JUNE. 87 



Though this extensive tribe of plants is remarkable in 

 no instances for the brilliancy of its flowers, yet there 

 are few that exhibit more beauty in their aggregations ; 

 some rearing their flowers in a compact head, like the 

 herd's-grass and the foxtail; others spreading them out 

 in an erect panicle, like a tree, as the orchard-grass and 

 the common redtop; others appearing with a bristling- 

 head, like wheat and barley; and a countless variety 

 of species, with nodding panicles, like the oat and the 

 quaking-grass. The greater number of the gramineous 

 plants are in flower at the present time, and there are 

 no other species, save the flowerless plants, which afford 

 more attractions to those who examine nature with the 

 discriminating eye of science. 



He who is accustomed to rambling is now keenly sen- 

 sible of that community of property in nature, of which 

 he cannot be deprived. The air of heaven belongs equal- 

 ly to all, and cannot be monopolized; but the land is 

 apportioned into tracts belonging to different owners, and 

 the many perhaps do not own a rood. Yet to a certain 

 extent, and in a very important sense, the earth, the 

 trees, the flowers, and the landscape are common prop- 

 erty. He who owns a fine garden possesses but little 

 advantage over him who is without one. We are all 

 free in this country to roam over the wide fields and 

 pastures ; we can eat of the fruits of the earth, and 

 feast our eyes on the beauties of nature, as well as the 

 owner of the largest domain. A man is not poor who, 

 while he obtains the comforts of life, is thus capable of 

 enjoying the blessings of nature. His property is not 

 circumscribed by fences and boundary lines. All the 

 earth is his garden, cultivated without expense and 

 enjoyed without anxiety. He partakes of these bounties 

 which cannot be confined to a legal possessor, and which 

 Providence, as a compensation to those who are worn with 



