2si 'J''ii;J.d ailil 



The year's new grass and, jioldcn-cyed, 

 The daisies sparkle underneath, 



And chestnut trees on either side 

 Have opened every ruddy sheath. 



U'iilmii! Canton. 



have alread}- chosen, let us start on our studies. There is a wonderful 

 variety in our selection. Look, for instance, at this dainty piece of 

 quaking grass ; how different from these straight, stiff spikes of the cat's- 

 tail or fo.vtail grasses ! And yet thc\- are closeh- related and have 

 many features in common. 



One characteristic of the whole family of the grasses is the toughness 

 of their stems when you pluck them. If pulled hard they will sometimes 

 cut your fingers like a knife. This leads you to notice that, although 

 soft and succulent in early youth, the flowering stem or " culm " is 

 invariably hollow in construction, except at the knotted joints, and this 

 accounts largely for its strength and durability. 



You will find it a good plan, first of all, to observe the structural 

 form of this stem in yaxxx study. If \-ou try to put in the grassy tufts of 

 flowers first, it will be very misleading, and however carefully j-ou think 

 you may have copied what you see, you will experience a difficulty 

 later on in bringing the whole mass into form and shape. 



Observe carefully the main stem, and draw it in, taking note how, in 

 most cases, the flower stalks branch out from it in groups, generally 

 diminishing both in size and number as they approach the top of the 

 spray ; this gives a very graceful effect. 



Get these branches accurately drawn ; and the pretty little clusters 

 of stamens, each in its protective sheath, bearing its pollen ready to 

 shed around at the touch of the lightest breeze, will fit into their places 

 without difficult}-. 



Unless you are making a purch- botanical stud\-,when such details 

 are very necessary, you will not attempt slavishly to copy each 

 little spikelct of flowers, but rather try to get the soft feathery 

 effect of the whole spray by a few direct and w-ell-considered 

 touches in the right place as it first strikes your ej-e. See to it 

 that your stems are carefully drawn, for if they are rough and 

 jagged, their ethereal character is lost entirely. 



If our time in meadow or cornfield is limited, and we are 

 unable to make all the studies we desire to do before it is time 

 to pack up, let us take some specimens with us. The grass family, 

 unlike most of our wild flowers, is a sturdy and long-suffering 

 one, and a few specimens, saved with care, will give us material 

 for study when the heavy storms, from which we are not free even 

 in June, make working out of doors an impossibility. So keep 

 them carefully for the " rainy day " that is sure to come, and then, 

 if time is hanging heavily on your hands, you have a group of 

 interesting and absorbing models before you, besides a charming 

 decoration for your most cherished " bits " of china, whose value 

 is too great to warrant the risk they run with the constant 

 replenishment of water fresh flowers demand. 



Only a bit of grass ! Are you contemptuous, and think it a 



A7 



