Norwich bulletin., 1919-09-20
THE MAN WHO TALKS

Of shade will dlStort the most beauti- full flower in the garden? The shadow the finger of Destruction, for it is the foe of order. the despoiler of beauty. The slightest shadow means depres- sion, whether it lies across beautiful of a human heart. It is only little thing, but it has the power to deform the work of the sun, or to debase the spirit of love and righteousness in the human soul. We must have a guard against the distorting little shadows in the garden and in the heart or things designed to be beautiful will become perverted.
 The thing ! have not seen this sum mer is a young wren. The wrens first tree and were feeding a brood in June: In July they had changed to the old house in the sekel pear tree. and at mid-August | noticed the male again carrying food. which indicated that a second brood was being raised. The last time I heard the wren. trill was on Sept. 2d. I have watched the houses closely for the entire season, and have not seen a fledgling: and with them breeding on the place for 20 years I have not seen one. Had risen at dawn and watched, paid the price of the Knowledge, I proba bly, should have learned something of their manner of training and departure.
 When one explores the dahIia patch at the close of day the lazy bumble- drunk, they are so stupid and de- fenseless. Some are asleep for they have no hive to return to at night; and some have been doped by enemies and have visited their last flower. There is hardly a dahlia in the gar den that has not hidden in its petals a tiny spider, slayer of giants. who when slumber invites the> bees to rest dose of poison which shall make the bee and his booty the spiders meat. Wherever there are pretty flowers in nature there are traps and tragedies and cannibals, Life in a little world of flowers has it's dark side.
 The dewdreps were siistenins upon the plants one morning when the gardener visited his seeding patch to See if any new plant faces had open ed to the suh to invite the bees, He took hold of wee stem and looked a, semi double pink and white bloom in the eye and thought Hello, you homely child of the Pink Pearl. should know you anywhere. Unlike your parent in everything but color you are worth keepinE-' Then he espied lying low in a corner precious gem of a bloom gleaming in she'll pink and white, as round as a dollar and worth twice as much. Hello, Roundy,r he thought - to himself since I brought your parents across the seas have never seen from them child as delicate and beautiful as you!" And thus the gardener identified and greeted his floral children.
 The world. is. full of ornithoIoeical puzzles. Birds of a kind are not bless ed with exact plumaGe *or similar manners. Whoever has studied the it easy to identify them. Lately Il have noticed bird at the lunch counter which resembled a sparrow and acted like a geldfinch He was smoky gray all over and had brown bar on the wings was larger than a gold finch but in form unlike a spar row He would drive the sparrows from the feeding boz. darting at them IS l have seen goldfinches do, and he would not let sparrow feed while he was in the box. This is a non 1escript not readily identified.
 A flock of English sparrows were assembled on a clump of sunf1owers and a baby bird found a spray di rectly in front of a great ripe seed ed disk and began to help himself 1 If any of the other birds flew to this spray 1t was apparent it would yield U tner weight and lower it sol nat birdie could not get peck a t ne seeds, so they all sat watching ne hedgling admiringly while ( he l ook his first feast alone The old olros manners required that they should honor the baby bird while he l proceeded with his lesson. This wa cnarins exhibit of self-restrain int 1 which seemed 10 show birds have luality as well as mankind
 love to wander beside a brook ,n a quiet day. Where>it lies shinine Ike burnished silver in the sunshine throwing the tiniest flower upon it's i 'anks as distinctly as the nearhy free ,r wooded hill Had it not been for ne reflective power of natures ponds | -hd waterways. man would never ave invented his first mirror. The primitive maid with dishevelIed ha IF l lrranging her toilet by the lakeside a pretty thought picture of wbst | lsed to be: and the 1ookfne-rIsssi arly in its day became recognized as m artificial means of lighting caves ld fine work in them Would Wo- nan ever have been so vain. had lot nature first taught her to see ana -dmire herself o
 There were two plants side bv side | the garden beneath the shade of a ear tres. enc iar=o. white single . , and the other a shassy-maue1 oubie yellow flower and one dav he gardener as he wandered in inc atn saw that the big white dahlia ,as saving plainly enough to him, not T words, but in the language of flow
 
 onger separate" The buds on one lde or the white lowered plant were nree times as large as those on che ther side, for where the flowers wera r se the insects had hybridized them nd the seed pods ware in shape and lze companions of the seed pods of ne big yellow double flower This is ature's challenge to the gardener: Plant me. and will show you new!'
 | Of recent day as was takins hlox seeds from their pods. amid 1e dust which fell from them I saw
 speck move. and placing the mag lrylng glass over it. enlarging it ten mes, found it was tiny beetle per- ,ct in form and graceful in action. nough not more than three thous- ndths of an inch in diameter; and in nat tiny nest he lived and fed and n]oyed life. We think of this crea- ire as confined in close quarters, but IS nome was as big as building 300 eet high and 75 feet wide would be pr you and l. He had plenty of room enjoy the pursuits of freedom, pro-