2l6 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



driver behind a wee picture and some 

 branches of black alder with its scarlet 

 berries above my precious books I could 

 almost believe myself in Nature's blessed 

 grasp. 



Mary Pierson Allen. 



NATURE AS OI'l! GREATEST EDUCATOR. 



Tuskegee Institute. Ala. 



To the Editor : 



I had the good fortune to be born in 

 the southwestern part of Missouri, on a 



PROFESSOR GEORGE W. CARVER. 



Director Department of Agricultural Instruction 

 and Experiment Station, Tuskegee Normal 

 and Industrial Institute, Alabama. 



farm, where nature had, in a most lavish 

 way, touched the surroundings, and 

 made them unusually rich in the things 

 that please the eye and furnish food for 

 thought. 



The great limestone crags were full 

 of crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, corals, 

 and other interesting formations. 



The immense springs, with their never 

 failing streams of crystal, ice-cold water, 

 a veritable nectar of the gods to the 

 thirst\- traveler, were in evidence every- 

 where. 



( hie of the happiest moments of my 



life was when I became sole possessor of 

 a little piece of ground for a Mower and 

 vegetable garden. With what delight 

 and enthusiasm I watched the little 

 plantlets emerge from the ground, de- 

 spite the fact that daily pilgrimages were 

 made, and many of the seed uprooted to 

 see if they were sprouting. 



Possibly the strangest thing of all was 

 that almost everything I touched grew, 

 whether I planted it out in the open 

 ground or put it in pots; this soon be- 

 came known, and sick plants were 

 brought by the score, and left for treat- 

 ment, and I often went to houses, and 

 prescribed for them, much as a physician 

 prescribes for his patients. Sometimes 

 a change of soil would be recommended, 

 more or less water, a shady spot, more 

 sun. pruning, etc., as the case demanded. 

 I do not remember of ever losing a plant 

 brought to my "sanitarium." 



I soon earned the name of "Plant Doc- 

 tor." 



T wondered how the roses became 

 double, why leaves were different, in 

 color, form, etc.. why the clover, and the 

 oxalis folded their leaves at night ami on 

 dark days, also what the insects were 

 doing in the flowers. I longed to be able 

 to mix flowers, as I called it, and in my 

 little garden the varieties were all plant- 

 ed together, hoping they would mix. I 

 was not wholly disappointed in this, 

 much to my delight and pleasure. 



Would I ever know what the rocks 

 were made of, and why this soil was red, 

 and that one black, yellow, or mottled? 

 This task seemed ! Ierculean, but I said, 

 others have found out. why not I? 



Thus as I grew older and began to 

 study, my love for all forms of nature 

 increased. Indeed animals, plants, min- 

 erals, and insects are my friends. Nev- 

 er a dav passes but that I do myself the 

 honor to commune with some of their 

 varied forms. And when tired and 



weary with the duties of the day. I hie 

 away to the woods, and fields, if possi- 

 ble, stay an hour or so, and return, much 

 rested, after asking Mother Nature a 

 number of questions which she so will- 

 ingly answers; otherwise, how am I to 

 undersand : "Behold the lillies of the 

 field, they toil not— or "Look unto 

 the hills from whence cometh — ," or 



