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An uncle gave me an early 90's version of this manual as a gift when I was in my teens. This manual, along with "The American Boy's Handy Book" resulted in days and days of outdoor activity and a plethora of failed boats/rafts/cabins/snares/spearfishing/etc... There are some awesome instructions in here and the print copy I have has an entire color photo plant identification guide in the back.

My only word of warning would be to make sure the kids you expose to this are responsible enough for the knowledge. There are some last resort things like "how to poison an entire stream of fish by grinding up wild plants".



From p. 107:

> Make fish poison by immersing walnut hulls in a small area of quiet water. This poison makes it impossible for the fish to breathe but doesn't adversely affect their edibility.

Wowzer


In what circumstance would you want to poison an entire stream of fish? Would the fish be edible after being poisoned? Or is this for another purpose?


It's a way to catch a good amount of fish, quickly, without any specialized gear(nets, etc..). It also doesn't require you to sit there, in the open with a fishing pole. Drop the poison, hide. Run back and collect.

They're very edible after being poisoned. The amount of "poison" it takes to kill(really stun) a fish isn't much. No where near the amount needed to harm a human.


Yep, and I believe they mention a plant or plants that only affect cold-blooded animals so the fish is safe for consumption.




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