Synopses & Reviews
IN THE CATSKILLS, SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF JOHN BURROUGHS - 1894 - CONTENTS - INTRODUCTION I. TEE SNOW-WALKERS 11. A WHITE DAY AND A RED FOX 111. PHASF O F FARM L IFE N. IN THE HWCE S V. Bm s-N an VI. THE HEART OF THE SOUTHEBN CATSKILIB W. S PECKLEDT ROUT MII. A BED OF BOUGHEI ILLUSTRATIONS A DISTANT V IEW OF SLIDE M OUNTAIN Frontispiece The highest of the Catskills page 155 THE STONE WALIS BURIED BY THE DRIFTS 4 Showing Mr. Burroughss boyhood home WAITING FOR THE COWS 74 AT THE HEADWATE O R F S THE DELAWARE 80 Overlooking Mr. Burroughss boyhood home HEMLOCKS vii ILLUSTRATIONS A TROU S T T REAM 96 FINDING A BIRDS-NEST 118 IN A SHEEP PASTURE l28 ONE OF MR. BURROUGHSFAS VORITPEL ACES O F OBSERVATION 138 THE W ENBE F R RO G M WOODLAN V D A LLEY 158 LARKINSS HWLE DWELLING 180 THE FARM BOY 190 A SETTLERHS OUSE 910 THE BEAVERKILL 914 STOPPING FO R FOOD A T THE HOUSE O F A SETM, ER 232 SOMEP EOPLE O F THE CATSKILM 946 viii INTRODUCTION HE eight essays in this volume all deal with the T h ome region of their author for not only did Mr. Burroughs begin life in the Catskills, and dwell among them until early manhood, but, as he himself declares, he has never taken root anywhere else. Their delectable heights and valleys have engaged his deepest affections as far as locality is concerned, and however widely he journeys and whatever charms he discovers in nature elsewhere, still the loveliness of those pastoral boyhood uplands is unsurpassed. The ancestral farm is in Roxbury among the western Catskills, where the mountains are comparatively gentle in type and always graceful in contour. Cultivated fields and sunny pastures cling to their mighty slopes far up toward the summits, there arepatches of woodland including frequent groves of sugar maples, and there are apple orchards and winding roadways, and endless lines of rude stone fences, and scattered dwellings. In every hol-IOW runs a clear trout brook, with its pools and swift shallows and silvery falls. Birds and other wild creatures abound for the stony earth and the ledges that crop out along the hillsides, the thickets and forest patches, the sheltered glens and windy heights p a t variety in domicile to animal life. The creatures of the outdoor world are much in and at no time do their numbers impress one more than when in winter one sees the handwriting of their tracks on the snow. The work on the farm and the workers are genuinely rustic, but not nearly so primitive as in the times that Mr. Burroughs most enjoys recalling. Oxen are of the past, the mowing-machine goes over the fields where formerly he labored with his scythe, stacks at which the cattle pull in the winter time are a rarity, and the gray old barns have given place to modern red ones. It is a dairy country, and on every farm is found a large herd of cows but the milk goes to the creameries. The women, however, still share in the milking, and there is much of unaffected simplicity in the ways of the household. On days when work is not pushing, the men are likely to go hunting or fishing, and they are always alert to observe chances to take advantage of those little gratuities which nature in the remoter rural regions is constantly offering, both in the matter of game and in that of herbs and roots, berries and nuts. Mr. Bu oughss old home has continued in the family, and the house and its surroundings have in many ways continued essentiallyunaltered ever since he a n remember...
Synopsis
First published in 1910, "In the Catskills" is a fantastic selection of essays concerning The Catskill Mountains by American naturalist John Burroughs. Nowhere is a love of Catskill Mountain landscape, its flora and fauna, and its people more beautifully expressed then in these eight essays. Highly recommended for lovers of nature writing and naturalism. John Burroughs (1837 - 1921) was an American naturalist, essayist, and active member of the U.S. conservation movement. Burroughs' work was incredibly popular during his lifetime, and his legacy has lived on in the form of twelve U.S. Schools named after him, Burroughs Mountain, and the John Burroughs Association-which publicly recognizes well-written and illustrated natural history publications. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.