Uncle Roberts Geography | Page 6

I think we'd better go in now."


CHAPTER II.
FRANK DRAWS A MAP OF THE FARM.
After the lamps were lighted and they were all gathered in the sitting-room Uncle Robert began asking the children about the farm.
"What do you raise besides corn?" he asked.
"Wheat, oats, rye, and potatoes," said Frank. "Then we have the hay fields and the pasture. The woods we drove through coming from town belong to us too."
"The house faces east, doesn't it?" said Uncle Robert. "That would make the woods north. Where are all these other fields?"
"Back of the barn and the other side of the orchard," said Donald.
"Can't some one show me on paper how it is?" asked Uncle Robert. "I don't mean make a picture, but just a plan of it."
"Well, I can try," said Frank. "I know just how it is really, but I don't know that I can get it right."
Frank found paper and pencil and set to work, while the rest gathered eagerly around and looked on.
"This is the river," he said. "There's a big curve in it along our farm. The road runs along the top of the slope, and this is where the house is."
"What lies between the house and the river?" asked Uncle Robert.
"The big cornfield," said Frank. "That's where we are going to plant to-morrow if it is a pleasant day. And right here, in the corner by the woods, is the spring."
"The water comes right out of the ground," said Susie; "and it is as cold as ice."
"Here," said Frank, "is the wood. You know we drove through it this afternoon. The woods are on both sides of the creek."
"See the crooked line he makes for the creek," said Donald.
"That is where the violets and buttercups grow, uncle," said Susie, pointing to the map.
"Where does the creek come from?" asked Uncle Robert.
"There's a pond away back in the woods," said Donald. "It comes from that; but it is a swamp part of the year."
"The cat-tails grow there," said Susie.
"Well," said Uncle Robert, "the house, the cornfield, and the woods--is that all of the farm?"
"Oh, no!" said Frank. "It is low along the river, but back of the cornfield it gets higher, and that's where the grapes are. On this side of the road is the orchard; and here, between the orchard and the woods, come in the yard and garden."
"Don't leave out the barnyard," said Donald.
"What's back of the barn?" asked Uncle Robert.
"The field of timothy; and next to it is the clover field. That is as far as the farm goes that way."
[Illustration: CLOVER TIMOTHY WHEAT OATS RYE]
"The wheat field is on the other side of the timothy, Frank," said Donald, "and the oats between that and the road, beside the orchard."
"Put in the potatoes along the road," said Susie.
"Now all we have left is the rye field over in the corner," said Donald.
"That is the way it is this year," said Mr. Leonard, who sat with his paper in his hand. But the paper was unread. He found the group around the table much more interesting.
"Now it is all done," said Susie, hopping about on one foot. "Isn't it fun? Let's draw the garden. I can do it."
"All right," said Uncle Robert, "you shall; but I think we'd better finish the farm first. Who can tell how many acres there are in each of these lots?"
"I know there are twenty in the timothy meadow," said Donald, "because father always calls it the twenty-acre lot."
"Write it down on the map, Frank," said Uncle Robert. "How much in the clover field?"
"It seems about half as large as the timothy meadow," said Frank.
"That's right," said Mr. Leonard; "it is."
"There are twenty acres in the wood lot, aren't there, father?" asked Frank. "It isn't quite so wide, but it is longer than the timothy meadow."
"Yes," said Mr. Leonard, "there are twenty acres there; and it is as fine woodland as any I know."
"There are ten acres in the orchard," said Frank; "and the cornfield is the largest of all."
"That must be thirty acres," said Donald. "I remember when father made the pasture smaller, so that we could have more corn."
"Yes," said Frank; "and that left ten in the pasture. I remember. And there are fifteen acres each in oats, wheat, and rye; but I don't know how large the potato field is. It is smaller than the others, though--it must be about ten."
"Right again," said Mr. Leonard.
[Illustration: (figures, addition, subtraction)]
"Now we have it all but the yard and garden," said Uncle Robert. "Does any one know how much land they cover?"
The father and mother looked on smiling, but said nothing.
"It's all the rest of the farm, anyhow," said Susie.
"Oh, I know how to find out," said Frank. "We know the whole farm is one hundred and sixty acres. We can