152 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 19 1' 



THE- TALK- OF- THE - OFFICE 



THE FIRST MILLION 



We have been publishing nature books 

 almost since the very beginning of our business 

 — and it is probably true that the first volume 

 of our Nature Library (Neltje Blanchan's 

 "Bird Neighbors") has had a wider circu- 

 lation than any other similar book. But the 

 hundred odd thousand copies of this guide 

 seem small in comparison to the circulation 

 of the three volumes of nature fiction by Mrs. 

 Gene Stratton-Porter — " Freckles, " "A Girl 

 of the Limberlost, " 

 and "The Harves- 

 ter." "Freckles" 

 has had since 1904 

 the unique record 

 of reaching a wider 

 circulation each year 

 than in any previous 

 year, with the pros- 

 pect of continuing 

 this for 1 9 1 2 ; and the 

 first million copies 

 of these unusual 

 tales of outdoor peo- 

 ple and things has 

 apparently only 

 whetted the public 

 appetite for more. 

 In a month or so we 

 shall have ready a 

 companion volume 

 which shows the 

 author at her best as 

 a scientific, yet al- 

 ways illuminating 

 and popular, student 

 of nature — "Moths 



of the Limberlost. " This is a sumptuous vol- 

 ume of Mrs. Porter's own wonderful photo- 

 graphs, many of them in color, which will turn 

 every reader to this fascinating side of nature. 



OTHER OUTDOOR BOOKS 



Some other notable outdoor books of this 

 spring are "The Spider Book" by Professor 

 John Henry Comstock, whose "Manual of 

 Insects" is almost a classic; "The Forester's 

 Manual, " a 'handy guide to the trees and their 

 uses by Ernest Thompson Seton , Chief Scout of 

 the Boy Scouts; and a charming introduction 

 to nature for little folks called "The Real Fairy 

 Folk," wherein the lonely little girl in the big 



"To business that we love we rise betime 

 And go to 't with delight." — Antony and Cleopatra 



willow tree is told the secrets of the life about 

 her by the birds and animals themselves. 



A TRIP TO LATIN AMERICA 



Mr. William Bayard Hale, of the World's 

 Work staff, has sailed with Secretary of State 

 Knox on the Cruiser Washington, to visit 

 Mexico, Panama, and South America. Read- 

 ers of the World's Work may look forward to a 

 series of brilliant articles on American rela- 

 tions with Latin republics and on new phases 

 of the work at Panama — its personal and 



The Farm Conference at the Country Life Press. January loth 



human stories, and its vast significance to 

 all nations. 



THE FARM CONFERENCE 



The World's Work Farm Conference was 

 held at the Country Life Press at Garden City 

 on the 15th of February. A score of visitors 

 were present — the industrial agents and 

 agriculturists of the great railroads, state 

 secretaries of agriculture, and distinguished 

 national leaders in agricultural development. 

 Six hours of discussion showed a profound 

 interest in the World's Work's undertaking to 

 give conservative advice to farm seekers and 

 a unanimous faith in the success of this 

 enterprise. 



TEN YEARS OF COUNTRY LIFE 



Country Life in America has just entered 

 upon the eleventh year of its existence. There 

 weren't any fireworks that we noticed, but that 

 was doubtless an oversight on somebody's 

 part. 



We are all of us naturally inclined to attach 

 undue importance to our own birthdays; but 

 if it is a common human weakness, perhaps a 

 magazine may be pardoned for indulging in it. 

 If we don't make a noise about it, appar- 

 ently nobody will. 



It may seem ego- 

 tistical to set apart 

 these ten years as 

 having any special 

 significance; but as 

 a matter of fact, 

 this first decade of 

 the new century has 

 seen some rather re- 

 markable achieve- 

 ments and advance- 

 ments in the broad 

 realm of country life. 

 Of course, we 

 can't pretend that 

 we have been the 

 cause of it; rather, 

 we have been one of 

 the results. Country 

 Life in America was 

 established as the or- 

 gan and mouthpiece 

 of a new movement. 

 So perhaps our 

 Birthday Number, to 

 appear April 15th, 

 (which the advertising department optimis- 

 tically christened in advance the "Inch-thick 

 Number"), is not such a presumptuous affair, 

 after all. We shall talk a little about ourselves 

 and a great deal about larger matters — pro- 

 gress in agriculture, horticulture, plant breed- 

 ing, architecture, outdoor sport, forestry, ani- 

 mal and poultry breeding, game preservation, 

 the vacation habit, suburban development, the 

 automobile, nature study. Among the authori- 

 ties who have contributed these articles are Pro- 

 fessor L. H. Bailey, Thomas Hastings,Walter 

 Camp, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Hays, 

 U. S. Forester H. S. Graves, George T. Powell, 

 Dr. W.T.Hornaday,and Dr. Woods Hutchinson. 



