&-- .-js;:;* - -JT^ .< >:::;. *-< >;:-' >". -< >r 



NATURE NEAR LONDON 



WOODLANDS 



^HE tiny white petals of the barren 

 strawberry open under the April sun- 

 shine which, as yet unchecked by 

 crowded foliage above, can reach the 

 moist banks under the trees. It is then that the 

 first stroll of the year should be taken in Claygate- 

 lane. The slender runners of the strawberries trail 

 over the mounds among the moss, some of the 

 flowers but just above the black and brown leaves 

 of last year which fill the shallow ditch. These 

 will presently be hidden under the grass which is 

 pushing up long blades and bending over like a 

 plume. 



Crimson stalks and leaves of herb Robert stretch 

 across the little cavities of the mound ; lower, and 

 rising almost from the water of the ditch, the wild 

 parsnip spreads its broad fan. Slanting among the 

 underwood, against which it leans, the dry white 

 " gix " (cow-parsnip) of last year has rotted from 

 its root, and is only upheld by branches. 



