INTRODUCTION 



and forest patches, the sheltered glens and windy 

 heights offer great variety in domicile to animal life. 

 The creatures of the outdoor world are much in 

 evidence, and at no time do their numbers impress 

 one more than when in winter one sees the hand- 

 writing of their tracks on the snow. 



The work on the farm and the workers are gen- 

 uinely rustic, but not nearly so primitive as in the 

 times that Mr. Burroughs most enjoys recalling. 

 Oxen are of the past, the mowing-machine goes over 

 the fields where formerly he labored with his scythe, 

 stacks at which the cattle pull in the winter time are 

 a rarity, and the gray old barns have given place to 

 modern red ones. It is a dairy country, and on 

 every farm is found a large herd of cows; but the 

 milk goes to the creameries. The women, however, 

 still share in the milking, and there is much of un- 

 affected simplicity in the ways of the household. 

 On days when work is not pushing, the men are 

 likely to go hunting or fishing, and they are always 

 alert to observe chances to take advantage of those 

 little gratuities which nature in the remoter rural 

 regions is constantly offering, both in the matter 

 of game and in that of herbs and roots, berries and 

 nuts. 



Mr. Burroughs's old home has continued in the 

 family, and the house and its surroundings have in 

 many ways continued essentially unaltered ever 

 since he can remember. What is most important 



