ROSE FAMILY 



receptacle, but both fall from the calyx together. Sweet and 

 aromatic. August, Se})tember. 



The tangled lilackberry, crossed and recrossed, weaves 

 A prickly network of ensanguined leaves. 



— Ja.mks RfssEi.i. Lowell. 



If vou wish to enjoy the richness of the fruit you must not be hasty to 

 I)luck it. When the children say with a shout, "The hlacklierries are 

 ripe I ■' I kncjw that I can wait. When the children report, " The birds 

 are eating the berries ! " I know that 1 can wait. But when they say, 

 "The bees are on the berries I " I know they are at their ripest. Then 

 with baskets we sally forth. * * * Even now we gather those oidy 

 which drop at the tcnich, — these in a brimming saucer, with golden cream 

 and a soup9on of powdered sugar are Olympian nectar ; they melt before 

 the tongue can measure their full roundness ; and seem to be mere bloated 

 bubbles of forest honey. 



— " My Farm at Edgewood." Donald G. Mitchell. 



Every one knows the Blackberry^ the Common 

 Brier, because of its marked tendency to inhabit and 

 possess the earth. It springs up in any neglected 

 place and, if undisturbed, takes possession and holds 

 its own against all intruders. It loves the sea-shore, 

 flourishes on the mountain side, is especially thrifty at 

 the edge of woods, fairly riots in helds latelv cleared 

 or recently burned over, holds to the fencerows, and 

 wanders along the roadside. 



The species varies greatly in habit, but each and all 

 forms possess a sturdy vitality which enables them to 

 live in spite of discouragement. Sometimes, indeed, 

 they discourage the farmer, for simply to cut them 

 down is useless ; they promptly scramble up again 

 and can be eradicated only by uprooting. When the 

 waste land is to be reclaimed, transformed into past- 

 ure, or meadow, or cultivated field, to uproot is 

 praiseworthy ; but to destroy this wild luxuriant 



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