A Window in Arcady 
it springing up, almost in a night, like Jack’s beanstalk, 
in your garden beds or in your back yard if you are a citi¬ 
zen, smothering your choice plants before you well know 
it. The little spiny cucumbers are borne in clusters, each 
bunch of them resembling a burr, whence the popular 
name. They are by no means filled with the cool suc¬ 
culence of the true cucumber, however, being principally 
seed and skin. 
September 19. —The fields and roadsides of autumn 
yield a harvest of wild perfumes to one who cares for such 
homely delights. Some of these, such as the aromatic fra¬ 
grance of the spice bush or of the dittany, are released by 
the mere brushing of our bodies against the bushes, so that 
for a moment all the air is redolent about us; but more 
have to be hand gathered. Thus, the sweet fern, if its 
fragrance is to be properly enjoyed, must be plucked and 
crushed slightly in the palm; so, too, the delicious odors of 
green walnuts and hickory nuts come with rubbing the 
hulls. The goldenrod plant has a decidedly characteristic 
smell, faintly perceived as we pluck the flowers and more 
apparent if we strip the leaves. Like the fragrance of 
chrysanthemums, however, while it is grateful and invigo¬ 
rating to some people it is very distasteful to others. 
Magnolia leaves crushed yield a warm aroma, which 
deepens in the seed pods to a calamus-like quality. 
One of the pleasantest perfumes of the mellowing year is 
that of the cudweed or everlasting, the pearly white plant 
that is now conspicuous in most old fields. There is a 
dreamy suggestion of the fragrance of slippery elm about 
this herb that makes it a delightful nosegay. 
[98] 
