Evening star., 1944-07-27
This and That
By Charles E. Trnce1DeH.
Il UJ z IIEII.
FALLS CHURCH.

Dear Sir:
:" The best things in life are free" is an
Ola proverb which inspires me to set
1ortn my experiences in my favorite
outooor sport OF gathering blackberries
aI the rear OF my garden tract, between
the stream bed and the vegetable gar
den.
/ am fond of blackberries in every
form, and the season started about july
l. ms particular afternoon I wanted
piackoefry pie and got it the hard wav.
accompanied by my faithful old
AlFeoale, who also is fond of blackber-
rles, and dressed in heavy breeches and
KHAKI blouse for protection against
orlars. ankles and forearms smeared
with about a tablespoonful of kerosene
as protection against ticks, have been
aple to gather quarts every other dav,
Aside from the thorny bushes 1 have
been warned against snakes for about
eight years by old-timers.
My philosophy on the matter of
snakes is that 80 per cent of them will
wrigge away at the approach of a
human, and while they are always on
the offensive I believe they would not
attack unless they were cornered. which
Va
Sincerely yours, o. E. c."
A tangle of blackberry bushes is one
OF the best things to attract birds.
More than l46 species have been
counted at them
Those which like blackberry bushes
INCLUDE the robin, cardinal oriole, blue
bird, catbird,S cedar waxwing, rose
breasted grosbeak, song sparrow, king
blrd, tltmouse, wood thrush, bobolink
and flicker
Blackberries which do we'll in this
vicinity are the Rubus canadensis. Ru-
bus frondosus and Rubus alleghenien-.
sis Dry, sandy soil in the sun is the
best for them. They will, however. grow
in places less favorable. This means
that almost any yard may have black
berry bushes. Out-Of-the-Way places,
such as the corners behind garages,
might as we'll have berry bushes as the
piles of old lumber and rusty wheel
barroWS which so often are found there.
Various berry bushes make interesting
paintings for average suburban yards,
not only because of the birds they at
tract, but also because of the vigor and
beauty of their growth and the fact that
they are in such locations, unusual
Yes, it is true that many persons have
tried them in small places and have
found them more of nuisance than
anything else, so they say They have
forgotten about the birds Indeed, anv
one who believes that he is not being
successful in attracting the songbirds,
especially in summer, would do we'll to
plant the various berries, including a
few strawberries. The thorns and wild
growth are a part of the picture. They
must be accepted Hence if there are
small children around, the berry patch
had best be fenced
Birds never seem to be harmed by
thorns. We have watched them on
thorny rosebusheS and as far as could
be seen they never suffer in the least
Occasionally in the woods an observer
may see bird which has been impaled
on a thorn, probably through vast ill
fortune, or the evil deed of a shrike, or
butcher bird.
AS Tor blackberry pies, they are
1aVorltes OF many persons and place
high in slap-stick comedy, but for
good. all-around summer pie what can
touch peach?
All! there you have something.
Peaches have been none too good the
last two summers, but this year they
are better and the pies made from them
delicious
And peach ice cream, too-there YOU
really have something There is a deli
cate something to the peach, when it is
rlght, which somehow reminds one of
the scent OF the lilac on a dewy morn
Ing. Surely no fragrance in the world
can equal the lilac when it is right, and
nothing can surpass the peach in its per-
lection except another peach. Between
peaches in the round, slices in cream,
In pie, shortcake, cobbler the connois-
seur will have an unending series of
delights with but one drawback, that the
peach season is all too short, failure
OF many delicious things which cannot
be held against one Of the most perfect
fruits. ml