4G WILD FLOWEKS IN SPRING. 



much unlike potato starch or arrowroot, which was 

 much valued when high ruffs were worn, and clear- 

 starching ranked among the polite accomplishments. 

 By continuously washing the starch with water, the 

 acrid matter is carried away, and the powder which is 

 deposited, when dried in the sun, "becomes edible, like 

 cassava, which is the purified fecula of the mandioc. 

 This flour was an article of commerce under the name 

 of Portland sago for many years, but even the modo 

 of its preparation is dying out. 



Earliest among spring flowers is the Primrose 

 (Primula vulgaris), with its crimpled leaves and pale 

 yellow blossoms, which stud the high banks and hedge- 

 rows, and spread a spangled carpet over the wood 

 lands. By its side 



" Sweet violets, Love's Paradise, that spread 

 The gracious odours which they couched bear," 



throng the southern hedgerows, and give out their 

 sweet perfume. The Scented Violet (Viola odorata), 

 the emblem of modest worth, is found of varied 

 colours, from claret, blue, dull red, to pinkish white, 

 and finally white. Sometimes, like the primrose, it 

 spreads its dark blue carpet over a woodland tract, but 

 evidently prefers the warm sunny bank. The perfume 



