from saplings or from a tree that you have felled. Small balsam boughs
should be broken off with the fingers and laid one on the other until
the whole bed is filled with them. On this, the rubber blanket or
poncho should be spread and the blankets over all. All the boughs
should be shingled with the stems down to keep them in the best
condition. This kind of a bed will require remaking every day.

A better bed for the boy camper is made as follows: Take a piece of
heavy bed ticking and sew it into a bag about three feet by six feet.
When you reach camp you can make a regular mattress by filling it with
whatever material is most easily found. Dry leaves? grass, hay, even
moss or wet filler can be used if nothing dry can be found, but in
this case the rubber blanket will be an absolute necessity. Of course
it is much better to use some dry material.

Be sure to have a comfortable bed. No matter what ideas you may have
about cowboys and soldiers rolling up in their blankets and snatching
a few hours' sleep under the stars by lying on the bare ground, a boy
who is used to a good bed at home will never have much fun out of a
camping trip if he tries to sleep on the ground with a rock for his
pillow.

For a summer camping trip, one blanket is enough. You must learn to
roll up in it. Lie flat on your back and cover the blanket over you.
Then raise up your legs and tuck it under first on one side and then
the other. The rest is easy. This beats trying to "roll up" in it,
actually. The common summer blankets used at home are not much use for
the camper. These are usually all cotton. A camper's blanket should be
all wool. You can buy a standard U.S. Army blanket, size 66 x 84
inches, for five dollars. They can often be purchased in stores that