Lighting the Fire Without a Match
Categories: Xiii Camp Fun And FrolicsA fire-lighting contest is the best of camp sports, for it requires
practise and skill, and to excel in it is to acquire distinction among
all outdoor people. There are girls in the Girl Pioneers Organization
who are as proficient in lighting a fire without matches as any of the
Boy Scouts who make much of the feat.
More
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How to Chop Wood
Trailing and camping both mean wood-chopping to some extent for shelters, fires, etc., and the girl of to-day should understand, as did the girls of our pioneer families, how to handle properly a hatchet, or in this case we will make it a belt axe. ... How to Fell a Tree
Content yourself with chopping down only slender trees, mere saplings, at first, and as you acquire skill, slightly heavier trees can be felled. Begin in the right way with your very first efforts and follow the woodsman's method. Having selected... How to Know Your Camera
The camera once bought and in your hands, the next thing to do is to become thoroughly acquainted with it. With your camera you are entitled to a little book of instructions. Take your camera and the book, sit down alone, and give them your entire a... Hunting the Quail
This is something like the old game of hide-and-seek, with which all girls are familiar, and it will not be difficult to learn. The players are divided into "hunter" and "quails." The hunter is "It," and any counting-out rhyme will decide who is to ... In the Woods, the Fields, on the Shore. Stalking Animals and Birds
There is but one way to make friends with the folk of the wild, and that is by gentleness, kindness, and quietness. Also one must learn to be fearless. It is said that while animals may not understand our language they do understand, or feel, our ... Information
Whether your camp is to be for one day, one week, or a longer period of time, the first question to be decided is: "Where shall we go?" If you know of no suitable spot, inquire of friends, and even if they have not personally enjoyed the delights of... Insects
My first experience with wood-ticks, jiggers, and Jersey mosquitoes was during the summer we spent at Bayville, near Toms River, N. J. In many ways Bayville, with its sand, its pines, its beautiful wood roads, and rare wild flowers, is an interest... Jigger. Redbug. Mite
The tiny mite called by the natives jigger and redbug is more annoying than the wood-tick, one reason being that there are so many more of him. He really does penetrate the skin, and his wanderings under the surface give one the feeling of an itchin... Jimson-Weed
The jimson-weed is very common in Kentucky. I have not seen so much of it in the east and north, but it appears to grow pretty nearly over the whole United States. It is from one to five feet in height, and an ill-smelling weed, though first cousin ... Johnny-Cake
Served hot, split open and buttered, these Kentucky johnny-cakes with a cup of good coffee make a fine, hearty breakfast, very satisfying and good. Allow 1/2 cup of corn-meal for each person, and to every 4 cups of meal add 1 teaspoonful of salt,... June-Berry. Shadbush
There are berries on trees as well as on bushes and vines, at least they are called berries though not always resembling them. The June-berry is a tree from ten to thirty feet in height, while its close relative, the shadbush, is a low tree and so... Kangaroo-Rat, Jumping Mouse
In the underbrush near a meadow and at the edges of thickets you may possibly see, though they are not common, a diminutive animal, beautiful in form and color and of most interesting habits. In the Southwest it is called the kangaroo-rat, but North... Kentucky Bread
Kentucky bread is made of flour, salt, and water. It is generally known as beaten biscuit. Mix 2 scant teaspoonfuls of salt with 1 quart of flour, add enough cold water to make a _stiff_, smooth dough and knead, pull, and pound the dough until it bl... Large-Fruited Thorn
The thorns, large-fruited and scarlet, are edible. As a child I knew the fruit as _haws_ and was very fond of it. The large-fruited thorn is a low tree with branches spreading out horizontally. You will often find it in thickets. The bark is rough a... Lighting the Fire Without a Match
A fire-lighting contest is the best of camp sports, for it requires practise and skill, and to excel in it is to acquire distinction among all outdoor people. There are girls in the Girl Pioneers Organization who are as proficient in lighting a fire... List
_Essentials_ Wheat flour 6 lbs. Corn-meal 2-1/2 lbs. Baking-powder 1/2 lb. Coffee 1/2 lb. Tea 1/8 lb. Cocoa 1/2 l... List
_Non-Essentials_ Rice 2-1/2 lbs. Lemons 1/2 doz. Erbswurst 1/4 lb. Soup tablets 1/4... Loading a Canoe
A top-heavy canoe is decidedly dangerous, that is why it is safest to sit or kneel on the bottom, and in loading your camp stuff bear the fact well in mind. Pack the load as low in the canoe as possible with the heaviest things at the bottom, but us... Loading the Camera
Learn how to load and to unload, first without unrolling your film. Afterward adjust the roll in the camera and see that it is properly placed and will turn easily, before you loosen the end of the film. If you detach the gummed paper which keeps th... Location
Wherever you go, choose a dry spot, preferably in an open space near wooded land. Avoid hollows where the water will run into your shelters in wet weather; let your camp be so located that in case of rain the water will drain down away from it. Reme... Log-Cabin Fire
Start this fire with two good-sized short sticks or logs. Place them about one foot apart parallel to each other. At each end across these lay two smaller sticks, and in the hollow square formed by the four sticks, put the tinder of cones, birch bar... Look at the Date on Your Film
Even the best photographer cannot take good photographs unless he has good films. On the box of every roll of films is stamped the latest date when it may be safely developed and it is foolish to try to have a film developed after that date has pass... Loon, Great Northern Diver
Another interesting bird, which you may both hear and see on secluded lakes, is the loon or great northern diver. I first heard the wild cry of the loon, a lonesome and eerie sound, on Pine River Pond, a small lake in the foot-hills of the White Mou... Lost in the Woods
We were in the wilderness of an Adirondack forest making camp for the day and wanted to see the beaver-dam which, we were told, was on the edge of a near-by lake. The guide was busy cooking dinner and we would not wait for his leisure, but leaving t... Lost in the Woods
It is not at all probable that you will lose your way while on the trail, but if you should find yourself lost in the woods or in the open, the first thing to do is to remember that a brave girl does not get into a panic and so rob herself of judgme... Low Blueberry
Another variety is called the _low blueberry_. It is very much like the dwarf blueberry, but the bush grows sometimes as high as four feet. It is stiff and upstanding and prefers the edge of the woods and sheltered roadsides to the dry open fields. ... Low Running Blackberry
Among the mountains and hills, down in the valleys, and on the plains; straggling along roadsides, clinging to fence rails, and sprawling over rocks, you will find the wild blackberry. There are several varieties, and blackberries of some kind are c... Make a Compass of Your Watch
Besides keeping you company with its friendly nearness, its ticking and its ready answers to your questions regarding the time, a watch in the woods and fields has another use, for it can be used as a compass. It will show just where the south is, t...