2. Some pupils may tell of several benefits of trees and forests, or five pupils may stand together and each tell of one important benefit. 3. Have a pupil describe how to test seed corn by the individual ear method. 4. Have two pupils tell of the two types of insect moths, each telling how to control such insects. 5. Have a boy tell of three or four things necessary to improve the home lawn. (See U. S. Bulletin 248) 6. Have three pupils stand and each take one part (_a_) Use of vines to beautify the grounds at school or home, naming some vines to use in certain places (_b_) Use of trees in same way (_c_) Use of shrubs in same way THE VALUE OF OUR FORESTS Few people ever think of a forest as a place to store water. Who would think that "the woods" hold water as well as a mill pond or a reservoir! But they do, although we cannot see the water they hold, except, perhaps, as a pool here and there; and yet this is one of the most important functions that a forest can perform. All of us have noticed in walking through the woods how soft and springy the ground is. A thick carpet of leaves, twigs, and decayed wood covers the earth, sometimes to a depth of several feet. It is very porous, and it absorbs water like a sponge. When storms come and rain falls in torrents, it does not beat directly upon the ground under the trees because the raindrops first strike the leaves and branches above. The water then trickles gently down and soaks into the leafy carpet. If the forest is extensive a very large quantity of water is absorbed--enough to prevent floods except in extraordinarily long periods of rain. Gradually through the weeks and months that follow the absorbed water oozes out of low places as "springs," and it dashes merrily away in little brooks that continue to form creeks and rivers which flow peacefully and steadily out to sea. If there are no trees, no leaves to break the beating rain, no spongy mold to hold the water when it falls, no matted roots to prevent washing, the big raindrops spatter upon the earth and quickly form rushing streams that wash the ground into gulleys. The bare earth absorbs some water, to be sure, but far less than the humus of the forest. If the rains are continued the rivers are soon filled beyond the capacity of their banks and they spread over the neighboring valleys, carrying devastation with them. After the heavy rains cease, the flood waters subside as suddenly as they had arisen and the streams dwindle to insignificance, sometimes completely drying up in a long, hot summer. Thus it is that forests act as great reservoirs and aid in preventing disastrous floods and in maintaining the flow of streams at a rate that is nearly uniform all the year round.