A YEAR IN THE FIELDS 



Till the bridge you will need be formed — till the ductile 



anchor hold ; 

 Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my 

 soul." 



To return a little, September may be de- 

 scribed as the month of tall weeds. Where 

 they have been suffered to stand, along 

 fences, by roadsides, and in forgotten cor- 

 ners, — • redroot, pigweed, ragweed, vervain, 

 goldenrod, burdock, elecampane, thistles, 

 teasels, nettles, asters, etc., — how they lift 

 themselves up as if not afraid to be seen now ! 

 They are all outlaws ; every man's hand is 

 against them ; yet how surely they hold 

 their own ! They love the roadside, because 

 here they are comparatively safe ; and rag- 

 ged and dusty, like the common tramps 

 that they are, they form one of the charac- 

 teristic features of early fall. 



I have often noticed in what haste certain 

 weeds are at times to produce their seeds. 

 Redroot will grow three or four feet high 

 when it has the whole season before it ; but 

 let it get a late start, let it come up in Au- 

 gust, and it scarcely gets above the ground 

 before it heads out, and apparently goes to 

 work with all its might and main to mature 

 its seed. In the growth of most plants or 

 weeds, April and May represent their root, 



170 



