The Country? Magazine Reviews ... 
Sand County Almanac 
 
Aldo Leopold, the author o* 
"Sand County Almanac," was 
one of the best loved and es- 
teemed men ever to teach at 
Wisconsin. He was chairman of 
the department of wildlife man- 
agement from its founding in 
1933 until his death in April, 
1948. He was born in Burling- 
ton, Iowa, in 1886. He studied 
forestry at Yale, worked in the 
U. S .Forest service and became 
associate director of the U. S. 
Forest Products laboratory at 
Madison in the years 1924-28. 
He conducted game surveys for 
the Sporting Arms and Manu- 
facturers Institute before coin- 
ing to Wisconsin. At his death, 
a colleague of his, Paul L. Er- 
rington, wrote: " . . . it may be 
said that he, more than anyone 
else, has been responsible for 
the expansion and refinement of 
wildlife management as such is 
known today." 
"There are two kinds of people: 
-'mmI~ I!I~/lllgll 
 
MADISON SILOS 
Your Best Buy in Farm Silos 
 
those who can live without wild 
things and those who cannot. These 
essays are the experiences and dilem- 
mas of one who cannot." 
These are the words of Aldo Leo- 
pold whose "Sand County Almanac" 
is a masterpiece of poetic writing and 
stringent humor mingled with in- 
tense insight and understanding of 
the virgin forests and the raped farm 
lands. 
 
Prof. Aldo Leopold 
You will follow the trail of the 
plump bellied skunk on a wintry stroll 
in January, hear the phalanx of geese 
return in March, and see the wood- 
cock dance at dawn, all on the au- 
thor's farm in the sand area of Adams 
county, Wisconsin. 
Aldo Leopold, one of the world's 
greatest naturalists, has preserved, for 
posterity, a picture of the ancient 
wilderness, now departed, in Arizona, 
 
Canada, Oregon, and Utah where he 
traveled in his youth. His plea is 
"for the preservation of some tag- 
ends of wilderness-for the edifica- 
tion of those who may one day wish 
to see, feel, or study the origins of 
their cultural inheritance." 
Few of us realize that our lives are 
so crowded with trivialities that we 
miss the great pageant of life con- 
stantly staged around us. Leopold 
asks, "Is education possibly a process 
of trading awareness for things of 
lesser worth? The goose who trades 
his is soon a pile of feathers." 
Watching the little chickadee, the 
author wonders why-"That whimsi- 
cal fellow called Evolution, having 
enlarged the dinosaur until he tripp;d 
over his own toes, tried shrinking the 
chickadee until he was just too big 
to be snapped up by flycatchers as 
an insect, and just too little to be 
pursued by hawks and owls as meat. 
Then he regarded his handiwork and 
laughed. Everyone laughs at so small 
a bundle of large enthusiasms." 
The life-like black and white crayon 
drawings by' Charles W. Schwartz, 
scattered throughout the book, add 
greatly to its charm. 
This book will delight those who 
love the land and give a deeper ap- 
preciation to those who do know it. 
One of the greatest values in "re- 
newed contacts with wild things" is 
that which "reminds us of our de- 
pendency on the soil-plant-animal- 
man food chain--We fancy that in- 
dustry supports us, forgetting what 
supports industry." 
"Sand County Almanac" by Aldo 
Leopold is published by the Oxford 
University Press, New York City, 
and costs $3.50. 
-Anne Blakeley 
 
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