A Window in Arcady 
straightest and most thoroughbred of our native trees— 
are beginning to open. This tree when in close company 
with others does not branch out until so high in the air 
that we cannot see the flowers with any satisfaction, but 
when a specimen is encountered dwelling singly in the 
open the crown is lower and more spreading and it is 
worth our while to look along the branches for the great 
cups of yellowish bloom exquisitely dashed with orange 
and silvery green. The tulip tree is a relative of the 
flowering magnolia, so that it would seem to come na¬ 
turally by its love of fine flowers. 
Americans in search of spring greens would hardly think 
of turning to a nettle patch for material, yet in the Old 
World, particularly among the peasantry of Ireland and 
Scotland, the shoots of this roadside pest cut before flower¬ 
ing are esteemed as a pot-herb of some value. Indeed, in 
earlier times, when the vegetable garden was less well 
stocked than now, even the quality found cooked nettles 
palatable, for garrulous Mr. Pepys, the famous diarist, 
has minutely set down the fact of his eating nettle por¬ 
ridge on February 27, 1661, and finding it very good. 
The sting of the plant is produced by an intensely burning 
juice emitted from the tips of the hairs with which stems 
and leaves are covered. The acrid character of this juice 
is entirely subdued by drying and boiling, and so nettle 
broth and nettle porridge have found a place on rustic 
bills of fare. 
May 15. —These pleasant May mornings, when the 
wind blows languor from the south and industrious 
farmers are plowing fields and digging garden, expectant 
[46] 
