4 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



as strong as steel; yet he approached the clerk's desk with every sign of 

 timidity and even fear. There followed close on his heels a dapper little, 

 undersized, sallow-faced person, Icose-muscled and physically insignificant- 

 vet he walked forward with the utmost self-contidence and ease of bearing. 

 The big man could easily have broken the little fellow in two, if it had come 

 to a test of physical strength between them, but he allowed himself to be 

 elbowed aside without a word of protest, and shrank back timidly while the 

 clerk turned to the desk and greeted the more aggressive late comer first. 

 What is the explanation of the conduct of these two men? Simply that the 

 big man did not feel sure of himself; he was in surroundings which were un- 

 familiar to him, while the little man was wholly at home. It is the same 

 instinct which makes the country dog which has followed his master to town 

 turn tail from his city cousin until he reaches the shelter of the master's 

 wagon, when he faces his pursuer and stands at bay. 



The lesson I wish to draw from these illustrations is this : A serious part 

 of the work of the teacher is to acquaint the pupil with his environment; to 

 make him master of the natural phenomena with which he is surrounded, so 

 that he need not be at loss to know how to make them serve him. Since the 

 Almighty placed our common ancestor, Adam, on this world with the com- 

 mand to take the earth and subdue it, man has striven to learn the secrets of 

 Nature and to use the resources of earth, sea, and air for his own comfort 

 and support. In part, he has been successful, yet how many of us, if cast 

 away like another Robinson Crusoe, could hold our own in the struggle for 

 existence? How many of us, when walking in the fields, hesitate to pluck the 

 brilliant flower which blooms in our path, or to taste the tempting berries 

 which the bushes hold forth to us, for fear they may be poisonous ? The lesson 

 is obvious. To paraphrase an old proverb it is this: ^'Familiarity breeds 

 confidence." 



No one can be wholly successful in life who is the victim of discontent. 

 I mean by this not the kind of discontent which sees in society conditions 

 which are unjust and seeks to right them; this is the kind of discontent that 

 is productive of "insurgents." I mean rather the discontent that sees no beauty 

 in the fairest landscape, but only trees and bushes; that hears no music in 

 the singing of the birds, but only shrill noise. There are people who live amid 

 scenes of the greatest beauty yet who wonder why tourists come to look on 

 the rocks and hills with which they are surrounded. I have been told of people 

 who have lived for years within sight of the Congressional Library in Wash- 

 ington that building which is said to have the most beautifully decorated 

 interior of any building in the United States yet who have never entered its 

 portals. These same people doubtless complain because they cannot afford to 

 take a trip to New York or Paris to see the sights. Here, then, is another part 

 of the work of the educator to teach an appreciation of one's immediate 

 environment, and to stir up an interest in Nature's phenomena with which 

 every one is surrounded, so that no matter where one finds himself, there is 

 always something to entertain and instruct him. The ideal is that of Him 

 who found "Sermons in stones and books in the running brooks." 



THE PLACE OP FORESTRY IN PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION. 



l^ou will readily perceive from what I have said why I have the temerity 

 to suggest forestry as a subject for study in the public schools. Forestry is 

 in no sense to be considered an unwelcome intruder begging to be admitted 

 to the select company now comprising the public school curriculum. The 

 guest chamber is already over-crowded, and there is no room for additional 

 occupants in the places of honor. Forestry asks nothing more than admission 

 to the servant's quarters. It desires only to serve, and in the role of a good 



