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?



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