Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-29
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

sunshine, but the roots Of the forest
monsters draw away both nutriment
and water from the other plants.
1t Is possible, however, by proper
placement OF b few trees to get all the
good effect of the mass and at the same
time to have at their best all the other
fine things mentioned.
II one happens to be, Of course, one
Of these human beings who positively
dotes on trees we would say; Wei. IN
that case, get all the trees you can and
live in the shade If you enjoy shade.
Some do. And that is their business.
= R% y
Bees like apple trees.
Sometimes they swarm on them. II
you haven't seen bees swarming you
have missed something. But any one
can read about it in Maeterlinck's
Life of the Bee" which contains q
great deal about the mystery of these
strange insects. Perhaps no author
ever got a bigger reputation writing
about one subject that Maeterlinck did
when he took up the bees. This came
about because he wrote about them as
no other man in the world would have
written about them. When it comes to
boring in on the consciousness of the
reader, the mystery Of their behavior,
the Belgian poet, playwright and essay
ist is supreme. It is interesting to note
that this good book has now been is
sued in dollar edition.
Our total acquaintance with bees ex-
tends to having been bitten-er stung-
by them when we were very small. 1t
was the first time we ever went bare
footed--except at the Seashore-and
also the last, for the aforementioned
reason.
The bees took an immediate and
hasty dislike to us, and maybe they
were right AS we recall, We didn /
stop to argue the matter with them.
and have never had any opportunity
since Isn't 1t curious how life actu-
ally takes you away from things?
Bees, for instance, and apple trees.
Honey Is q much overpraised stuff,
II you ask us. We have tried to eat
years on end without ever gaining the
slightest enthusiasm for that which
the bees have collected with so much
labor.
Even a love for the flowers and an
astute realization that this bright
honey Is the very distilled essence of
posies has not enabled us to like
honey.
To be quite honest about 1t, honey
does not agree with us at all. Hot
biscuits with good butter on them are
good enough for any one. Why clutter
them UP with honey?
We always have thought 1t some
thing of dirty trick on the bees to
take their nice honey away from them
after they have gone to so much pains
and buzZing to collect 1t.
But it Is no more than what Is done
to the COW, to take her milk intended
for her offspring, away from her and
then feed it to all the human beings
in the world.
And no one groans at the great In
justice done to poor bossy, so no one
shall shed tear for the plight Of the
bees. Man is the bees master, for all
its intelligence, and, as Maeterlinck
points out, without the bee once sus-
pecting 1t Is mans little slave.
Apple treesl
Here's to the tree Of youth, with its
snowy blossoms and It's rounds Of sue
culent eating
If there is anything more beautiful
in the Spring than the sight of a
stucco house against which an apple
tree flaunts its flowers, we do not know
what 1t is
The house, however, must be Of stuc-
co for the best effect, and preferably
pink stucco. We know just where such
a house Is, and shall tell you in the
Spring
In the meantime, II any one asks
you what good Is stucco house, reply
in this wise:
ITO grow an apple tree against"