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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



WRITE 



W/lftT YOU Hftve 

 SEEPS 



' THEFUNOF ^ 

 5EEINGTHINGS 



FO^YOUNQ FOLKS 



V EDITED Br / 



Edward FBigelow / 



W>HW YOU WF^MT 



TO Krsow. 



fc/i , Conn. 



Does This Look Like a Dog? 



This potato, kindly sent to us by 

 Mrs, James W. Brice of Sound Beach, 

 has by some been fancied to look like a 

 dog. But it is only an unusual growth 

 of the tuber. Who can suggest a rea- 

 sonal)le explanation? I remember that 



WHAT ANIMAL IS THIS? 



a few years ago I sent a curious. finger- 

 like growth of sweet corn to the Pro- 

 fessor of Horticulture at the Connecti- 

 cut Agricultural College. He replied 

 to my request for an explanation of 

 such growths in words of weighty wis- 

 dom that frequently recur to me. He 

 said, "I cannot explain why it is that 

 the sweet corn grew in this hand-like 

 formation. My studies have not pro- 

 gressed thus far. I have not yet 

 learned whv it grows in the usual 

 form." 



The Opening of the Chestnut Burr. 



BY H. W. WEISGERRER, SALEM, OHIO. 



I have often jokingly remarked that I 

 can photograph an ordinary stump and 

 get a more artistic picture than many 

 amateurs can obtain by "shooting" at 



the finest subject. This picture, "The 

 Opening of a Chestnut Burr," proves 

 the assertion. It has been admired by 

 all who have seen it, even by my sever- 

 est critic, a professional photographer. 



The whole picture is "chestnut." 

 The burrs no doubt were cut down by 

 a red squirrel and placed on the chest- 

 nut stump, while the background is a 

 chestnut tree from which the burrs 

 with the nuts probably came. 



The picture has plenty of contrast, 

 yet it is not overburdened by high light 

 and deep shadow. There is also as 

 much detail as one could wish for in so 

 commonplace a subject. 



Out of the large number of people 

 of our cities who eat their share of 

 these delicious nuts, there must be 

 many thousands who have never seen 

 the burrs nor have had the painful ex- 

 perience of handling the "prickly" 

 things. The surprising part to me is 



IIK OPENING OF A CHESTNUT BURR. 



