arranged in the hut, and tar-paper tacked on the roof will make it water-proof.

Access to the hut can be had by means of a ladder made from two-by-three-inch spruce rails with hickory rungs, or two-by-one-inch hard-wood sticks securely nailed to the rails.

A Brush-house

In nearly every part of the country where there is low ground one may generally find a high growth of plant life having a long stalk, with the greatest number of leaves at or near the top. Artichokes, cat-tail reeds, wild sunflower, and the stronger species of flag have stalks and reeds sufficiently strong from which to make the sides and roof of a hut or small house such as Fig. 13 depicts.

This growth is often ten feet high, and will have a straight and uniform reed at least seven or eight feet up from the ground before the thick top foliage reduces it in size. This last should be cut away and the smaller under branches and leaves trimmed off, leaving a comparatively straight shaft from six to eight feet long. This will be limber enough to be woven basket-fashion, and quite stiff enough to hold the thatching of meadow-grass or cat-tail reeds.

To build a brush-house like the one shown in the illustration, four sticks are to be set in the ground about six feet apart, forming a square. These should be eight feet long and sunk two feet into the ground, the upper ends being bound together with rails two inches wide and an inch thick.

A pitch can be given to the roof by cutting off the rear posts six inches and leaving six inches more of the front posts out of the ground, thereby allowing a pitch of one foot to the six-toot length of roof. This slant is not necessary, however, and the roof may be flat if it is easier to make.

From the reeds a basket framework with eight-inch meshes is to be woven, as the boys are doing in Fig. 14. Three of these frames are to be made for the sides and rear of the hut, and at the front, above the doorway, a smaller one is to be made to cover the space between the front posts.

The ends of the cross-reeds are to be bent around the end upright reeds as shown in Fig. 15, where they can be bound with string or tied with grass. The window openings in the side frames are made by cutting out a section of one or two uprights and turning the cross-reeds back and tying them. At the doorway two upright sticks are driven into the ground and a rail nailed across their upper ends.

To this wooden frame the front reeds may be attached, and the skeleton hut or house is then ready to be thatched with long, dry grass or dried cat-tail reeds. The thatching is done by interweaving long grasses or reeds between the cross-reeds in a vertical position as shown in Fig. 16. The thatching material should be from eighteen to twenty-four inches long so that it can be interwoven between three cross-reeds as shown in Fig. 17, where a few strands of grasses are placed in position to give an idea of how to weave the grass.

Timothy or straw can be used to good advantage for thatching material, and if it is employed it should be woven with the heads up and not too close together, as the air should get through the thatching to keep the occupants of the hut cool. Of course a house may be made larger or smaller than the one described, but the principle of good construction is the same. Never depend on the four sides to hold together without the corner-posts, as the first good wind that happened along would blow it flat, and perhaps beyond the possibility of repair.

The edges of each side are lashed fast to the corner-posts with grass or string, and when the roof is made it should be lashed fast to the top of the sides and front with long reeds or grass.

The roof is woven the same as the sides but is thatched closer; and about four inches of the roof should extend over the sides, front, and rear.

A Brush “Lean-to”

The general lines of a miniature barn are shown in the illustration of a brush “lean-to” (Fig. 18). This is constructed in nearly the same manner as the brush-house, and thatched with grass or reeds as shown in Figs. 16 and 17.

The corner-posts are three feet high, the ridge-pole seven feet and six inches above the ground, and the hut may be from five to eight feet square or made oblong, as a matter of choice.

A frame of scantling should be made for this lean-to the same as if a wooden structure were to be built, and it must be nailed together well to stand the strain of the wind blowing hard against it. In general construction the frame should appear like Fig. 19; and to the sticks the edges of the thatched framework of reeds is to be lashed fast with grass, either before or after the thatching is done.

A brush-house or any hut built on or near the ground is not so cool to stay in as one in the trees, but it is, of course, much easier to construct, as the boy builders do not have to move about so carefully when at work, and their materials can be picked up quickly.

Brush huts and houses can be built on the plains where trees are scarce, but in a country rich in woods and forests the boys prefer the tree huts, not only for their cool location, but on account of the romance involved in the climbing up to an inaccessible eyrie.

How to Grow Them for Pleasure and Profit

Here are some suggestions for an entirely new and fascinating out-of-doors occupation.

It has become a habit with me when walking in the woods to keep a sharp lookout for stocks for walking-sticks, so that in the course of many years I have got together quite a unique collection. To these a number have been added through exchanges with friends.

This hobby has borne other fruit than the mere gathering together of curious sticks. For have I not learned the scientific and common names of most of our trees and shrubs, their habits, and their values, their uses in the arts and sciences, their medicinal qualities! So you see, my young reader, what unthinking people would call a useless and eccentric occupation (this gathering of old sticks) has in reality proved to be an innocent and instructive pastime, and I propose to continue to ride this walking-stick hobby just as diligently as I used to ride grandpa’s walking-cane to “Banbury Cross” when a child.

