Two Little Plants
:
Keep-well Stories For Little Folks
Look at this lovely little plant with its pretty bright leaves and
beautiful pink blossoms. Well may we ask what makes the little plant so
healthy, strong, and pretty. It is a delight to the eye.
Now here is another little plant. It belongs to the same family. The
same kind of seed was planted, and when its tiny leaves began to peep
above the ground, it seemed to have as good a chance as its little
sister
plant. But the leaves are pale and drooping; they look sick. It
has no pretty blossoms. Its stems are withered and weak; it can hardly
hold its little leaves up. "Poor little sickly looking plant," its
strong and rosy little sister seems to say.
Let us see if we can find a reason for the difference between the two
plants. I do not believe that it will take us long to find the cause of
the sickness, for it is sick just like a little child.
Mother Nature prepares a special food for all her children, food for the
little plant children as well as for the little babies in our homes,
and food for the little piggies and the frisky little calves out in the
barn.
When mother feeds little baby brother she gives him nice warm, sweet
milk, because that is the food that he needs to make him grow big and
strong. Mother Nature knows that the little babies and the little calves
and pigs need this fresh warm milk, so she prepares it all ready for
them.
When we plant seed in the ground, the soft, warm dark earth furnishes
food for the little seed, until its leaves and stems are above the
ground. Its little roots run down into the moist, mellow soil and drink
up the food Mother Nature has there for it. The warm sun shines down on
the little plant and makes it green, and the pure air helps to make its
stems strong and sturdy that it may hold its leaves and blossoms up for
the passersby to enjoy.
What a beautiful sight it is as it seems to nod a morning greeting of
cheer and good health.
Now the little plant with the pretty bright leaves and wonderful pink
blossoms has had all the water and mellow soil and warm sunshine it
needed to make it grow, from a tiny plant into the large handsome one we
see.
The little sister plant with its sick, pale leaves and no blossoms has
not been treated kindly. When it was just a baby plant it did not have
enough water to drink. The soil in which it was planted was poor, and
did not have enough food to feed the tiny baby plant. The poor little
plant was shut away from the bright sunshine and the clean, fresh air.
Now its leaves hang down as if it were saying, "I am so sick; give me
some water to drink, give me some food to make my stems strong, give me
some sunshine and fresh air to warm me and make the nice green color
come into my leaves!"
We may give the little plant all that it asks for, and help it a great
deal. In a few days the color will begin to come into its leaves and its
stems will look stronger, but we doubt if the little neglected plant
will ever become as strong as the little sister plant which has had all
the good soil, water, air and sunshine that it needed when it was a baby
plant.
Little boys and girls need things to make them strong just as the little
plants do. They need simple, pure food to make strong bone and muscle,
pure water to drink, and to bathe their bodies with; fresh air to
breathe; and sunshine to give color to their cheeks and sparkle to their
eyes. If the little folks do not have the things that Mother Nature
intended for them, they will grow thin and twisted like the little sick
plant. Their cheeks will grow pale and their eyes will look dull and
heavy and lose their sparkle. They will not want to romp and play as all
healthy children do. They will not want to go to school.
Little children who are ruddy and strong like the first little plant
have mothers who see that they get all the food they need and plenty of
pure water to drink; that they keep their bodies clean and play in the
sunshine and breathe fresh air.
These little girls and boys are in all the games. They love to run and
play. They will grow into strong men and women and be ready to do the
work for which they were created.
If the little green plant is shut away in the dark, out of the sunshine
and fresh air, it will soon droop and die. Children are human plants and
need the same care and treatment that should be given other plants.
QUESTIONS
1. Why was it that one of the little plants in the
story was so healthy and strong, while its sister
plant was weak and sickly?
2. Did you ever see a boy or girl who did not have
enough wholesome food to eat, enough fresh air to
breathe, and enough sunshine to give a healthy
color to his or her cheeks?
3. What kind of a big boy or girl will such a
child grow to be?
4. If we are to grow into strong, healthy, hardy,
robust boys and girls--men and women--what rules
must we obey?