nt supplies for
the busy swarms. The flowers have other uses, too, besides the making of
honey: the Swiss are said to obtain a favorite beverage from them, and
in the South of France an infusion of the blossoms is taken for colds
and hoarseness, and also for fever. 'Active boys climb to the topmost
branches and gather the fragrant flowers, which their mothers catch in
their aprons for that purpose. An avenue of limes has been ravaged and
torn in pieces by the eagerness of the people to gather the blossoms,
and they are often made into tea which is a soft sugary beverage in
taste a little like licorice.'"

"How queer," said Clara, "to make tea from flowers!"

"Is it any queerer," asked her governess, "than to make it from leaves?
I should think that the flowers might even be better, and yet I should
scarcely like lime-tea that tastes like licorice."

The children, though, seemed to think that they would like it, and Miss
Harson had very little doubt that such would be the case.

"Both the bark and the wood of the lime tree are valuable," she
continued. "The fibres of the bark are strong and firm, and make
excellent ropes and cordage. In Sweden and Russia they are made into a
kind of matting that is very useful for packing-purposes and in
protecting delicate plants from the frost. 'The manufacture of this
useful material is carried on in the summer, close by the woods and
forests where the lime trees grow in abundance. As soon as the sap
begins to ascend freely the bark parts from the wood and can be taken
away with ease. Great strips are then peeled off and steeped in water
until they separate into layers; the layers are still further divided
into smaller strips or ribbons, and are hung up in the shade of the
wood, generally on the very tree itself from which they have been taken.
After a time they are woven into the matting and sent to market for
sale. The Swedish fishermen also manufacture it into a coarse thread for
fishing-nets, and from the fibres of the young shoots the Russian
peasant makes the strong shoes he wears, using the outer bark for the
soles. In Italy the garments of the poorer people are often made of
cloth woven from this material."

"Why, people can fairly _live_ on trees," said Malcolm. "I didn't know
that they were good for anything but shade--except the trees that have
fruit and nuts on 'em."

"There is a great deal for us all to learn of the works of the Creator,"
replied Miss Harson, "and