Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1915-10-28

world much finer than a big elderberry
bush standing In pile Of stones, and
trying to hold up a bushel of frst-rate
pie fruit. They are also good for tsrts
1--WE were once boys, and remember that.
along with bits Of Latin and Greek and
some English).
wINDFALLs FOR sTRoLLERs.
Orchards keep small gusts--little winds
that don't have anything else to do only
TO blow off dead-ripe apples--the maiden's
blush and the mother apple, and other
sorts that nature does not tighten to the
limbs, meaning them for strollers like
you and me; and they keep dropping un-
til the ground Is covered Help your
self" Nature gays; and every sort Of
fruit-tree seems TO echo Nature. What
q wonderful storage Of fruit is a New
England hillside In October!
Anjou pears as big as your fist roll
down into the swales, ana mako piles
where you can sit down by them; pare
one Of tho largest and yellowest, aud
think Of Paradise. We forgot whether
we came on foot, or whether We arc in
charge OF Old Dobbn, II the latter. wa
will have to hitch him to tho street
fence here and there. while we stroll the
lot and paddle the brook. We should
like to have you feed that old nag Of
ours with a hatfu OF apples, and see
how happy he will be. while we our
selves are not disconnected. II might.
however, be we'll, before we ara too
cheerfully benevolent to follow the odors
Of one of these farmhouse dinners. and
ask the permission Of whoever meets us.
SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION.
Most likely the plump housewife will
answer by bringing us painful OF dough-
nuts or cookies. Our preference Is for
either 1t will not be trcspasslng, but
very acceptable on her side IL you place
a few in your pocket-meanwhilep rais-
ing her cookery. We may not be quite
right about that word-it may be cook
ing: but at any rate show that you
appreciate what tho pan contains. When
you go you will have left whole lot Of
sunshine in that woman's heart Please
say something nice to the two or three
urchins who are about. and they will
probably find immense Joy in accompany
ing you back to the orchard, and add
ing very generously to the apples al
ready In your pockets or in the buggy
WHERE THE FUN COMES.
But the fun comes In when you reach
the wild grapes and the butternuts
There Is no nut like the butternut to be
eaten out of hand, so you can sit down
anywhere and crack them, and as for
cooking. there Is nothing near so good
for a. possible pudding. Among the grapes
that festoon the elms or covers stone
fences you are pretty sure TO find Con-
cords and Herberts gone wild, and pos
slbly an old-fashioned Isabella or Cataw-
ba. These improved grapes are getting
to be wild natives in spite Of them
selves. like the Ir.shman who pleaded
hard to become "a natural-horn Aineri-
can" Twenty-Five years from now a lot
OF these evolutions will elbow out the
foxy sorts, or with them will climb all
around our Yankee pastures and scramble
over the bushes and small trees from
Maine to Michigan. What wonderful
time our boys one hundred years from
now will have hunting grapes In Octo-
Der! The real boy needs no ladder, but
grips the ropes that swing down full Of
punches; and up he goes. helping HIM
self and throwing down for the rest Of
US.
sumac and Virginia creeper blazed half
the hillside In September with crimson
Pushes and with flashes Of scarlet Every
old log was touched up. and rail fences
glorifed, and stone fences with stone
piles became rightdown beautiful. We
count In chunks Of goldenrod and wild
blue aster where the ground Ia moist.
There is time when the neglected Is
the most cared for, and the toughest be-
comes the most beautiful. What is there
in October that Is not beautiful? Sit
down anywhere. and leaves will At to
you that surpass the color works OF art
(Of course they do. That was a remark
that no genuine lover Of Nature would
make. We will not however. rub It our.
Gather some OF the finest leaves that
come from tho soft maples-you surely
Will, only you will know that you will
throw them away as soon as you get
home; but wherever leaf Is. there Is
something to be ground UP into next
years compost. How they fly about us.
and yet It is only October. The white
frost has loosened them from the ash
trees and the nut-trees and from this
time on Nature will be cabling contin-
TALLY about 1915.