Tales out of school

by Frank R. Stockton

But then you know pitchers are of a great many different shapes, and sizes, and are only alike in being able to hold water.

But the most wonderful of all the plants that give men water to drink is a tree that is said to have been found some years ago in one of the Canary islands. It was seen at different times by different travelers, and they all told the same story about it. The leaves grew thickly on its spreading branches, and, from each leaf the drops fell so rapidly that all together they formed a steady shower of rain.

It was called the Weeping Tree.

The water fell so copiously that it formed a pond at the foot of the tree, and the people who lived in the neighborhood got from it all the water they used. This is certainly a very wonderful tree if the accounts of it are true.

There is a plant of the Arum family, with broad, heart-shaped leaves that constantly throws from the end of each leaf a drop of water. These drops sometimes follow each other so fast that there is a little jet of water formed in the air above the leaf.

But water is not the only drink that we get from trees. In Central and South America grows the cow-tree, which gives milk! This milk can be obtained during all seasons, but is much more abundant in the spring. If a deep cut is made with a hatchet in the bark of the tree a stream of milk gushes out, and flows freely. It yields the greatest quantity at sunrise, and, at that hour, in the places where this tree grows, men and women come from all directions to the tree nearest their homes to get a supply of this refreshing drink. They bring pitchers with them, and take some of the milk back to their families.

This white fluid is like cow’s milk in appearance, but it is not equally good from all trees. But it is just so with the cows, you know. Some of these animals give rich yellow milk, and some of the milk is blue-white, and thin. Some give a great deal, and others very little. And some cow trees yield richer and yellower milk than others, but it is all sweet and wholesome, and of a pleasant smell. It tastes, in fact, almost exactly like cow’s milk. Like that it is used for making custards, puddings, &c.; and, when boiled, behaves just as ordinary milk does, and will run over the vessel in a minute, if not watched. When allowed to stand for a time cream forms on the top. This is taken off, and made into a sort of cheese, not very different from our cheeses.

THE COW TREE.

This is a very nice kind of cow to have—this vegetable cow—as it requires no feeding, or care, and, when it dies others spring up in its place. It seems a pity that we cannot have these economical cows in our country.