THE CHILDREN'S PARADISE. 



HE ONE- ACRE lot was a neglected rock- 

 brake. It lay just back of the barn- 

 ^SS^^'^ yard and had sometimes been used 

 ^ as a paddock for calves. Rocks 



cropped out here, there, and every- 

 where ; what soil there was was rich 

 enough, and the little brook which 

 ran from the spring-house meandered 

 through it on its way to the larger 

 stream at the foot of the hill. 

 Nothmg of much importance grew in the one-acre 

 lot except a few old chestnut trees and two thriving 

 walnuts just beginning to bear. Weeds sprang up 

 and thrived amazingly. Besides the weeds and nut 

 trees there were a few brambles on the rocks and 

 along the boundary fence, blackberries and wild 

 raspberries, and there was one large over-cup oak 

 alone in sovereign dignity on a little eminence. 

 Such as it was, the one-acre lot was the children's 

 favorite romping ground. The minnows and cray- 

 fish in the brook, and the acorns of which they 

 made fairy cups and saucers, were unfailing sources 

 of amusement, and year after year the little paddock 

 was devoted more exclusively to their use and pleas- 

 ure. Here they could be free to do as they liked. 

 They named every rock and loved every rod of 

 ground in it, and, as they grew older, it was finally 

 ceded to them and they were encouraged to plant 

 therein whatever seemed good in their eyes. 



When the eldest boy, Francis, was born, the 

 father had planted a shellbark hickory in the lot, 

 in honor of the event. Two years after came the 

 twin daughters, Violet and Pansy. On this occasion 

 two sapling pecan nuts were added that grew and 

 thrived with the growth of the little girls. Next 

 came Dudley, whose tree was a Swiss stone-pine. 

 Myrtle was the youngest, and was such a tiny white 

 maiden that her somewhat fanciful father declared 

 a delicate white birch the only appropriate tree for 

 her. So the birch was planted and they all grew 

 and flourished together until the youngest child and 

 tree were six and the eldest fourteen. 



All the family had a taste for horticulture, and 

 they possessed a fine garden and orchard. The 

 children planted anything they took a special fancy 

 to, particularly such trees and shrubs as were both 

 useful and ornamental. When they decided to em- 

 bellish their domain there was a great looking up of 

 nursery catalogues and rummaging of book-shelves 



for works on horticulture and landscape gardening. 

 They did not care much for esthetic results, but 

 they concluded to plant along the margins of their 

 territory so as to keep their beloved central play 

 ground free, where, in the smoothest part, they al- 

 ready had a croquet ground. 



First of all Francis said they must have a per- 

 simmon. The children had an allowance of twenty- 

 five cents a week, and Francis had saved his until 

 he had enough to buy a Diospyros Kaki or Japan- 

 ese persimmon, which he planted himself under the 

 direction of his father. Dudley knew where a copse 

 of young American persimmons grew, about a mile 

 away, and he contributed one of these to keep the 

 Japanese from being too lonely. 



In course of their researches the twins learned 

 that the ginkgo tree. Ginkgo adiantifolia, has an 

 edible kernel. They contributed the price of this 

 from their savings ; and little Myrtle said she must 

 have a sugar maple. Her birthday came the last 

 of March and they surprised her with a maple sur- 

 reptitiously planted. Their enthusiasm for their new 

 project increased daily, and from time to time they 

 added to their treasures ; now a red filbert, or a rare 

 plant like Alyrica rubra, the Japanese tree which has 

 fruit like a blackberry, or Elaagmts lotigipes for its 

 edible berries, or an English walnut of the dwarf 

 variety, preparturiens. They chose this walnut be- 

 cause it bears when quite young. 



Already they had grand times nutting in their 

 little grove. The chestnut trees bore plentiful crops 

 and so did the walnuts and the shellbark hickory. 

 Also this year they gathered their first pecans. 

 Whatever they heard of as new and rare and at the 

 same time useful, they gradually added to their 

 store. They loved to surprise each other on their 

 birthdays with a long desired plant, and it was a 

 point of honor with them that the child w hose anni- 

 versary was to be celebrated should keep out of 

 Eden the foregoing day while preparations for the 

 fete were going forward. Fortunate were their little 

 neighbors who were summoned to such a feast, the 

 invitations written on cards of birch bark, and the 

 rustic table in the wild grape arbor covered with 

 delicacies of the children's raising. 



When Pansy and Violet were twelve years old 

 they found two Japanese hovenias planted in their 

 favorite corner near the brook, a gift from the other 

 children. 



