CHAPTER IX 
A RAMBLE IN MAY: THE WALK HOME 
Our way is through the wood, up the hill beyond it, 
by the river for a couple of miles, then home. The 
ground is quite mossy and wet by the side of the 
wood, but we must have a good look at that bank 
of Primroses (Primula vulgaris). Just the vulgar 
Primrose, but how dull the spring would be without 
its glory! When my work has lain in big cities, 
surrounded by tracts of land rendered almost barren 
by chemical fumes and factory smoke, I have 
walked many miles to see a bank of Primroses. 
I hope my lot will never again be cast where these 
lovely flowers are so far from my home. The Prim- 
rose season will soon be over; I see signs of its 
passing in many decayed flowers. In another week 
or two the yellow stars will no longer adorn the 
mossy bank. But the flowers have done their 
work, and we shall see the good of it next spring. 
The leaves of this plant increase in size and numbers 
when the flowers are past ; they lay in stores for the 
winter, and energy for the coming flowering season. 
The Primrose is an unscrupulous fighter ; its leaves 
spring up like furled banners, but when they are 
well above ground they unfurl themselves, and lay 
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