Evening star., 1914-04-26

htcf has preserved Few notes OF. q Walk
hich he took in the country Just before
the cold snap which came on Decem-
ber .
There was then a springlile touch in
the air and fields and woods. In the
country close to the river below the city
and in some situations sheltered from
the north winds fruit trees were in. bios
som, and the Rambler knows of an apple
tree which bore a second crop of fruit.
That is not story which comes over the
wires from some place far away. but 1t
happened in little orchard not especial
" sheltered. in the Oxon Hill neighbor-
hood near Fort Foote. The second crop
of apples from trees that had borne their
FIRST crop in June were harvested late in
November. They we're considerably small
er than the apples of the first crop. but
we're of excellent favor.
In the early days of last December the
Rambler saw in an old garden on the
Wheeler road. not far from the point at
which that road crosses Barnabee run.
lilac bushes in bud. while bridal wreath
was turning green and white and jon
quils We're peeping up through the garden
mold. In many places in the southern
part of Prince Georges county, especially
in places near the river. apple and plum
trees Were blossoning and in sheltered
hooks strawberry vines were starred with
their white flowers. Rose bushes which
had shed their foliage in the fail were
eating out. and the hardy roses con-
tinued to bloom until the cold snap came.
At that time willows were showing spring
buds, poplars We're beginning to display
their aments the naples and the elns
We're coming out. chickweed was showing
its little white flowers along the sunny
roadsides. catnip was blooming. gill-over-
the-ground was showing a desire to
flower and Violets could be found.
But, though it has been a tardy spring,
Il day or can make a great change
in the face of nature. and before these
lines get into print it may seem that the
good. old summer time has come. Last
Sunday in the woods the Rambler found
many specimens of the skunk cabbage.
hut that was nothing unusual, it being
the first flower to appear in spring. In
fact the shell-like spathe may be found
above the ground and the pollen ripe in
warm days in January, when there are
such days. and the usual Towering sea-
son of this unfragrant but not unbeauti-
ful plant is from the latter part of Feb
ruary to the first of May. The flower
Spathes show a great diversity of color
pale green. sparingly streaked with
brown. to an almost solid purple tone.
The leaves of the plant appear after the
flower has begun to wither. The leaves
are bright green, large, strongly veined
and cabbagelike. 1t is called skunk cab
Lace because of its similarity to cabbage
and because of the odor
The dog-tooth violet, or yellow adder's
tpngue. sometimes also called trout
lily and '.fawn lily" has been found
carly this spring in moist woods sheltered
from the north. Purple twisted-stock
was found. and Solonlon's seal. with its
small, greenish, bell-shaped flowers hang
ing IN pairs on slender peduncles from
the axis of the leaves. is abundant in
remote woodland spots. Then one can
md in the woods today purple trillium
ur birth root ill-scented wake-robn.
and If you have keen eyes and good
luck. you may find the painted trillium
with its sharply pointed. wavy-edged,
waxy-white petals with crimson N-shaped
marks at the bases.
You may also find the pure waxy-white
flowers Of the Atamasco lily. but this
fou will only in moist DlaCes or