122 NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



inch. We have few thistles, for the lawn- 

 mower gives little chance to them, and the 

 Russian thistle has been frightened away 

 to the west because of the laws against 

 it. I wonder why they don't pass a law 

 against jimson-weed, aphides, and Regi- 

 nald McGonigle. I 'm sure they need it. 

 But most likely it would never be enforced. 

 Some barrister would lend himself to an 

 opposition, and would cite acts of King 

 Stephen or the Virginia colonizers to prove 

 that these offenses had received a special 

 sanctity. If chosen to the legislature, he 

 might change his heart and his mind. Such 

 things have been heard of, you know, as 

 paying a lawyer a state salary to frame or 

 pass laws in the legislature, and discover- 

 ing him in court afterward in heated argu- 

 ment against the validity of his own laws. 

 Late fall and early spring are good sea- 

 sons for the study of geology and mineral- 

 ogy, as the vegetation is light, and the 

 character of the ground may be seen. 

 And our yard, in common with the other 

 yards of this town and some thousands 

 of miles of unyarded country, has had an 



