142 Bog-Trotting for OrcKids 



Swamp beyond, coming out to the pasture-land of 

 Kimball Farm. 



This season, many changes have occurred in the 

 Kimball Bogs, the hillsides closing in about them 

 having been almost sheared of their trees. This re- 

 sults in flooding the heart of the swamp with sunshine, 

 and may in time dry up the growth of the beautiful 

 moss known as Sphagnum, and also destroy the Buck- 

 beans. The cows were browsing among the small 

 tamaracks, and no signs of the Showy Queen of the 

 Moccasin- Flowers were visible hereabout this June. 

 The Tall Green Orchis {Habenaria hyperbored) grew 

 luxuriantly in a pool over the fence near the clearing. 

 Purple Trilliums were also very abundant along my 

 path. I passed out through the vale, keeping the 

 winding road until I reached the brow of the orchard 

 beyond, which was in full bloom. 



The distant hills wore a delicate clear blue tone, and 

 as I caught glimpses of them between the round hills 

 about me, I distinguished Mount ^olus, that distant 

 pile of Dorset marble far to the northeast of the Gap. 

 Leaving the orchard, I crossed the road and entered 

 the deep grasses of the old lake meadow, where the 

 sphagnum is knee-deep. Here, as last June, the In- 

 dian Poke and cowslip blossoms freshened the borders 

 of the stream. Along the edges of this wet region, I 

 waded carefully until I reached the famous Spring of 

 Arethusa, around the glacial hill to the left. I searched 

 in the open meadow beyond the mill for Pitcher-Plant 

 blossoms, — and found many in full bloom. The grasses 



