Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-07-11
Among the Wild Flowers of Castle
Rock
BY Myrtle SYLVESTER.

H. b1 a hlAE Oh LfI spIEh.
Read al. the Platteyile Normal School Con.
meacense,lt, Jvne "a, $S7s.
! Some bright spring morning, swher
the trees are sending forth their ten
der leaves and the little birds are
chirping all around, come with me
then to the forest on sunny hillside
in the northeastern part of our own
county. Pause a moment on the
summit of the hill. The great round
sun is just leaving the arms Of a
motherly old pine on the rocky mound.
You can see the silvery water Of the
stream as it winds along in the VAL
ley, following the direction of the hill,
then turning to the north past the
base Of old Castle Rock. Enter the
forest; the ground is richly carpeted
with rich brown leaves, with here
and there slender fern peeping
through. The old rocks are cush.
ioned with the long green moss, soft
or than the couches of any palace. "A
ghostly birch spreads its naked arms
to the wind everything seems listen
ing, and the needed pines murmnr
softly to You as you pass beneath
their branches. With new force to
the mind the beautiful truth Cowley
expresses when he says, 1iiltt asv %
i,st /" II We could open and intent our eye nal
veal like Moses would espy. N,frAss
E'enin bash the radiant Deity" r
At your feet are the sweet-faced hep.
aticas nodding on their slender stems,
some very modest not yet daring to
lift their dropping heads. Where
can you find better emblem Of pure,
retiring womanhood !? Further, on
you find the spring beauty rising
above its. two slender green leaves.
Some eyes need assistance here.
Place it beneath the microscope and
you will decide that the name has
been rightly applied. The pink pet
ais are delicately striped with red
and the whole is ,wax-like in appear
ance. The blue-eyed violet grows
not far away and also the anemone
nemerosa, fancifnlly so named BY the
Greeks because it blooms during the
windy season. Now and then, as
You move along, partridge whirs as
At scars away or Q gray squirrel leaps
across your path to hide in tho thick
branches Of some lofty tree. Descend
the hill to the foot.bridge leading
over the clear brook which babbles
and sings as, it winds its way at the
bluff, leaping over rocks in its haste
to join the larger stream. The plank
bends low to the brook, showing
plainly that it has born the tread OF
many feet. Here and there along the
banks and through the valley the
plum and wild crab trees are bounti-
fully and beautifully loaded with their
foliage and flowers. The sweet per-
fume is " afted far on the breezes and
through the open windows Of the
little school house on the neighboring
hillside. 'Butleave this location; and
60 in whatsoever direction You may,
you viii not fail to fina flowers. ii
to the western plnin, the fieshy I'M.
graceful cactus will greet you with
blossoms almost indispensable in
beauty. He is right who says, "Grace
and beauty not always are combined.'
When in tropical region, you will be
surprised by the size and gaudy show
which the flowers there present. II
northward you travel, you may by
some careless movement bring to light
a few dull dark-green leaves. In try
ing to pluck these, you find that they
are united to running stem, along
which are pink waxy flower-clusters
before unnoticed. You have found
the trailing arbutus, the May. flower
OF the Pilgrims. Like birds the flow
ers have certain time for waking
In order to procure some varieties
you must be out early, for, like thu
morningglory. they stand and noe
in their greatest beauty in the morn
ing and before noon are passed BY
without glance. Others are tount
freshest when the sun is in the zenith; al
the scarlet pimpernel which wal
patiently until mid.day. Still other
appear when the departing day il
drawing it's curtains for tho night al
the evening primrose which SEEM
afraid of the sunlight. The con
volvulus Of the tropics and the flow
cred torch thistle open late in th,
silent night. "Here darkness show
us world Of light we mover see b,
day" Thus we see that it was no
the plan Of our Creator to max
bright one part of the day only. AM
more than merely one month of tn
year. These bright. hued messen
gers of awaking life first appear ii
early spring but new varieties d.
not cease to come until the bitin,
frosts of autumn give repeated warn
ing. Even then some will remail
and give their cheer all winter
they are only kept in a moist, com
Portable place. Let US examine
basket brought from the woods an,
fields on sweet May morning
when tho children are pulling o.
every side, in thousand valleys fla
, and wide, fresh flowers. Hero is
cluster Of flowers at tho summit O
a long flesh.colored stem, look close
ly as you hold one Of these in you
fingers. Each blossom may remin,
: you Of the star-fish by it's five pink
tinted petals extending horizontal,
or of the sea urchin by it's five anth
ers coming together at a point lik
the five teeth of that radiatc. i
tho centre arc dark ve,vety spot
surrounded by rings of yellow, whit
and dark pink. Hero also appear
the tiny bishops cup, cup shaped ii
, form, with each petal as delicatell
fringed as are the frost ferns on th
! window pancs. Apply your poke
gloss and behold each mark of beau
ty. Ferns are scattered in amongs
the flowers, some with their frond
slowly unrolling while others hav
! gracefully completed that work
Take that wild turnip blossom an,
and roll it slightly between you
fingers as you hold it.; then as th
! children say, g Little Jack VIII,
, stands In the pulpit begins to preach.
ln one corner of this basket is O col
lection nf moses, the dry gray mos