A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



Why has Nature taken such particular pains 

 to keep these balls hanging to the parent 

 tree intact till spring ? What secret of hers 

 has she buttoned in so securely ? for these 

 buttons will not come off. The wind can- 

 not twist them off, nor warm nor wet hasten 

 or retard them. The stem, or peduncle, by 

 which the ball is held in the fall and winter, 

 breaks up into a dozen or more threads or 

 strands, that are stronger than those of 

 hemp. When twisted tightly they make a 

 little cord that I find it impossible to break 

 with my hands. Had they been longer, 

 the Indian would surely have used them to 

 make his bow-strings and all the other 

 strings he required. One could hang him- 

 self with a small cord of them. (In South 

 America, Humboldt saw excellent cordage 

 made by the Indians from the petioles of 

 the Chiquichiqui palm.) Nature has deter- 

 mined that these buttons should stay on. 

 In order that the seeds of this tree may 

 germinate, it is probably necessary that 

 they be kept dry during the winter, and 

 reach the ground after the season of warmth 

 and moisture is fully established. In May, 

 just as the leaves and the new balls are 

 emerging, at the touch of a warm, moist 

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