My first interesting cane capture consisted of a very curiously shaped natural stick as shown in Fig. 1. It was of a young hickory sapling at whose roots grew a bitter-sweet vine, which, being of an ambitious turn of mind, had taken many turns around the sapling in its eagerness to climb up in the world. The sapling in the mean time extended its bark well over the leader of the tough and clinging bitter-sweet till but little of it was to be seen. At last the sapling, feeling unusually vigorous, burst asunder the clinging bitter-sweet vine, the result being a very unique walking-stick, and a good illustration of the “survival of the fittest.”

The dead bitter-sweet vine was withdrawn from the hickory, and from its root a handle was carved and bent. On many occasions I have twisted vines of bitter-sweet and the fox-grape around saplings of oak, hickory, and chestnut, and have obtained very satisfactory results.

Where a vine is situated some distance from the sapling selected for a cane, the vine can be “piped” (laid under the ground) up to the sapling, and then twisted around it and securely fastened at the top with wire, from three to four feet above its root. If the sapling is so situated that it obtains a bountiful supply of food and sunlight, a unique cane of natural growth will be the result.

Having taken a hint from nature in the case of the bitter-sweet vine and the hickory sapling, I extended my experiments in many directions. Taking three cuttings (slips) of basket-willow, I planted them close together as shown in Fig. 2. After they had taken root and begun to push out branches, I reduced the number of branches to one for each cutting, always retaining the most vigorous branch.

As the three willow-trees increased in height the side branches were constantly cut off. This treatment forced the growth of the willows upward, so that when they had attained a height of five feet I bound them together with a living cat-brier vine, which was planted at their base, and in course of time obtained a light walking-stick of novel pattern as shown in Fig. 3. Another very interesting experiment was grafting three willow stocks together so that they formed a union, and became as it were one tree. This was done by carefully cutting away two slices from three young willows so as to form an obtuse angle as shown in Fig. 4.

The angles so formed were carefully and accurately fitted together as shown in the section Fig. 5. To hold the willows closely together, and to exclude all air, I wrapped them tightly with strips of unbleached cotton-sheeting. As soon as they showed signs of life at their tops by sending out young branches, I felt certain that a union of their barks would form at the points indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5. But it was not till several trials had been made that I was successful in this novel experiment of combining three willow saplings.

It very often occurs that after a tree has been cut down a number of canes or suckers will start up from the stump. These suckers make excellent walking-sticks when properly cured and peeled. For a lady’s riding-whip I know of nothing better than three willow withes plaited together. This plaiting must be done when the willow withes are young, and when attached to the parent tree, on which they are allowed to remain for a year after having been plaited together. By this time they will have grown firmly together in consequence of the bark conforming to the bent strands of the plait.

The following kinds of native woods are used for walking-sticks:

Holly.—Sticks of this wood are found growing out from the sides of older growths, and shooting up in nearly a straight line. Occasionally they may be cut with a crutch-piece across the growing end, or with a crook or knob. These are the most valuable. They may be found on a well-grown sapling in the deep woods. This should be pulled or dug up for the sake of its roots. Saplings and hedge-sticks may often be found from three to four feet long, and from three-eighths to a quarter of an inch in diameter. These are not suitable for walking-sticks, but they make excellent whip-handles. The holly makes tough, supple, and moderately heavy walking-sticks, and its close-grained wood admits of much skill in carving the knob formed by the root and its rootlets.

Ash.—Respectable sticks of this wood may sometimes be cut out of a hedge or pulled from the side of an old stump. Ash sticks must also be roughly trimmed and well seasoned before they are barked and polished. The root knobs admit of excellent grotesque carving.

Oak.—This of all sticks is the most reliable, and stout oaken cudgels are esteemed by most persons as affording the best props for failing legs, as well as the best weapons of self-defence against quarrelsome dogs, ruffians, and tramps. Straight sticks of sapling oak are not always easily obtained, but copse-wood sticks pulled from the trunks of trees form excellent substitutes. These should be selected for walking-sticks that taper from one inch below the knob or crutch to one inch at the ferrule end. Oak sticks split in drying when the bark has been stripped off or the knobs and branches cut too close, or when the sticks are dried too rapidly in a very dry place. They are then rendered useless for walking-sticks and cudgels.

Elm.—From the roots of elm-trees saplings often shoot up to a height of some ten feet; these furnish good walking-sticks of fancy styles, the rough bark serving the purpose of ornamentation when the sticks are dried, stained, varnished, and polished.

Among fruit trees the cherry, apple, and pear furnish some very nice, fancy walking-sticks, being supple and of moderate strength.

