THE CAMERA 



257 



(i HixmoKirv oj Vower^uA orotttK. 



NO. 8— THE GREAT POWER OF A GROWING PUMPKIN! 



even un.vr careful examination with 

 the microscope, they show no traces of 

 such pasting or patching. 



And the result is so natural, and 

 carries so impressive a lesson in the 

 telling of "big stories," that the pic- 

 tures are not only interesting in them- 

 selves, but they convey considerable 

 moral instruction. 



It is not only fishermen who tell big 

 stories. Even the poultry fancier has 

 been known to exaggerate the number 

 of eggs obtained in one year from his 

 prize winner. And where is the farmer 

 who does not like to convey the im- 

 pression, even if he does not say that 

 no other person on earth can equal him 

 in the raising of pumpkins, tomatoes, 

 potatoes, peaches, or pigs ? We have 

 therefore selected from an extensive 

 supply of these postal cards a few that, 

 photographically, are no better than 

 the others, but that most successfully 

 convey this impression of exaggera- 

 tion. One of the best methods of cur- 

 ing the willful deception is to make it 

 ludicrous. It was Ruskin who said, 

 "It is a rare ability to see a thing 

 clearly and to describe it correctly." 

 It is the purpose of this magazine to 



develop and stimulate that clear sight 

 and correct description. We all have 

 heard of the small boy who rushed 

 into the house one dark evening and 

 explained to his grandmother that 

 there were a thousand black cats in the 

 back yard. The good lady gently re- 

 proved the youngster, who cut his 

 story in half by insisting that there 

 were five hundred. After a few more 

 reproofs, which gradually reduced the 

 number, the boy in a fit of desperation, 

 stoutly maintained that there were at 

 least their old cat and a neighbor's. 



This boy is but a type of the spirit 

 of exaggeration so commonly current. 

 Every editor realizes, by, alas, many a 

 serious error unnoticed by the blue 

 pencil, that David was right when he 

 said in his heart, "All men are liars," — 

 although David should not have lim- 

 ited it to the men. 



We have two motives for publishing 

 these interesting photographs : first, 

 they have artistic merit, and are ex- 

 amples of photographic skill ; and, 

 second, they are the best examples of 

 the common tendency to exaggerate 

 that we have ever seen. Every botan- 

 ist knows the power of a growing 



