SUMMER 93 



a moth-mullein bloom three times in a 

 few weeks after transplanting it from a 

 vacant lot, by cutting off its seed-pods ; 

 and the balsams were long kept in flower 

 by the same treatment. That is one of 

 the charms of the garden : the flowers give 

 back more than you take away. 



And there are the yarrows, pink and 

 white, and their humbler cousin the cam- 

 omile. Cultivate a yarrow. No prettier 

 plant grows. But let it have its own wild 

 way so far as you can. So with the cam- 

 omile, which is an honest as well as a free 

 and modest plant, and if it has over-much 

 attention it will stunt and sicken. The 

 camomile that comes out of dusty lots, 

 generously hiding bricks and old bottles, 

 is among the soundest and largest. It is 

 but one of the half-noticed and wholly mis- 

 prized beneficences that the town does 

 not deserve. Coddle the plant, shade it, 

 manure it, and you will have done what 

 the flatterer does to a man from whom he 

 wants some favor; it will droop away 

 from you and withdraw painfully from 

 the unwelcome service. Sensitive, sensible 



