d to our comfort and pleasure. Each case will have to be decided
on its own merits.

[Illustration: A wall tent]

The three important things then are the water supply, the firewood
supply, and good drainage.

Next in importance to the camp site is the outfit, and the most
important thing is the tent. For a party of four boys on their first
camping trip, the best kind will be a wall tent. A tent, 11 x 14 feet
will be large enough to provide sleeping quarters and to have every
one comfortable. A simple shelter of canvas outside can be provided
as a dining-room but this is more of a luxury than a real necessity.

Canvas or duck is the common material from which tents are made. The
standard eight-ounce khaki duck used in the United States army will,
for this size tent, cost about twenty dollars. This will include a
fly, which is merely a second roof to the tent. The best material for
tents is balloon silk. It is much more waterproof than canvas and only
weighs a quarter as much. It is also much more expensive. A tent can
be made at home, which is of course the cheaper way. They can also be
hired from previous campers or from some awning maker who is also
usually a tent maker.

A canvas tent without a fly will leak in a rain storm if the roof is
touched on the inside either by our hands or our clothing. It may be
made partially waterproof by a coating of paraffine which has been
previously dissolved in turpentine. The simplest and at the same time
the warmest tent for an experienced camper who knows the tricks of the
trade is a leanto tent, one with one side entirely open, in front of
which a blazing fire may be kept burning. This is hardly adapted for
boys on their first trip, however.

Another very good and very simple tent is the "A" tent used in the
army. This looks like a "V" turned upside down. We can pitch it
without the aid of tent poles by simply hanging it be ween two trees
to which a rope has been stretched.

[Illustration: An "A" tent]

The Hudson Bay tent, trapper's tent, forester's tent, canoe tent, and
a dozen others, including an Indian tepee and wigwam, are all good
tents for special purposes. The pictures show the different styles and
all of them are designed for special uses, either for warmth or
lightness in carrying or ease in pitching. If we go camping in summer
and can have our equipment or "duffle," as the woodsmen call it,
carried by team, the wall tent will be the best one to take.

Tent