The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1895-04-25

eht-StTth-tn VI
Mouse.
The dandelion was one Of the earl
est flowers to stir the children's mem
ories-memories which had lain dor
mant all winter: in New England 1t is
the tirstling of the year" In the days
IF my childhood we did not wait for
the buttercup to open, to learn wheth-
ar we loved butter" the soft, dimpl"
chin of each child was held up, as ha
been those of other children for pas,
decades, to catch the yellow reflection
Of the first dandeliOn on the pinky
throat.
Dear common flower, that grow'st
beside the way,
bringing the dusty road with harm
less gold,
First pledge Of blithesome May,
Which children pluck, and full Of
pride, uphold.
The dandelion had other charms for
he child. When the bloom had grown
lOpg-Stemmed through seeking the
sun from under the dense No. borders,
what pale green curlS could be made
by splitting the stems and immersing
them in water or by placing them in
the mouth. | taste still their bitter
ness! What grace these curls confer
red when fastened to our round combs
~ hung over Il straight braids.-
far better than locks Of corn silk.
And what adjoining necklaces and
chains could be made by stringing
"%dandeliOn beads" formed by cutting
the stems into sections,
When the dandeliOn had lost her
golden locks and had grown old and
gray, the children still plucked the
downy heads, the "clocks,' or blow
balls and holding them by the long
stems which bare alOft these airy seed
vessels, and fOrtifying the strong.
young lungs with a deep breath. they
blew upon the head ITO see whether
my mother wants me-" or TO learn the
time of day.
Dandelion the globe of down.
The schoolboy's clock in every town,
Which the truant puffs amain
To ~conjure back long hours again.
The OX-eyed daisy, the farmers hat
ed white weed, brought TO New Eng
land by Endicott as a garden flower
SOOn followed the dandelion in bloom,
and a fresh necklace could be strung
from the starry blossoms. a daisy
chain. The daisy was also used as
a medium of amatD Dry divination by
pulling from the iCret the white ray
flowers. saying. He loves me, he
tnN.nS t.,n not - go. h. 80. 49, a., III
apple rhyme:
One | love.
Two | love,
Three l love, I say:
Four | love with all my heart,
Five | cast away, etc.
The yellow disk, or button" which
waS formed by stripping off the white
rays. made a pretty pumpkin pie for
the dolls table. A very effective and
bilious old lady, or daisy grandmoth-
err" was made by clipping off the
rays to shape the ruffie or border of a
cap, leaving two long ray for strings
and marking in a grotesque old face
with pen and ink. a dusky face, call
ed with childish p~lainness of speech
a "nigger head could be made in like
fashion from the "black-eyed Susan
or yellow daisy" the Rudbeckia hirta
which now rivals the oX-eyed daisy
as a pest of the New England farm
er.
Though the spring viOlets were dear
~ loved, we slaughtered them ruthless
ly by fighting ROSTERS" with them.
The projecting spur under the curve
stem at the base of the flower was q
hook. and when the viOlets ''clinch-
ed we pulled till the stronger was
~conqueror. Sometimes a tOugh-stem-
med violet would decapitate a score
of its fellows.
What braided "cat-ladders" and
quaint medieval shaped boats with
swelling lateen sail and pennant of
striped grass. could be made from the
Hat, Sword-like leaves of the fiOwer-de
luce! And the dicentra. or 'dielytra'
bleeding heart, or lady's eardrops, we
called it, had long, gracefully droOp-
ing acemes of bright. red-pink flow
ers. which. when pulled apart and
Strengthened out. made fairy gondolas;
or which might be twisted into IL harp
aud bottle. How many scores ha We l
carefully dissected trying to preserve
intact In skeleton shape the little
~heart-shaped frame" Of the delicate
flower!
There was a certain garden lore
connected with insects. not so varied
or extensive, probably, as a child
would have upon a farm. We said to
the snail:
Snail, snail, come out of your hole,
Or else | will beat you black as a coal.
We sang to the lady-bug-
Lady-bug, lady-bug, fly away home;
Your house is on fire, your children
will burn.
We caught the g~rasshOppers and
thus eXhorted them
Grandfather, grandfather. gray,