The family who own a tennis court and enjoy no skating in the winter have their own want of ingenuity to blame, if they live in the Jack Frost belt. Any level piece of ground, even the grass plot in the back yard, can be skated on. You need first to set a six-inch board on edge all round the level plot. This board should be three inches in the ground and three inches out. As winter approaches, rig a trough from the pump to the pond-to-be or have the hose where it can be attached to the spigot at a moment's notice. Wait for a hard freeze. When it comes, and the ground is like rock, give the word "all hands to the pumps." Let on enough water to cover the surface, then let it freeze. If you get a smooth surface the first go you are luckier than most boys. Cover the first coat with a second and that with a third layer until you have smooth ice. Then skate. On cold nights spray the worn places if you use a hose, or run on another half-inch of water. A good skating pond can be made by boys with a little ingenuity, which in this case means engineering ability, by damming a brook until it floods a naturally flat area above its own level. Or by damming the outlet of a pond before dry weather comes on and holding the water at a higher level than it would naturally have. It is perfectly astonishing what a small dam will do, if cleverly placed. Study the work of beavers if you know of any. You can get pointers from mill-dams built by your great-grandsires, if there are any in your vicinity. In one of the books for boys, mentioned in the book list, are practical suggestions about building dams. Sometimes boys think nature has not done as much for them as for boys who have a natural swimming pool, a skating pond, or a trout brook. Maybe if you helped her out a little, nature would do her part in your case, too. THE STORY OF RECLAIMING A SPRING When I was fourteen years old my father bought his property in Ithaca, N. Y., on which we live. That part of it on which there is now a fine spring was considered worthless. Through this property ran a well-wooded glen, the upper end of which was very wet and swampy. This condition was due to several small springs emerging from the ground at the head of the glen. All of these springs joined and flowed down through the glen, forming a fairly large stream. This stream flowed continually throughout summer and winter, without change of volume.