Practical Essay Work. The reason that composition work is often so unsatisfactory, and that pupils consider it the worst kind of drudgery, is because they are assigned themes which they do not understand and upon which they can obtain little or no information. The exhaustive treatment of school subjects in THE NEW PRACTICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY makes it an invaluable aid to the teacher who wishes to make her work interesting and successful. Below are given a few essays on corn, prepared after a study of articles and illustrations in THE NEW PRACTICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY pertaining to this subject. These essays are given to show teachers how the subjects presented in this work can be used to advantage, and as illustrations of what may be done in other subjects. The illustrations are simple and such as any pupil will delight in drawing. If, however, the teacher feels unable to supervise work of this kind, very interesting illustrations can be found in catalogues of farm implements and articles in agricultural journals and other periodicals. These can be cut out and pasted on the pages of the essay. On this and the eight pages following we have endeavored to present these essays in form not more artistic than the work of the average boy and girl can be made. If the student sees that he can write and draw as well as the writing and the illustrations shown herewith, it is a matter of encouragement to him. By way of special emphasis we would like to state that in a great number of instances the boys and girls are easily discouraged in their attempts at drawing because their efforts fall immeasurably short of the perfection seen in the copy. It is true that a perfect copy leaves no room for doubt as to exact form and detail but for all practical purposes of these essays there is much encouragement lent to the exercise if the students can see in the copy from which they work that which has actually been produced by boys and girls with no better preparation than their own. It is therefore with pleasure that we offer such results in the next eight pages as may be achieved by every average pupil. Description of the Corn Plant Carolyn Ines Corn is a sort of grass, that is, like wheat, barley, ryes and oats, it belongs to the grass family. It is raised in almost every country having a warm or temperate climate. The plant grows from four to twelve feet high, according to the variety. The stalks are jointed, dark green and purple in color, and are concave on one side. The leaves appear at the joints and partially enclose the stalk where they seems to grow from it. They are long, slender and pointed and when fully grown bend over so as to give the plant a very graceful and beautiful appearance. Corn has two kinds of flowers: those growing at the top of the stalk and forming the tassel, and those found in the ears. The first kind is called staminate flowers because they bear only stamens. The second kind consist of the silk and constitute the pistilate flowers, because the silk is nothing now more less than a cluster of pistils, each of which ends in a kernel of corn on the ear. The ears appear in the axils of the leaves at the joints. They are covered with a kind of leaf called husks. As the corn begins to ripen, the husks open at the top, showing the yellow kernels beneath, and the larger ears because of their weight, bend over so that by the time they are fully ripe they hang downward. The ears begin to form at the lower joints on the stalk and the lowest ears are the oldest and the highest the youngest. The roots extend far into the ground for the purpose of obtaining moisture and food from the soil. Could a corn plant be removed from the earth so as to have all of its roots joined to it, their number and length would surprise us. When growing, the corn plant is of a deep green color with a brownish or purplish tassel at the top, and stalks that are purple on one side. The early frosts tend to turn the tips of the leaves and some of the husks a yellowish-brown; this color deepens and increases in extent as the corn becomes ripe. At any season of the year a field of corn is a beautiful sight.