384 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



books he likes the best I was glad to 

 hear him reply, "An author is seldom a 

 good judge of his own works, but 

 personally I like "Brier Patch Philos- 

 ophy". That book, of course, is not to 

 be read for the story, but for the 

 thought that is in it." 



It is probable that his readers like 

 best "Beasts of the Field and Fowls 

 of the Air," with "Northern Trails" and 

 "School of the Woods" as close 

 seconds. 



As preacher, as scholar, as nat- 

 uralist, he has done and is doing a 

 good work. His home has always 

 been near to nature, and would be 

 though the anvils were ringing across 

 the street. 



Every mail brings to him apprecia- 

 tive letters from children, old and 

 young, in all parts of the world, who 

 are reading his books, but in no place 

 is he so much appreciated among 

 people of all ages as in Stamford and 

 vicinity where he is best known. 



Long may he live to tell us the in- 

 terests and inspirations of good litera- 

 ture, the joys and refreshments of 

 nature, the hope and cheer of life, and 

 even of death, as portrayed by his phil- 

 osophic Rabbit in the meditation upon 

 "Immortality: "It would be most ir- 

 rational, even for a Rabbit, to suppose 

 that Nature has told him truth every 

 hour of his long life only to whisper a 

 falsehood at the last moment. 



mm*** 



■*m 



ssw 



^SSL** 



OUTDOOR WoRLD 



The City Park an Educational 

 Medium. 



BY J. J. I.KVISOX, M. F., ARBORCULTURIST, 

 BROOKLYN, N. V., PARK DEPARTMENT. 



Municipal parks are not, as is gen- 

 erally supposed, the mere pleasure 

 grounds of the people. In many re- 

 spects the}- play as important a part in 

 the development of the future citizen 

 as any other educational institution. 

 What a wonderful training school the 

 parks could be turned into for the de- 

 velopment of character, for the train- 

 ing of the observative powers and the 

 aesthetic judgment, for physical im- 

 provement and for inspiring the youth 

 with a love for nature. 



Nature in all its aspects and through 

 all its seasons, never fails to elicit our 

 admiration and always tends to con- 

 vey emotions that are in accord with 

 the highest refinement of the soul. 

 One would therefore suppose that 

 these beauties of nature gathered in a 

 park and spread out in the heart of a 

 busy city, would supply a void in the 

 existence of every child that would be 

 much appreciated and taken advantage 



of. Still this is not always so and we 

 often hear the cry that our city boys 

 and girls are not interested in such 

 subjects. In fact, 1 find many of them 

 showing a malicious regardlessness toi 

 the shrubs and trees of our parks. 

 Boys will often trample on valuable 

 shrubs, remove tree labels, cut the 

 bark of trees and break the leaders of 

 young pine and spruce specimens. 

 And still the fault is not altogether 

 theirs for thev have never been taught 

 to observe nature; and these gifts of 

 public munificence have not gained 

 their appreciation. Living away from 

 nature, how many of them were ever 

 taken to the parks and fields and 

 brought in closer touch with the trees 

 or birds that may be found there? 

 How many of them know the names of 

 the simplest trees in their neighboring 

 parks? How many of them have been 

 induced to visit the parks at different 

 seasons and asked to discuss their ob- 

 servations in the class room or at 

 Ik ime ? 



In the earlier clays, the child was a 

 child of nature and there was no call 



