128 With Feet to the Earth 



chaff intermixed or none," and more to a 

 similar purpose. Was the desperation of 

 Latin naming ever shown better than in 

 dubbing this genus ambrosia? That was 

 food for the gods. The pigs don't eat 

 this, I think, though Hamilton Gibson has 

 seen goldfinches and snow-birds eating its 

 seeds in winter. Sometime our botanies 

 will contain English equivalents, and there 

 will be a picture of every plant and flower, 

 the only way to identify a specimen, and 

 a cheap and easy way with our phototypic 

 processes. 



I confess to a fondness for this sturdy 

 squatter of the road-side and vacant lots ; 

 it is such a frank, stout, self-possessed 

 creation. It wears no artificial graces, it 

 asks no favors, it is clean of parasites, and 

 say what you will, its fern-like leaves are 

 pretty. In sandy soil it has a stiff and 

 angular disposition of its arms, throwing 

 them out in star-like rays, while on richer 

 ground it rises to the dignity of a bush, 

 and if only it had flowers that you could 

 see two feet away, horticulturists would try 

 to improve the type. Wouldn't it be in- 



