210 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



hedges! They yield surprises, from 

 pussy-willow time until the snow, and 

 even then above it the witch-hazel 

 waves its boughs. The autumn hedges 

 are the colour-bearers for the sombre 

 fields, and as the wind puffs, birds and 

 leaves whirl aloft. 



Middle October comes, and all along 

 the road bouncing-Bet is laughing, 

 blue flax blooms in stone crannies, 

 and toad-flax spreads in the gravel 

 banks; iron-weed, yarrow, clover, ox- 

 eye daisies, are fresh as in hay-days, 

 and moth-mullein thrives in every 

 waste. Chestnut burrs relax from very 

 ripeness, and cast their freight upon 

 wood-sorrel, and burr-marigolds blaze 

 in the same places that the marsh- 

 marigolds gilded. Fall wheat is two 

 inches high and strawberries are in 

 flower; cider is flowing, and there are 

 flower patches on hillside apple trees. 



