Music of the Wild 



twist sensitive organs. So extremely thrifty is 

 tliis \\ater member of the nasturtium family along 

 creeks and cold running A\ater that I know large 

 streams that are literally choked \vith cress, run- 

 ning through miles of unbroken marsh. The mu- 

 sic is threefold. There is water ten inches deep 

 whispering and gurgling around the stems, bees 

 visit the blossoms, and the human voice rings 

 loudly and clearly when a bed is discovered in early 

 spring; for this is just the tonic needed to thin 

 sluggish winter blood. The biting tang is craved 

 by the system, and a shout of joy greets the dis- 

 covery; so it, too, has a jjlace in this music-book. 



There is more human as well as bird and insect 

 music e^ery time a lover of nature on his way to 

 Silky the marsh finds a bed of Cornus amomum in 

 Cornel ],1q(ji^^_ j^ grows from t^vo to six feet high, and 

 leaves densely before it flowers ; there is an especial 

 cluster around the blooms. These heads are made 

 from masses of fine white flowers, each ha^'ing 

 four wide-open petals, an exaggerated set of sta- 

 mens, and long pistil, so that the pollen, wlien ripe 

 and dusty, gives a golden tinge to the entire A\hite 

 cluster. 



Quantities of this pollen must be used by tame 

 bees, or else there is a worldful. having the same 

 snappy, tart -wild tang; for the liees of country 

 hives make honey that has precisely this flavor. 

 In the fall each flower cluster is represented by 



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