THE AGASSIX ASSOCIATION 



487 



specialist, then we may glimpse the Di- 

 rectors' purpose in repudiating Luther 

 Burbank, although their conduct, so 

 far as the public and Mr. Bur- 

 bank's many friends understand it, is 

 still as much of an enigma and as dis- 

 graceful as ever to the Institution. 



Idle Institution is evidently doing 

 good work and with the latest ten mil- 

 lion dollars can go on to better things. 

 It is much to be regretted that it does 

 not clearly explain its treatment of the 

 man who, above all others, has applied 

 a knowledge of plant life to the im- 

 provement of humanity. 



When Nature's Year Begins. 



ddie nature lover's year begins in 

 March. That is when God's year be- 

 gins; and any one who loves God's 

 out-doors cannot but begin his year 

 when it does. In the history corner of 

 the library, in the office of the business 

 man, on the engagement list of the 

 society woman, the year may begin on 

 the first of January. But the real year, 

 God's year, Nature's year, begins, for 

 those of us at least who live on this belt 

 of the earth, when the sun crosses the 

 equator. For six months the southern 



AN AA MEMBER AND HIS HOMEMADE TELESCOPE. 

 John E. Mcllish, Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. 



The Cruelty of the Steel Trap. 



One of our readers calls attention 

 to the cruelty of the Steel trap, as fol- 

 lows : 



"The steel trap has always seemed to 

 me an instrument of torture. Is it a 

 necessity and is there nothing that will 

 accomplish its purpose in a more mer- 

 ciful manner? 



"Boys resort to the steel trap upon 

 the first provocation, without a thought 

 as to the suffering they are about to 

 cause. 



"I should like to see something writ- 

 ten on the subject. 



half of the world has had its turn ; now 



"s comes again. — S. C. ! 

 in "Under the Open Sky." 



ours comes again. — S. C. Schumucker 



The Right Point of View. 



I am a geologist "and civil engineer 

 and a great lover of nature and hope to 

 do some good for the Association. — R. 

 B. Vandruff, Bvansville, Indiana. 



It's getting better all the time. More 

 power to it. — B. R. Bales, M. D., Circle- 

 rill 'e, Ohio. 



