I50 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Collecting Crooked Sticks. 



BY FRANK A. ARNOLD, NEW YORK CITY, 



[Reprinted by permission from the 

 August Countryside Magazine]. 



It is said that every man has, or 

 should have, a fad. Among the faddists 

 are many collectors, but who ever 

 heard of a man collecting crooked 

 sticks? There is such a man, however, 

 — E. A. Miles, of Clifton Springs, N.Y., 



wan, Canada, and was cut from a small 

 tree, close to the wood's path, leading 

 to the Canadian Pacific Hotel. 



"C" Avas found about 300 feet below 

 the summit of Mount Tamalpais, Cali- 

 fornia, within sight of the city of San 

 Francisco. 



The letter "D" came from Erie 

 County, N. Y. 



"E" was found in the village of Ma- 

 rilla, near Bufifalo, N. Y. 



THE ALPHABET I'RO.M MOTHER NATURE. 



— who has collected all the letters of 

 the alphabet from Mother Nature in 

 the shape of crooked branches of trees 

 and shrubs, and with just one root to 

 finish the twenty-six letters. 



Here you have the collection before 

 you, framed and photographed, and 

 worthy of permanent preservation in 

 narrative form. Mr. Miles has been col- 

 lecting these letters for many years, 

 and each letter has its history. 



"A" comes from Oshawa, Canada, on 

 the northern shore of Lake Ontario, 

 about forty miles east of Toronto. 



"B" was found at Banff, Saskatche- 



"F" in a grove at the Great Falls of 

 the Potomac,, about thirty miles from 

 \\'ashington, D. C. 



The letters, "G," "K,"M," and "W" 

 were found either in, or near Attica, 

 N. Y. How very appropriate that 

 w4ien he found the letter "M" he should 

 have been taking a walk through the 

 woods with his mother ! 



It is quite natural that several of 

 these specimens should have been 

 found near Mr. Miles's home, in Clifton 

 Springs, N. Y., for he is a great walker, 

 and enjoys exceedingly a long ramble 

 through^ the fields and Avoods. wdiere. 



