88 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



flourishing and blooming more luxuriantly than if 

 cultivated by the hand of man. 



Ah, those "old fashioned" flowers, as we call them, 

 how they bring up the memories of long ago ! Of a 

 country garden and door-yard where the " bouncing 

 bets," "butter and eggs," "holly-hocks" and "lark- 

 spurs" gave forth their beauty and their odors to 

 entrance our childish mind, and, in the innocence of 

 childhood, were thought to be the handsomest flowers 

 that grew. To-day they are still attractive. Not by 

 comparison with other and newer friends among the 

 flowers which are far more beautiful than they ; 

 but because they ever recall the memories of yore 

 when the struggle for our existence was borne by 

 other hands and each day brought its round of 

 pleasures unshadowed by any thought of the mor- 

 row. 



Other plants there are in abundance along the old 

 canal which man, in his ignorance, calls "homely 

 weeds," ne'er seeing their smaller points of usefulness 

 or beauty. Among these is the mullein with its long 

 spikes of yellow flowers and thick velvety leaves. 

 Those near its base, now withered and dry, last win- 

 ter formed a beautiful rosette close to the ground and 

 gave shelter and protection to many an insect both 

 beneficial and injurious. Along waysides and the 

 borders of barren fields the mullein has its favorite 

 home. Ever an evidence of the presence of man, to- 

 day it finds a congenial lurking place along the path- 

 way of his former road of water. 



Milkweeds, too, flourish there in great profusion and 

 often reach a height of six feet or more. Their hand- 



