42 NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



one came into flower at Christmas, during 

 one of the insipid winters that we have 

 along the fortieth parallel. 



But it is the grass that keeps its color 

 best. After a succession of mild days it 

 really grows, and under the top-dressing 

 clover is often found to have started. 

 Grass will become dry and brown in time, 

 but the algae on wood, especially on tree- 

 trunks, never do so. They keep fresh and 

 bright through every winter, and snow 

 and rain serve only to intensify their color. 

 Thoreau was nearly right when he said 

 that it took a lichenist to see how a tree- 

 trunk looked. He might have added 

 and an artist. The artist is the only one 

 who sees things as they are. The rest of 

 us see what we think ought to be there, 

 and overlook many things equally impor- 

 tant that are there. 



Vegetation wants but a kindly hour to 

 bring it up. On a February morning, in 

 a calm between two blizzards, although it 

 was by no means sultry, clover was found 

 half an inch out of the earth ; and three 

 days later, in another mild spell, the warm 



