250 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1907 



A BOYS' 





Inexpensive 



SUMMER CAMP 





Vacations Llose 



By Phebe Westcott Humphreys 





to Nature 



O OTHER summer pleasure is more helpful 

 to the coming man, if it be reduced to the 

 proper system, than camp life in the woods; 

 where in what might be known as a model 

 instruction camp, as well as a co-operative 

 camp, the boys work and think it is play. 

 Many a mother is anxiously inquiring how 

 her boy can secure the most desirable rest from school studies 

 and derive the greatest benefit mentally and physically during 

 the vacation months, and how he can spend his summer 

 leisure in recreation that combines the greatest amount of 

 practical instruction. 



Let him try camping out, is the reply suggested by ex- 

 perience. 



There is, in addition to the health that is absorbed from 

 the open air, valuable instruction to be had from primeval 

 nature. Camp life induces self-reliance and resourcefulness. 

 Lessons of self-help are taught that may never be gleaned 

 from the servant-aided, mother-guarded life at home. 



After all, what is more fascinating to the average boy than 

 an investigation of the wonderful storehouse of nature at 

 first hand? Strolls through the forest, close observations of 

 bird, animal and plant life, teach him far more of hidden 

 knowledge in a few weeks than he could learn by poring 

 over text books in a year. In addition, the playful side of 

 his nature is compensated by a variety of land and water 

 sports, while the necessary care of the camp and the prepara- 

 tion of meals make 

 him more familiar 

 with the phases of 

 domestic economy, 

 that every boy 

 should encounter, 

 than he would prob- 

 a b 1 y ever learn 

 otherwise. 



When e s t a b- 

 lished on the co- 

 operative b a s i s — 

 the boys composing 

 the camp sharing 

 equally in expenses 

 and responsibilities 

 — the cost of the va- 

 cation outing will 

 be slight, and the 

 benefits manifold 

 for the boys thus 

 sent out to gain 

 health and experi- 

 ence while shifting 



Resting After the Day's Sports 



Temporary Shelter Under an A-Tent 



for themsehes in the woods. After six delighted boys were 

 well established in the woods on a Pennsylvania mountain 

 slope last summer, the mother of one was filled with anxiety. 

 She feared that her petted son was suffering from lack of 

 home comforts. So she paid an unexpected visit to the 

 camp. 



So surprised and delighted was she upon witnessing the 

 ingenuity and resourcefulness displayed not only by her own 



boy, but by the en- 

 tire six, that she re- 

 turned and reported 

 to the other anxious 

 mothers : 



"There is not the 

 slightest occasion 

 for apprehension ; 

 all are well and 

 happy, and are 

 learning more dur- 

 ing their few weeks 

 of vacation than 

 they will during the 

 same number of 

 months at school." 



The idea of 

 going off to the 

 woods entirely alone 

 (for the idea of a 

 secret chaperon 

 should not be dis- 

 closed), purchasing 

 supplies, taking care 



