He who studies a leaf or a flo\ver is brought into communion with the Creator. 

 It is hoped that all young people will catch the spirit of this work and help to pro- 

 cure trees, plants and flowers that will be perfect in health and symmetrical in form, and 

 fruits and flowers that shall cheer and bless our homes; but don't forget to form your 

 own character. Next to the study of nature on this planet comes that of agronomy, 

 which, perhaps, is the most thrilling and awe-inspiring of any science taught. Truly, 

 "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth forth His handiwork; 

 day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." 



However people can drift into a habit of reading silly trash is a mystery I never could 

 comprehend. Learn all we can concerning life on this globe and what we can from the 

 firmament above, and we have only gathered a few pebbles from the beach of an infinite 

 ocean of facts! Young people, in the name of America, the heaven-blessed land you so 

 much love, I pray you read no literature and form no companionships that will lead to a 

 wasted life and a deformed character. 



One evening, last October, we took a notion to photograph the moon. We give you 

 the result in photo 167. It was a strange freak of the camera. The exposure was about 

 ninety seconds. How to account for two full moons, a half moon and a double eclipse 

 is too hard for the author of this work to explain. Photo 166 is the camera's record of 

 the rising sun. Oh! that glorious, life-giving, immutable orb! Almost infinite is his 

 power! You seethe floating particle of mist, the tiny, dancing snow ilakes; they fall, 

 they melt, they unite with others. " Little rills make wider streamlets, streamlets swell 

 the river's flow, ouzvard, onward, as they go," and by the accumulation of the waters of 

 man}' rivers, the majestic Mississippi and the mighty Amazon are formed. Did you ever 

 think of the millions of tons of water that are daily poured into the oceans from our 

 great rivers? Probably you have ; but have you thought of how this inconceivable 

 quantity of water \szsfirst lifted by the sun in the form of invisible particles of m<>i-- 

 ture, diffused through the atmosphere, condensed as dew or rain-drops, taken up by the 

 roots of trees and plants of every kind and carried to the leaf, that marvelous laboratorv 

 of nature, where the vitalizing oxygen is manufactured, without which no animal or 

 human being can live? If you have, you certainly must realize something of the import- 

 ance of producing and maintaining a healthy leaf. One of the objects of this work has 

 been to show that there cannot be a sound leaf without a lieallhy root. 



God bless the noble souls who introduced Arbor Day. May every child learn the 

 mission of the tree and plant. To the rising generation we must look for better trees, 

 perfect fruits and sweeter and more gorgeous flowers. 



In house-building do not make the mistake of constructing an air tight house, and 

 shutting out the vivifying, electric rays of "Old Sol," your best friend, and then "<1 

 yourself with "quack" medicine and ruin your stomach. Rise wiih the lark, study 

 vocal music from the songster, see him bask in morning sun-rays and behold, \\hrn he 

 sings, how 7 every fibre of his being thrills with ecstatic joy! 



The study of nature is purifying to the soul, and he who becomes acquainted 

 with creation sees the hand of the Creator; hence, the Na/.arene uttered a grand, philo- 

 sophical truth when He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall sec Gn.f." 



