THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



the world, "I am a lover of my fields 

 and forests and ravines, but I am * 

 selfish one and I intend to shut out ah 

 the world from this beautiful place ana 

 keep it for my sole enjoyment." It i» 

 true that such extreme exclusiveness is 

 rare, but sad to say and as every nat- 

 uralist knows, there are elsewhere some 

 examples of the same kind of selfish- 

 ness even if not so fully developed. 



In all my navels and all my obser- 

 vations of beautiful places in nature, 

 I have never known one more beauti- 

 ful, nor so wholly missionary in spirit, 

 nor more generously offered to the 

 public than is Laddin's Rock Farm, 

 owned by Mr. William L. Marks, and 

 located only a short distance from our 

 Arcadia, Sound Reach, Connecticut. 



This farm is partly within Stamford, 

 Connecticut, and partly in Sound 

 Beach, Connecticut. The nucleus of 

 it was originally a part of the Selleck 



estate — a tract containing some seven- 

 ty-eight acres, purchased by Mr. Marks 

 in 1893. In the same year a tract of 

 about twenty acres was bought from 

 Mr. William McAfee. From that time 



AN EARLY MORNING PLUMAGE PREPARA- 

 TION. 



-THERE— NOW I AM READY FOR THE DAY." 



others have been added until the total 

 purchase now consists of about twenty 

 tracts. These came from small farms, 

 building lots and even little corners 

 commonly referred to as "jib pieces" 

 until at the present time the farm con- 

 tains over two hundred acres. 



Among the many improvements 

 have been about three miles of ex- 

 cellently constructed road, which winds 

 around and through the ravines and on 

 the terraces up to the extreme top of 

 the hills. There are places where one 

 may take a long drive and arrive at a 

 spot from which he may look down on 

 his starting point, or on the terrace 

 over which he passed half a mile in 

 the distance. 



It is the ideal exploitation at the 

 cost of thousands of dollars of the 

 principle of The Agassiz Association, 

 and this Association is proud to claim 

 Mr. Marks as a member and coopera- 

 tor in its extensive work throughout 



