MY NEIGHBORS FIELD 



meant to, whether the wild almond grew 

 in that country where Moses kept the 

 flocks of his father-in-law, but if so one can 

 account for the burning bush. It comes 

 upon one with a flame-burst as of revela- 

 tion ; little hard red buds on leafless twigs, 

 swelling unnoticeably, then one, two, or 

 three strong suns, and from tip to tip one 

 soft fiery glow, whispering with bees as a 

 singing flame. A twig of finger size will 

 be furred to the thickness of one's wrist 

 by pink five-petaled bloom, so close that 

 only the blunt-faced wild bees find their 

 way in it. In this latitude late frosts cut 

 off the hope of fruit too often for the wild 

 almond to multiply greatly, but the spiny, 

 tap-rooted shrubs are resistant to most 

 plant evils. 



It is not easy always to be attentive to 

 the maturing of wild fruit. Plants are so 

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