THE FUN OF SEEING THINGS 



53 



The Beautiful Oleander of Texas. 



Mr. Frank C. Patten, Librarian of 

 the Rosenberg Library of Galveston, 

 Texas, in an interesting personal let- 

 ter calls attention to the magnificent 

 bloom of the oleander. At his sugges- 

 tion we have obtained from Poole 

 Brothers of Chicago an interesting 

 photograph of this beautiful plant in 

 full bloom. A naturalist friend, Miss 

 Meta Hillje of Alvin, Texas, writes: 



"The oleander is a free blooming 

 evergreen shrub of easy culture, often 

 grown as a pot plant in the north but 



The Lambs and the Tent. 



BY J. A. KEARFUL, ADA, MONTANA. 



The Guide to Nature is admirable. 

 It is the best publication that I know 

 for getting one's nose off the ground 

 and for making one observant and 

 alert. 



For instance : a few years ago we 

 took a half dozen motherless lambs 

 from a sheep ranch and raised them by 

 hand. They never saw an old sheep. 

 At night they were bedded down on 

 an ash pile at the back door. They 

 grew wonderfully. Now, take notice. 



ij ,. ; i ». nJ.Jimtft. b ;*Sci 



THK OLEANDER IN MAGNIFICENT BLOOM. 



hardy in the south, where it is a splen- 

 did subject for tall hedges, masses or 

 single specimens. In the latter form it 

 often reaches the size of a small tree. 



"Although native of southern Europe 

 and the Orient, it grows to perfection 

 in Galveston, Texas, and during the 

 month of May when they are in full 

 bloom the 'Oleander City' is beautiful 

 beyond description." 



"Nature," in urging upon the British 

 public greater attention to the economic 

 aspects of bird life, remarks that as a 

 result of the labors of our Department 

 of Agriculture there is in this respect 

 "a higher standard in the United States 

 than in any other part of the world." 



In August of that year, I had some 

 visiting friends from the East. To en- 

 large the houseroom I set up a tent 

 some hundred yards from the kitchen 

 door. That night those lambs aban- 

 doned their comfortable bed aground, 

 settled down about the tent, and there 

 stayed at night as long as the tent 

 remained. Was that bred into them 

 from the time of Abraham ? Can you 

 explain it? 



Much important work is now being 

 done by crossbreeding our long domes- 

 ticated plants with their wild relatives, 

 and so bringing in the hardiness of the 

 old wild form. 



