A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



they were a surprise and a challenge to the 

 tongue ; on the table they would well fill 

 the place of mustard, and horseradish, and 

 other appetizers. When I was a schoolboy, 

 we used to gather, in a piece of woods on 

 our way to school, the roots of a closely 

 allied species to eat with our lunch. But 

 we generally ate it up before lunch-time. 

 Our name for this plant was *' Crinkle-root." 

 The botanists call it the toothwort {De7i' 

 taria), also pepper-root. 



From what fact or event shall one really 

 date the beginning of spring.? The little 

 piping frogs usually furnish a good starting- 

 point. One spring I heard the first note 

 on the 6th of April ; the next on the 27th 

 of February ; but in reality the latter sea- 

 son was only two weeks earlier than the 

 former. When the bees carry in their first 

 pollen, one would think spring had come ; 

 yet this fact does not always correspond 

 with the real stage of the season. Before 

 there is any bloom anywhere, bees will 

 bring pollen to the hive. Where do they 

 get it ? 



I have seen them gathering it on the 

 fresh sawdust in the woodyard, especially 

 on that of hickory or maple. They wallow 



44 



