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1906] NaTurRE Stupy—No. 31. Keay Dh, 
NATURE STUDY—No. XXXI. 
MoTHER NATURE AND HER Boys.—AN INSTITUTE THAT BRINGS 
THEM TOGETHER. . 
By C, J. ATKINSON, Toronto, Ont. 
Nature Study at the Broadview Boys’ Institute, Toronto, 
begins with the study of boy nature. It finds that the unnatural 
surroundings and conventionalities of city life dwarf the boy physi- 
cally and narrow him mentally, and that to have the boy at his 
best they must’counteract the influences of man-made environ- 
ment by getting him back to Nature. The annual summer camp 
assists in this. For a few weeks the boy lives under canvass in 
the wildwood ; he is next door neighbor to the squirrel and the 
chipmunk; he breathes the aroma of the pine and the hemlock; he 
eats the fish he has caught in the lake and the berries he has 
gathered in the thicket, writes letters home on birch-bark, be- 
comes tanned and seasoned, but best of all he is unconsciously 
listening to the wonderful whisperings of Nature and becoming 
broader in mind and sympathies. 
Camp experiences are excellent, but all too short. An ex- 
perience that calls out more labor, effort and thought, is required. 
This the Institute has found in its Miniature Township. This is 
a boys’ world, with its disappointments and losses, as well as its 
successes and achievements. Boys soon learn that they can tickle 
the earth with hoe or spade and it will laugh with bright flowers 
and delicious fruits ; that Mother Nature rewards diligence and 
punishes neglect; that what a boy sows, that shall he also reap— 
multiplied manifold—if he cultivates faithfully in the meantime. 
The Miniature Township consists of a portion of land divided by 
section lines and cross-roads into 86 little farms and 1o flower 
gardens. The farms are 10 x 4o feet, and flower gardens 10 x 8 
feet. These are cultivated by individual boys or partners, who 
style themselves ‘‘tarmers” and delight to don overalls, top- 
boots, and broad-rimmed hats. To be called ‘‘hayseed”’ is an 
honor, because it implies that they are landed proprietors and 
yeomen of the commonwealth. 
The farms are leased to the boys, aregular printed form being 
