WHILE AUTUMN LINGERS 157 



These grievances, as old as Adam and his garden, have 

 vexed every flower gatherer since that indefinite period 

 B.C.; and who will declare that chance visitors from the 

 Land of Nod did not help themselves to cuttings from 

 the Tree of Life? History is silent concerning a vast 

 quantity of important happenings of a time in which we 

 are safe in supposing that human nature was already 

 gifted with its tangents. 



With a weakness for festivals and saints' days, I have 

 often wondered why the almanac forgot seed gathering 

 in the flower garden. In fact, others have spoken of it 

 with a thought of introducing an event along with "Bird 

 Day" and "Midsummer Eve" and the "Harvest Home." 

 Then we reflected that the spirit of vexation walks 

 abroad in the flower garden, and the elves of the wind 

 make sport with good intentions. 



There is this difference to be considered between well- 

 bred cereals and flowers the first are fairly prompt in 

 their ripening and the harvester knows when to step in 

 and gather his grain, and the second uses such a variety 

 of methods in attending to personal affairs that the gar- 

 dener must be wise and forehanded if he can forestall 

 them. 



All through life we are negligent in storing virtues to 

 make joy for future seasons; so all summer long we 

 overlook seed gathering. On a day in August it was 

 decided to let the flowers go to seed. The cook wanted 



