164 THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



in her productions; he discovers the secrets of her laboratory 

 so that he can double the single-petaled rose and make the 

 sweet clover grow where the wild thistle flourishes. She 

 speaks to him a varied language but he understands her. 



Not only does he know the ways of the wary trout but he 

 holds daily conferences with the birds, knows their songs and 

 cries and calls, the material used in their home-building, and 

 the secret coverts to which they fly for protection. He talks 

 with the jaunty little nuthatch that clings to the tree bark 

 with downward head, he scolds back at that bold thief of a 

 blue jay that cries "thief" through the woods and is self- 

 appointed as a sentinel to warn all living things of the ap- 

 proach of man. 



He salutes the snipes and plovers in their journeyings back 

 and forth from the Arctic to the Antarctic, he welcomes the 

 bobolinks and orioles in Ma}- and says good-bye to the crows 

 and wild geese in November. He can tell you all about his 

 various feathered friends, whether they are those which he 

 has observed, like the little restless winged hummer and the 

 humble little robin whose only walk is a hop, or those con- 

 cerning which he has studied, like the slow porpoise — like 

 the penguin, the ocean-crossing frigate bird, the sun-defying 

 eagle, and the horse out-stripping ostrich. But the boy on 

 the farm becomes best acquainted with the animals, domestic 

 and wild. Not only does he understand the freaks of the 

 frisky squirrel, the secret paths of old squire woodchuck, the 

 hiding places of the cunning coons, and the dark galleries of 

 the sightless moles, but he is on the most intimate terms with 

 all the farm animals. He understands them, they him. His 

 whistle starts the cows and his call warns the sheep, the colt 

 becomes amenable to his wishes and the dog feels his mood. 

 All become his friends and he the friend of all. He is care- 

 ful of them, and they obedient to him. His finer human na- 

 ture, the qualities of tenderness and mercy, are brought out 

 by his dealings and friendships. You never hear of a real 

 country boy docking in plume-like fashion a horse's tail, and 

 rarely see one driving with an over-drawn check. 



Although the boy on the farm is influenced and refined 

 through nature he also receives the most substantial discipline 

 through work and the training of animals. Not only does he 

 become tender and true, happy and humane, through the 

 beauty and influences of nature, and his companionship with 

 the birds and animals, but the acquires the fundamental prin- 

 ciples and habits of industry, thrift, integrity and leadership. 

 Because the products of the field are grown and secured only 

 by hard, patient labor, he learns the priceless lesson of the 

 necessity and value of continuous toil. Because the strenuous 



