THE OLD HOMESTEAD. 



23 



Formerly great flocks of wild pigeons used to fly 

 over the farm, sometimes even darkening the sun in 

 their flight — pigeons, pigeons everywhere, as far as 

 the eye could reach. Wild turkeys piped through the 

 woods, and wolves came up back of the barn at night 

 and howled. But these have all gone, and it is a rare 

 thing nowadays to see even a single little flock of a 

 dozen wild pigeons, and the people remember the year 

 when they see them. 



Around upon the estate are various orchards — 

 apples, pears, quinces, apricots, peaches, cherries, plums; 

 and many kinds of berries — strawberries (of which, 

 't was said, so tells old Izaak Walton, that "doubtless 

 God could have made a better berry, but doubtless 

 God never did"), red and black raspberries, black- 

 berries, and, some time past, a patch of dewberries 



THE BED OF RED LILIES. 



