Childhood in a Garden 331 



blossoms of the Four-o'clock or the petals of Phlox 

 or Lilacs, threaded with pretty alternation of color. 

 Fuchsias were hung at the ears for eardrops, green 

 leaves were pinned with leaf stems into little caps 

 and bonnets and aprons, Foxgloves made dainty 

 children's gloves. Truly the garden-bred child 

 went in gay attire. 



That exquisite thing, the seed of Milkweed (shown 

 on page 328), furnished abundant playthings. The 

 plant was sternly exterminated in our garden, but 

 sallies into a neighboring field provided supplies for 

 fairy cradles with tiny pillows of silvery silk. 



One of the early impulses of infancy is to put every- 

 thing in the mouth ; this impulse makes the creeping 

 days of some children a period of constant watch- 

 fulness and terror to their apprehensive guardians. 

 When the children are older and can walk in the 

 garden or edge of the woods, a fresh anxiety arises ; 

 for a certain savagery in their make-up makes them 

 regard every growing thing, not as an object to look 

 at or even to play with, but to eat. It is a relief to 

 the mother when the child grows beyond the savage, 

 and falls under the dominion of tradition and folk- 

 lore, communicated to him by other children by 

 that subtle power of enlightenment common to chil- 

 dren, which seems more like instinct than instruction. 

 The child still eats, but he makes distinctions, and 

 seldom touches harmful leaves or seeds or berries. 

 He has an astonishing range : roots, twigs, leaves, 

 bark, tendrils, fruit, berries, flowers, buds, seeds, 

 all alike serve for food. Young shoots of Sweet- 

 brier and Blackberry are nibbled as well as the 



