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and they haven't any " varmints " ; and above all, 

 they have the most decorative form in all the flower 

 world. 



I have often wondered why these irises are called 

 " flags." In wondering aloud to a Frenchman the 

 other day I accidentally found why. It seems that 

 in Normandy the chaumiere or thatched cottage is 

 given a finish, a foot wide,' of clay, extending the 

 entire length of roof peak. This is primarily for the 

 purpose of preventing leaks, but it serves, generally, 

 the more charming purpose of making a roof garden, 

 for along the entire length of this ridgepole of clay 

 sod, over the thatch, are planted these irises. From 

 the pinnacle of roof the flowers float in the breeze 

 like flags. 



During my girlhood, in the south, I remember that 

 many people pushed these flags out of their gardens, 

 forcing the poor things to take up their neglected 

 life on the edge of the dirt pavements in the dusty 

 atmosphere of the big road. As I came home from 

 school I would stop to gather a bunch of 

 their frosted, ethereally-scented, peculiarly feminine 

 flowers, feeling a childish misgiving as to my taste 

 in secretly adoring these despised and so-called com- 

 mon things. Now that they may be had in lavender 



6a 



