EARTH COVERINGS 



287 



the earth coverings the mosses. Mountain, 

 shore, plain, and meadow, each has its peculiar 

 dress, and why not those spots of the dense 

 woods where the straggling sunlight falls pale 

 and broken on rocks and prostrate tree-trunks ? 

 The grasses and flowers will not grow there, 

 save in isolated spots ; the ground is too damp, 

 the shade too dense. But these are the con- 

 ditions of existence for those velvety growths 

 with pin-like awns called the mosses. Flower- 

 less, scentless, not brilliant in hue, and so hum- 

 ble in stature that we tread them under foot 

 without seeing them, yet what a beautiful and 

 perfect earth covering they make ! Perhaps 

 because they do not grow high they grow 

 thick, forming a complete sod that rains and 

 running waters cannot readily wash away. 

 It is not a coarsely woven covering made up 

 of many rough growths, but a compactly con- 

 structed mass. In these growths, which are 

 placed where few see them, tucked away under 

 rock bases, bunched about the roots of the 

 great pines, or hidden under thick brush, 

 it might be thought that nature would spare 

 effort in perfecting the forms with nicety. 

 But, no ; every hair-root, every spore, every 

 stem is wrought with a skill and a beauty 



