Westville S^wamps and Mount 

 Carmel, Connecticut 



When, formerly, I have analyzed my partiality for some 

 farm which I had contemplated purchasing, I have frequently 

 found that I was attracted solely by a few square rods of imper- 

 meable and unfathomable bog. . . . That was the jewel 

 which dazzled me. — ThorEau, Excursions. 



M 



AY the I St I departed from New York, to find 

 in bloom many of the earlier flowers that I 

 had missed last year in the Hoosac High- 

 lands. I followed much the same route 

 through Connecticut as I had taken the season pre- 

 vious. The country was aglow with the subtle breath 

 of spring sunshine, that inspires the soul of earth to 

 rise and sprinkle her fields with pulsating life and 

 song. I started out alone to explore the Bogs of West- 

 ville, where the dainty Grass - Pinks and Pogonias 

 would later bloom. 



There is much diversity of soil about New Haven : 

 it proves a meeting-ground for Southern and Northern 

 species of plant life. The swampy regions of the 

 Great Salt Meadows produce a foreign vegetation that 

 emigrates to our shores ; while the rocky ridges of the 

 hills about the City furnish hiding ground for rare ferns 

 and flowers foinid far northward. 

 125 