When sticks are half dried—that is, when the bark is shrunken, has lost its sappy greenness, and refuses to peel freely—they may be trimmed, straightened, or bent, as required. The wood and also the form of the knobs and roots will admit of much taste being displayed in grotesque and fancy carving.

I know of a young man in Florida, not yet twenty-one years of age, who is paying his way through college by collecting and curing sticks of the wild orange, on the handles of which he carves during his leisure time and vacations full-length figures of alligators as shown in Fig. 6. I have examined several of these sticks, and the entire work seems to be done with small chisels and a parting or V-tool. These sticks are in constant demand with visitors and tourists in Florida, and have become known as “orange-wood ’gator canes.” This fact may be suggestive to some of our ingenious farmer boys who are struggling to obtain a college course.

Walking-sticks can be gathered at all seasons. The sticks should be laid aside in a moderately dry and cool place, and should not be worked or the bark taken off till they are half dry. They are then most supple, and may be bent or straightened without injury. When laying by sticks to dry, the knots and spurs should not be trimmed close; it is best to trim them only roughly, leaving the spurs of branches and roots on the stick fully an inch long.

To straighten or bend the sticks, they should be steamed until they are supple, or buried in hot, wet sand until they become soft; they must then, while still hot, be given the form they are intended to keep, and kept in this form until they are cold. Straight sticks are tied firmly together in small bundles, and wound with a coil of rope from end to end; they are then suspended to a beam by their knob ends, and a heavy weight is attached to the ferrule ends. Crooks may be turned by soaking the end in boiling water for half an hour, then bending it to the desired form, and retaining it in its position by means of a tourniquet (as shown in Fig. 7) until the stick is cold.

The bark may then be taken off with a sharp knife, but care must be taken not to split or chip the wood. Knots may be trimmed at the same time, and the root knobs turned into grotesque shapes. There are no rules that can be given to guide one when carving the roots into handles, since their forms are governed by the outlines of the roots, these often being very suggestive of themselves. The group of heads shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 will illustrate what I mean. Figs. 8 and 9 show the rough stick, Figs. 10 and 11 the finished heads.

One or two points should receive considerable attention when designing the handles. If the stick is to be a fancy one to be carried and swung in the hand, the roots can be carved into grotesque or fancy forms. But if for use, the handle should be round and smooth, so as to fit comfortably in the hand. The head of a dog, or a swan or goose, forms an appropriate design for a stick that is to be held on the arm when lighting a match, or when wishing to have both hands free. The crutch and hook are also comfortable forms.

Wooden handles are given touches of rich brown by applying a red-hot iron to the parts to be colored.

All sticks with the rough bark left on should be neatly trimmed naked around the neck of the handle, and the whole lightly gone over with fine sand or emery paper. The cane should then receive several dressings of boiled linseed-oil and be left to dry. When dry, a coat of shellac varnish is applied. Oak canes look best when carefully barked in hot water, the loose bark being removed by rubbing with coarse canvas, and the cane then dried, dressed with boiled linseed-oil, again dried, then polished, and varnished with shellac or furniture varnish, and again polished.

Dogwood and Osage orange sticks can be stained black by brushing them over with a hot and strong decoction of logwood and nut gall. When this is thoroughly dried, brush them over with vinegar in which a few rusty nails have been steeped for two or three days. Some persons use ink for a black stain, others introduce “drop black” in the varnish; a brown or mahogany stain may be obtained by adding some “dragon’s-blood” to the varnish. The lower ends of the sticks should be guarded from excessive wear by a neat brass ferrule; these are cheaper to purchase at a hardware store than to make, though I have often used brass thimbles and tailors’ steel thimbles as a substitute. These can be fastened by means of hot shellac, or with a brass pin driven into a hole in the thimble and passing through the wood of the stick.

For fastening carved or rustic heads or handles on sticks hot glue or thick shellac varnish is used. A good-sized hole is first bored into the handle and a hole of similar size in the stick; a dowel is driven into the hole in the stick (using plenty of glue), after which the handle is driven on to the dowel-pin. Handles may be made of horn, which can be softened for bending by boiling in oil (not kerosene) or hot fat. Hard-woods that will take a polish, and vegetable ivory, which is very easy and pleasant to carve, are good materials to use for handles. For small sticks, bone will be found an easy material to shape into handles.

All the manufacturers of walking-sticks and umbrella and parasol handles state that the demand for native woods suitable for canes and sticks is constant all the year round, and that the sticks may be gathered at all seasons of the year and sent to market, both straight and crooked sticks being salable, also roots for handles.

With this we reach the end of our out-door handy book, which we trust may become the daily and invaluable companion of all healthy, active American boys. The in-door handy book, the book of electricity, and the book of mechanics for boys, which are to follow, will form, we believe, the distinctive American boy’s library of practical handy books.