Sonjjs of the Fields 



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later in beautiful heart-shaped design, and the 

 flowers are replaced by long, wine-red seed pods. 

 The tiny blooms are shaped like the separate flow- 

 ers of a locust spray, and of a sliade our mothers 

 spoke of as red analine. The blinit point of the 

 bloom once was called a "pink tinted tear" by a 

 poet, and this color flushes stronger until it be- 

 comes a deep magenta at the base, while the cup 

 that holds it is reddish-brown. 



This shade must be tlie rarest in all God's work- 

 shop, because He uses it so very sparingly. It is 

 found on flower faces and in nature less often than 

 any otlier. How He prizes it is proven by its ap- 

 pearance among the very first, at a time when we 

 are eager for the color and perfume of spring. 

 Our grandmothers taught us to love it on the pe- 

 tunia faces bordering olden flower beds. I de- 

 lighted in it early on the Easter eggs my mother 

 colored for me. It is one of the most ancient and 

 popular of manufactin-ed colors, chosen for re- 

 production, without a doubt, because nature is so 

 miserly in its use; for only in hints and sugges- 

 tions does it fleck the face of creation. First we 

 see it on the redbud beside the river. Then as 

 the poke berry matures it stripes the thrifty stem 

 with gorgeous color to attract the bibulous cedar 

 bird. In mid-summer you find hints of it on way- 

 side blazing star, and in the fall New York asters 

 and ironwort suggest it in their bloom. 



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