No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 661 



NEAR TO NATURE'S HEART. 



By CAROLINE B. BNDBR8, SeUnsgrove, Pa. 



Man is placed in tliis beautiful world amidst certain environments 

 and allowed to grow and mature according to these surrounding 

 conditions. Life in the city or in the country is not of his choosing 

 for the early part of his life. He is passive in this respect and, there- 

 fore, not in the least responsible for his early ideas of life. Many 

 differences exist between life in the city and life in the country and 

 many opinions regarding each as w^ell, but all will agree upon one 

 thing, that nothing is so beautiful or so inspiring or appeals so 

 much to the heart of man as the panorama spread out by the hand 

 of the Omnipotent in the wide-reaching expanse of the hill and the 

 dale. The pristine beauty of a spring landscape has nothing to equal 

 it. The wind-stirred wheatfleld, the blossom-laden orchard, the door- 

 yard about the farmhouse, brilliant with brightly-colored flowers, 

 make a picture of tranquility and contentment anyone might envy. 



Happy is that man or woman to whose lot it has fallen to be re- 

 moved from the rush and roar of the city, with its ceaseless weari- 

 ness and discontent, and to dwell in the broad, open country with 

 nothing to hem him in from the blessings of nature which are his 

 lot b}^ divine inheritance. There only can man be his natural se'f, 

 there only, away from the jnles of brick and mortar, learn the import- 

 ant lessons of existence and draw near to the heart of the Eternal. 

 The pure ozone of the hill infuses into his veins the breath of life, 

 the uplifting atmosphere of the natural world teaches him the essen- 

 tials of morality and spiritual purity and every opportunity is there 

 for the cultivation of the aesthetic. It is in God's own solitudes that 

 man is visited by God. Surrounded by the golden sunshine, the 

 whispering wind, the shimmering foliage, the scent of the fragrant 

 blossoms and the broad expanse of Nature's handiwork, man is 

 brought close to the heart of nature, and the heart of nature is the 

 heart of God. 



The kinship between man and nature is undeniable. Man is bn<" 

 clay with the breath of life breathed into him. and this close rela 

 tionship soon becomes evident to the student of the forces of nature. 

 And when once communication is established between the two there 

 is no longer any doubt of their affinity. In the words of the poet: 

 ''To him who in the love of Nature holds communion with her visi- 

 ble form, she speaks a various language; for his gayer hours she has 

 a voice of gladness and a smile and eloquence of beauty; and she 

 glides into his darker musings with a mild and healing sympathy that 

 steals away their sh;ir])ness ere he is aware." 



In the glorious springtime when all nature is awakening from its 

 winter sleep, when sky and earth combine to enchant the heart and 

 intoxicate the senses, what is more glorious than listening to the 

 pulse beats of old Mother Earth, to imbibe the peacefulness and sim- 



