r 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 wholesom