FOREST AND STREAM 
January, 1921 
44 
Log Cabins 
and Cottages 
(Sixth Edition) 
How to Build and 
Furnish Them 
By 
WILLIAM S. WICKS 
The most popular book on the 
subject ever written. Full ex- 
planations how to build cabins 
of all sizes with directions and 
numerous illustrations. Every- 
thing from a shack to the most 
pretentious Adirondack struc- 
ture, is included. 
Pictures and plans of fire- 
places ; how to build chim- 
neys; rustic stairways, etc. 
PRICE $2.00 
NEW EDITION 
NOW READY 
Forest and Stream 
BOOK DEPT. 
9 East 40th St., N. Y. City 
leap. Its immense size and its beautiful 
coloring amazed me. I made a desper- 
ate effort to get to the shore, pulling 
the monster fish, — and I succeeded. 
There it lay on the grass, its broad side 
exposed to the sun. 
“A ten pounder!” shouted a man who 
came to see the trout. While we were 
admiring the handsome fish and com- 
menting on its weight and coloring, it 
made a sudden leap toward the em- 
bankment. Both of us fell simul- 
taneously upon it, and by so doing we 
bumped into each other and both of us 
fell backward. In the meantime, the 
fish made another leap, and still an- 
other. Desperately I hopped after it on 
all fours, — and caught it by the tail 
when its head was already hanging 
over the embankment. As I stood tight- 
ly grasping the fish under the gills, I 
felt the thrill of triumphant joy. The 
man congratulated me upon my “mirac- 
ulous” success. It was a rainbow trout 
of rare size and of rare beauty. 
HOW TO USE 
SNOWSHOES 
(continued from page 23) 
walking and racing, and secondly, the 
stubby, almost round shoes used in 
hilly, rough or wooded country. The 
latter are the “bear paw” type, so 
named because of their similarity to 
Bruin’s pads. 
The looser and more powdery the 
snow the longer the shoe should be — 
that is, in open country. In the far 
North where the snow remains light, 
flaky and deep, the most serviceable 
shoe is about 60 by 12 inches. The 
“Algonquin” is the favorite in the east- 
ern states. It is a decidedly broad 
type, approximately 38 by 16 inches, 
with rounded toe, hollowed a bit on the 
sides, and a long narrow heel. 
Perhaps the best all-purpose shoe is 
about 48 by 14 inches, with close or 
open filling according as the snow is 
light or wet and “packy.” It should be 
of the flat pattern, though our traveler 
should have had some preliminary 
practice with this type before attempt- 
ing a long hike. The curled toe is 
usually preferred by the beginner, and 
when the change is made to flat shoes 
— which ultimately are more satisfac- 
tory — a little time is required to get 
the stride. For all straight-away 
walking, as I have said, it is best to 
have the heel decidedly heavier than 
the toe. A broad toe with a narrow 
heel that cuts well down makes turning 
easier. Invariably the snowshoe that 
cuts down evenly at both ends is fa- 
tiguing, because it is hard to extricate 
from the snow. 
L. E. Eubanks, Washington. 
PLANTS AS GUIDES 
(continued from page 32) 
at noon-day. Science has proved that too 
powerful sunlight will decompose certain 
fluids within a leaf which are essential 
to the proper discharge of the leaf func- 
tions. It is probable that the compass 
plants are more sensitive to intense sun- 
Wild lettuce plant 
light and have, therefore, adopted this 
device to escape the meridian sun. 
The eastern compass plant is variously 
known as wild lettuce, prickly lettuce, 
milk thistle, or horse thistle, and is the 
plant from which our cultivated lettuce 
is supposed to have originated. It is an 
immigrant from Europe, but has become 
so perfectly naturalized here as to be 
known among farmers as a troublesome 
weed. The plant occurs frequently in 
fields and waste places, and probably can 
be found in every state in the union. The 
polarity is found only among plants 
growing in the open, and is lost in shady 
situations. 
Dr. J. C. Arthur, of Purdue University, 
was the first to notice that when the com- 
mon garden lettuce goes to flower it be- 
comes a compass plant, as indicated by 
the stem leaves. 
The western compass plant is one of 
the resin weeds, but due to its value as a 
guide it has earned the appelation of pilot 
plant, polar plant and compass plant. It 
forms a frequent and interesting sight 
upon our prairies from Ohio to South 
Dakota, and as far south as Alabama; its 
large, bright yellow flowers are a wel- 
come relief on the otherwise monotonous 
prairie landscape. The deeply cut lower 
leaves, especially on young plants, point 
north and south, assuming a vertical po- 
sition in so doing. Many of the pioneers 
who blazed the trail of civilization into 
the Great West were directed across the 
vast prairies by this useful plant. Long- 
fellow in his immortal epic, “Evangeline,” 
extolled the virtues of this faithful guide 
when he wrote : 
“Look at this delicate plant that lifts 
its head from the meadow, 
See how its leaves all point to the north, 
as true as the magnet; 
It is the Compass-flower, that the finger 
of God has suspended 
Here on its fragile stalk, to direct the 
traveller’s journey, 
Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste 
of the desert.” 
(continued on page 47) 
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