DAYS IN MY GARDEN 



of observation on a selected object, and becomes an 

 expert ; in a flash he has seen and noted differences 

 which we are only dimly able to recognise when they 

 are pointed out to us. The Dutch bulb-grower 

 Voorhelm is said to have been able to distinguish 

 more than a thousand varieties of hyacinths merely 

 by inspecting the dry bulbs. 



To our eyes a flock of sheep is just a repetition 

 of one pattern ; not so to their shepherd : he will 

 know a large portion of his flock by their faces alone, 

 while to him a score of other characteristics make it 

 easy to recognise each one individually. 



If, as we ramble along the country-side, trees are 

 just beautiful trees, and butterflies only pretty butter- 

 flies, the grass and moss just a green covering, and 

 the pond but a pool, how terrible our blindness ! 

 None of us can have failed to notice some difference 

 in the birds or in the colour and size of the flowers, 

 their variety is too marked to be overlooked. 



It is only when our wakening observation is 

 sharpened, and we seek to get a look at the face of 

 the fly that settles on our hand, to understand the 

 meaning of the tell-tale ripple on the surface of the 



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