proportions are maintained. The cross-piece should be a similar stick
and of equal length. When in position it is slightly bent, say four
per cent, of its length. The frame should be of light spruce, the same
size as the cross-pieces. Care must be taken to have the angles right.
When the frame is finished, cover loosely with manila paper, so that
there will be some concavity on the face of the kite on each side
below the cross-stick, so that it will belly like a sail; bind the
edges with thin wire which stretches less than string. This kite will
fly in a very light breeze. The string, particularly if you have a
tandem, should be flexible and strong. In a stiff breeze, and with
more than one kite, it is well to have a reel, as in a fishing rod,
for hauling in.

The best way with tandem kites is not, as is usually done, to fasten
one kite behind the other on the same string, but to hitch each kite
by means of a separate string to the main cord. The tail kite will do
for tandem, but as the tails are apt to get snarled, it is not so
desirable as the tailless kind.

THE BARREL KITE

As the bird and the butterfly kites of the Chinese can be bought at a
low price, I shall not attempt a description of them here, but the
barrel kite, which is distinctly American, cannot be ignored. This
kite was tried some years ago by the U. S. Weather Bureau officers in
California. It is cylindrical in form, about four feet long, and two
feet in diameter. The frame is made up of four light hoops, braced
together by four or more thin strips of wood. The twelve-inch space
between the pair of hoops at either end is covered with a collar of
paper, and the string, by which the kite is held, is attached to a