Evening star., 1936-05-16

too much SO. There are many herbs
which may be 50 used, but this Is one Of
the best for the purpose. It reminds
one Of apricots cooking.
The linden tree, or basswood, another
herbal favorite, Is not as fragrant in
bloom as the common locust, nor does
the odor strike all as any way near rs
pleasant. There Is something extremely
delightful about the locust blossoms.
It must be admitted that the linden
flowers excel in the teacup. This Is an
old European drink, favorite especially
in France, where it is said the convent
students gather every Spring to pick the
blossoms. These are dried and kept for
use. An infusion Of q teaspoonful Of the
leaves, with the smallest branches in
pieces, will make delightfully."- aromatic
brew, to which little lemon Juice may
be added if desired. A suspicion of sugar
Is all that is then necessary to give the
consumer one Of the very best Of the
herbal teas. This Is the famous Tilleul
Of the continent. As "Tisane" 1t is one
Of the best, II not the very best. This
tea Is supposed to be good for relieving
colds and indigestion. It achieves the
former by promoting perspiration, and
the latter by its warm water, so that
the cynical may say that the water does
the curing.
However that may be, the Towering
trees, Of which the locust and the linden
are excellent examples, are interesting
in their own right. Good specimens are
to be found all over Washington. The
locust. in particular, seems to be tree
Of the Northwest suburbs, especially of
nearby Maryland, where it grows to pro-
fusion. Just how long a locust will re-
main in good condition Is difficult to
say, for the roots are so shallow that
often the slightest storm will topple the
tree over. When 50 uprooted they yet
have enough hold on the earth to per-
NIT them to fall slowly, that is the rea-
son they are better planted. somewhat
close to a house. than just far enough
away to strike 1t with the full force of
the fall. II not too far of, they lower
themselves gracefully against the house,
doing 1t little harm. We remember
seeing two large locusts which fell stimuli
taneously across the front of a house,
coming to rest on a tin gutter, which was
merely bent q bit as the result Of the
weight Of the trees and the force of
their fall.
Locust seedlings come up in lawns, or
anywhere they can get q foothold.
Usually they are uprooted, but in some
respects it seems shame to waste them,
for they are vastly better trees than none.
One may think Of all the places where
some of these little trees would do o
great deal Of good.
There can be little doubt that the
average city dweller is not tree con-
sciouS" in the way he ought to be, both
for his own good, and for that OF his
city. Trees make home and city livable.
They not only give it shade and beauty
in Summer, but beauty In Winter as
wen. In addition, they attract the birds.
A city without trees and birds Is un-
thinkable, yet there are any number OF
spots where trees are woefully lacking.
and where q few specimens might as
well exist. Even the locust, despite its
faults, would be better than nothing. AS
long as it lasts, it Is good tree.
The common locust, in five or six years,
will make excellent growth. Many per-
sons think trees take too long to grow"
which is true, of course, but five years
goes before you know it, alas. 1t is @
five-year period which cannot be made
up, at least in so far as trees are con-
cerned. II one begins to plant trees
now, It will mean another five years,
and longer. But begin, at any rate.