The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-10-13
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
Arp Talks to Boys He Tells them sha:
knowledge Of Everything is Essential.
.iti1ain CDnStitnfinn.
llrrn is letter for the boy>.

man happier han perfection in any one
and comparative irnoruncc Of all he
rest Great rcicL,i~i> Gi-ro,ornr-
and .nlculor> seem IT, be- MrrcS- uv
.or the Norl'l pl"sres anI l!ir eoui
Of mankind. l0t ilicr w"rh genc,-
ply i; ils e>lwn-, of tiriyh',lli. aud
hapriur~,. ~i- I-aac NeN,on in h>
.t day~ al4l.imc With ~iel, Il /
haze n.nle -layu oi mysrlt- lis
@rcat mind was always On !. strain ~
one direction. 1t j, said rf him bat
he had hole cut in the lower part Of
the door for his favori,c cat to enter
and exit and when She had a pair %
kittens he had two smaller holes cut
for them The mind is like the body.
1t must have variety Of food. 1t is
like the muscles in the arms or legs.
If only one set are used che others be-
come weak and will gradually perish
away.
was talking not long ago to learn
cd judge, man Of fine judicial mind
and literary attainment, but who ac
knowlcdgcd his very limited knowl-
edge Of nature and nature laws. II
hardly know one tree from another,
said he, 'cXccpting, Of course. the
chestnut, hickory nut and walnut.
Yes, Of course, | know The pine and
the oak Indeed have never had
any occasion to know more, for WAS
raised in town and books have absorb
ed me.
was Illuminating about this because
our little girl mother is teaching her
to draw and to paint, and asked her
to draw nc a chestnut tree, au oak
tree and maple tree She is work
ing on them now and has to go out
and look at them and examine the
bark on the trunk, and the shape Of
the limbs and leaves. | wonder how
many boys and girls can draw hicko
ry leaf without looking at one. l
should like to see their specimens.
Thousands Of boys, especially country
boys, know all the common trees Of
their ncighborhood. but it requires
close and careful observation to de-
scribe them and point out the differ
cncc. Now there are ten different
kinds of oaks in this country, but
very few town raised people can name
half Of them. Then there are differ
cnt kinds Of hickories and pines and
ash and elm trees, besides the hack
berry, box elder, poplar, beach, locust
and cottonwood. Eugene lie Hardy
was very learned and scientific
Frenchman, but thought that Amcri-
can cotton grew on the cottonwood
trees and that we gathered it by using
ladders. 1t is said that Mr.. Jack
son, of Atlanta, is trying to introduce
the ladder kind now and has got the
trees up to fourteen feet high.
The study Of the trees and shrubs
Of this Southern country is delight
full and instructive recreation for
young people, and wish they would
pay more attention to it. Of course
this study requires some knowledge of
botany, but that is easily acquired.
This Kind of knowledge is more useful
and more comforting than college
smattering Of calculus and comic sec
tions aud rhetoric and logic. do not
believe there are ten men in Bartow
County who would know ginseng if
they were to see it. Not many more
know what is father gray beard or white
ash. the medicinal shrub from which
old \. @. Simmons first made the
original Simmons liver medicine in
Gwinnctt County. know about that,
for when | was young merchant l
sold the first he ever made aud con
tinucd to sell it for him for several
years and he told me what it was made
Of. think. though, that the father
grayhcald gave cut about the time tie
old man died
| wish that our young people would
acquire habits Of observing things
more closely as they journey along
tfrough life. Some people see every
thing and some see nothing hardly.
When should trees bc cut down that
are wanted for wood? What kind of
wood is the strongest and will bear the
greatest burden? What kind is the
most elastic? What kind the hardest
to split? What kind will last the
longest in the ground What kind
most suitable for pianos, chairs, fur
niturc or wainscoting? What kind for
mauls or wedges or canes? DIR. Oil
yer Holmes must have studied all
about these when he wrote the Gone
Hoss Shay