The Chorus of the Forest 



riness, care, and deep sorrow. Flowers and bird 

 songs are to cheer the May for all, and some need 

 enconragenient so sorely. Possibly the verj'- next 

 comer may be sad-hearted, and the bright blooms 

 Mould offer cheer. Who are you, to monopolize 

 any gift of the I^ord merely because j^ou happen 

 to be the first to find it? 



The only -way to make any diminution of the 

 small spring flowers would be to jjIow and till the 

 soil. But of the larger, later groM'ths mentioned 

 some are at j^resent almost extinct. Ten years ago 

 tall, blue bellflower Maved in almost every fence- 

 corner of my immediate territory. This summer 

 vigorous search for just enough to fill an eight by 

 ten photographic plate revealed it in only three 

 places, M-idely sei)arated. Another hunt disclosed 

 foxfire in one location, and no cardinal flo^ver. 



In the woods where mandrake formerly grew 

 in half-acre patches, trampling cattle and rooting 

 pigs, aided by ruthless flower-gatherers, have Apples 

 played havoc M'ith it until search is required to find °* '^"^ 

 a healthy, typical groMth. ]\Iandrake is a wonder- 

 fully })eculiar plant and, aside from its medicinal 

 value, is beautiful and bears fruit. In early spring 

 the tender leaves, wrapped around their stems like 

 a folded umbrella, come pushing through the earth. 

 The i)lants have one stalk, that branches at the 

 height of ten or twelve inches, each branch sup- 

 porting a big leaf made up of four or six sections, 



139 



