Evening star., 1931-12-14
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Were the trees and the bushes and
the shrubs and the perennials glad be-
cause Of the recent slight snow, which
melted away almost Immediately into
the ground?
They should have been.
II tree had a brain, If a shrub had
eyes, II bush had ears, each and every
one OF them would rejoice when rain
drips down through their branches.
Rain Is a bath and a dinner at one
and the same time for the growing
things with roots In the ground.
Every twig is washed clean Of dust
SO that 1t can breathe again.
The dust CT the Summer Is swept
away and the old bark once more Is In
q condition to function.
What II the Winter Is at hand. when
the precious green matter has with
drawn into the recesses and the precious
yellow matter has come to the front
and the precious red matter is long
lost IN the leaves which have fallen?
The tree and the shrub must remem-
Der, II they can remember land let us
not be too sure that they cannot) that
they are wise with the wisdom OF the
ages, that Spring will come again and
convert them once more to greenness
and luscious burgeoning.
Il
A big, slushy snow which melted
slowly but not too tardily would be just
the thing for the entire countryside.
What a word-"countryside"!
1t brings up pictures of rail fences
and long curving roads. and f1elds with
| stubble In them. and Ice covering the
rudimentary cutters, country cutters
unworthy of cities. but doing very well
where they are, thank you.
The countryside is slice OF the great
earth, brought down to our little d.
menslons There are too many houses
in the city to see the world. 1t Is difi-
cult to see the world, even when one is
out In the country. In the city the
thing Is impossible. The street lamps
are In the way of the sky and the side
walks Of the earth. One cannot tell II
the earth curves or not, because the
lines Of the curbs are SO straight.
In the country all that is changed
On an open road in the Autumn it is
as easy to believe that the world is
shaped like an orange as 1t Is to hold
firmly to the conviction in the back
part OF ones mind that 1t surely Is fiat
after all.
II the Winter is wet. as many hope
1t will be, no one should be irritated, nc
one should repine, no one should be
sulky about it.
II Winter comes soggy and damp
there are millions OF living things which
will be benefited. couple OF deer
SHOWS would do the water table" q
great deal OF gooi.
The amateur horticulturist likes to
think of the underlying water table as
the meteorologists call it, as a rich
banquet board spread for all plant life
| At first blush one might be inclined
to think of 1t as a cupboard. where the
plants get their nourishment, but in
reality it Is a table. spread there fol-
the benefit Of those things which mus,
take up their food In solution.
A plant does not eat chemical ele-
ments. but rather drinks them. With
out water all the fertility in the whole
world would be useless to single grow.
ing thing.
/ ., Surface water is supremely better
than none at all. but it is upon the
water table that the plants must draw
IN the last resource, as these under
lying strata of moisture are drawn up
repeating the ceaseless cycle of evap-
grafton and condensation.
a Dig snoW-yes, a big SHOWS what
the countryside needs