EARTH COVERINGS 



277 



times has it led poets to prove the poverty of 

 language ! With the dew upon it in the early 

 morning, it is the fairest, purest growth in 

 all the floral world. As children we knew it, 

 plucked it, and scattered its petals upon the 

 ground ; but since then we have scarcely seen 

 it. Grown to man's estate, we still walk along 

 that woodland road on Sunday afternoons seek- 

 ing a " breath of fresh air ; " but we see little 

 of anything. Our days of observation have 

 passed and we have fallen upon days of reflec- 

 tion. Instead of looking without, our eyes are 

 turned within, and we are studying some human 

 problem, perhaps some business venture, while 

 walking the new Garden of the Hesperides. 



The bushes are the most varied in form and 

 color of all the earth coverings, and they also 

 form the densest shield against the sunlight. 

 Sometimes, when they are scattered in broken 

 clumps, the sunlit open spaces between them 

 grow small grasses and weeds, but usually 

 the hill-side bushes stand close together, the 

 branches touching each other and throwing an 

 almost perpetual summer shade upon the ground 

 beneath. Naturally those plants only that live 

 under shadow are found growing there. The 

 moss clings to the rock, some thin grasses 



