Chapter II: Preface: Dear Boys and Girls

Mary Frances and Billy have been growing up, and with their growing, they have learned to love the great out-of-doors.

No, they haven’t outgrown fairy folk, at least Mary Frances hasn’t, for that is a part of this story—how Feather Flop, the rooster, and Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Bouncing Bet, the fairies of the wood, helped teach her to garden.

But in their study and work, Mary Frances and Billy learned more than that—they learned to appreciate what a wonderful amount of energy is expended by Mother Nature in growing one little plant from a seed; how careful she is that nothing be wasted; and what pleasure there is in tilling the soil, and helping things grow!

Everything else in the Mary Frances stories had to do with indoors: in cooking, feeding the body; in sewing, clothing the body; in housekeeping, sheltering the body. In gardening, which took them out-of-doors, the children had so much fun and had so much to learn, that the whole story cannot be put down here—you must finish it out for yourselves in your own gardens.

That you, too, may learn to help things grow, and share the pleasure which Mary Frances and Billy, and their friends, Eleanor and Bob, had in making a garden, is the wish of

THE AUTHOR.

MERCHANTVILLE, N. J.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. FEATHER FLOP, THE GARDEN BOSS 17
II. FEATHER FLOP OVERSLEEPS 22
III. BILLY PLANS THE GARDEN 26
IV. FEATHER FLOP’S ARGUMENT 31
V. GARDENS FOR LITTLE FOLKS 34
VI. GARDENS FOR BIG BOYS AND GIRLS 46
VII. EARLY SPRING GARDEN 51
VIII. EARLY SUMMER GARDEN 54
IX. MID-SUMMER GARDEN 56
X. AUTUMN GARDEN 61
XI. SOME FAVORITE ANNUALS 63
XII. WINDOW BOXES 69
XIII. BILLY TESTS THE SOIL 74
XIV. HOW TO PLANT 79
XV. THE OUTDOOR SEED-BED 84
XVI. SEED BABIES AND THEIR NURSES 89
XVII. NAMES OF PARTS OF FLOWERS 96
XVIII. GOOD MRS. BEE 102
XIX. THE STORY OF FERTILIZATION 106
XX. THE STORY OF THE HONEY BEE 113
XXI. HOW THE BEES WORK 119
XXII. THE CHILDREN’S MONEY-MAKING PLANS 126
XXIII. MR. HOP TOAD HOPS IN 131
XXIV. MR. CUTWORM, THE VILLAIN 142
XXV. BIRDS AS PLANTS’ FRIENDS 145
XXVI. LITTLE LADYBIRD 153
XXVII. CURLY DOCK 157
XXVIII. THE STUPID HONEY DROPS 161
XXIX. SOME SPRAYS FOR GARDEN PESTS 165
XXX. EARLY VEGETABLES 170
XXXI. FEATHER FLOP’S TEMPTATION 175
XXXII. FEATHER FLOP GETS ANGRY 178
XXXIII. FATHER AND MOTHER’S SURPRISE 183
XXXIV. FEATHER FLOP MAKES UP 188
XXXV. ROSES 192
XXXVI. THE BEST ROSES TO PLANT 199
XXXVII. THE WICKED ROSE BUGS 211
XXXVIII. THE FAIRY WOOD NYMPHS 217
XXXIX. GOOD AND BAD WEEDS 225
XL. BOUNCING BET AND HER FRIENDS 233
XLI. BUTTERCUP AND DAISY FAMILIES 242
XLII. WATER BABIES 249
XLIII. HOW PLANTS GROW 257
XLIV. A WICKED INNKEEPER 262
XLV. UNINVITED GUESTS 267
XLVI. HOW SEED BABIES TRAVEL 270
XLVII. HAVE A SEAT ON A TOAD STOOL 274
XLVIII. SOME WAYS TO RID OF WEEDS 280
XLIX. QUEEN’S LACE TRIMS WELL 287
L. THE WILD FLOWER GARDEN 292
LI. GROWING PERENNIALS FROM SEED 298
LII. THE MONEY THE CHILDREN MADE 303
LIII. MARY FRANCES’ GARDEN PARTY 310
LIV. FEATHER FLOP’S CONCEIT 323
LV. BOB AND BILLY’S VACATION 328
LVI. DAFFODIL AND OTHER BULBS 334
LVII. BILLY BUILDS A HOTBED 344
LVIII. SOME HINTS ON GROWING VEGETABLES 348
LIX. THE CITY GARDEN 360
LX. GARDEN COLOR-PICTURES 364
LXI. PATTERNS FOR PAPER FLOWERS 367
LXII. THE MARY FRANCES GARDEN CUT-OUTS 371
LXIII. LITTLE GARDENERS’ CALENDAR 373
LXIV. BUDDING AND GRAFTING 376
LXV. PRIZES AT THE COUNTY FAIR 377

THE MARY FRANCES GARDENS

To be Cut Out and Mounted by the Reader

(For Instructions, See Chapter LXII)

INSERTS
1. MARY FRANCES’ PLAY HOUSE I, II
2. MARY FRANCES’ EARLY SPRING GARDEN III
3. MARY FRANCES’ EARLY SUMMER GARDEN IV
4. MARY FRANCES’ MID-SUMMER GARDEN V
5. MARY FRANCES’ AUTUMN GARDEN VI

These cut-outs will familiarize the child with the plants shown, and their season of bloom, and inspire a love for practical out-of-door gardening.

Cherry
Rose
Blackberry
Strawberry
Peach
Apple

Potato
Egg Plant
Tomato]

INSTRUCTIONS—

GARDENING

CHAPTER
1. TO PREPARE THE SOIL XIII, XIV
2. HOW TO PLANT SEEDS XIV, XV
3. NAMES OF PARTS OF FLOWERS XVII, LXI
4. FERTILIZATION OR REPRODUCTION XIX-XXI
5. INSECT ENEMIES AND REMEDIES XXIX
6. HOW TO PLANT BULBS LVI
7. CONCERNING VEGETABLES LVIII
8. ROSES: HOW TO PLANT AND TEND XXXV-XXXVII
9. THE BEST ROSES TO GROW XXXVI
10. ANNUALS: WHEN AND HOW TO PLANT XI
11. PERENNIALS: WHEN AND HOW TO PLANT LI
12. HOW TO TELL THE COMMON WILD FLOWERS XXXIX-XLVIII
13. HOW PLANTS GROW XLIII
14. HOW TO MAKE A HOTBED LVII
15. BEST LIST FOR CHILDREN’S FLOWER GARDENS V
16. BEST LIST FOR CHILDREN’S VEGETABLE GARDENS V
17. OUTLINE OF EACH MONTH’S WORK FOR A YEAR LXIII

Good Mrs. Bee
Feather Flop
Little Lady Bird
Beauty Butterfly
Mr. Hop Toad
Mr. Cut Worm
The Wicked Rose Bugs]