324 The Book of Woodcraft 



and maintain that as a protection ignorance is a sad 

 failure. 



It is far better for the parent to teach the child the truth 

 — the sacred truth — by degrees, as he or she is ready for 

 it. Most children are ready at seven or eight to know 

 something about the process of procreation, especially if 

 they live on a farm where they see it all about them. 



No boy is any the worse for learning of these things. All 

 are better for knowing them. 



Rest assured of this, more nations have been wiped out 

 by sex abuse than by bloody war. The nation that does 

 not bring up its youth with pure ideals is certainly going 

 to destruction. 



Every leader of boys should talk frankly to his charges 

 and read to them or have them read: 



"From Youth Into Manhood," by Dr. Winfield S. Hall. 

 "Y. M. C. A. Press, 124 East Twenty-eighth Street, New 

 York. 



STARVATION FOODS IN THE NORTHERN WOODS 



For a man who is lost, the three great dangers in order 

 of importance, are Fear, Cold, and Hunger. He may endure 

 extreme hunger for a week and extreme cold for a day, but 

 extreme fear may undo him in an hour. There is no way of 

 guarding against this greatest danger excepting by assur- 

 ing him that he is fortified against the other two. 



Starvation is rare in warm regions and I suppose that 

 no one ever starved during the late summer and early 

 autumn. The woods then are full of roots, nuts, and berries 

 that, as a rule, are wholesome and palatable, and usually 

 there is a large amount of small game at this season. 



The greatest danger of starvation is in the far north 

 during winter. By the far north I do not mean the Polar 

 regions, where few go and where life usually depends on 



