POISON-SUMACHS AND 



HARMLESS WOODBINE 



June 2jd 



HAVE been thinking that one who urges 

 his troop of boy friends to an indiscrim- 

 inate quest among the woods, meadows, 

 and copses takes a great responsibility 

 upon himself if he fails to caution them of the 

 dangers which they are certain to meet. I do not 

 speak of wild -cats or snakes, but of a much more 

 sly and perilous foe, the poison-sumachs, which lurk in 

 every corner, and seem to lie in wait for their victims 

 by every wall and in every thicket. 



There is one page of botany which every dweller in 

 the country should learn. The short chapter on the 

 Rhus, or sumach, is easily committed to memory, and a 

 few moments' study will equip any boy to meet the 

 dangerous tribe on their own ground and give them a 

 welcome or a wide berth, as they may deserve. 



