is above the
foldyard; from it there are only two or three steps to the door of the
loft or "tallet" above the stables. It is there that we will go now.

The wall of the tallet is of stone and is very old; the roof is tiled.
There is a little hole cut in the bottom of the door, and you will see
one like it in the door of the granary. It is made so that old Tib and
the other cats can go in and catch mice. Growing between the stones of
the wall just by the tallet door is the plant I want to show you now.

It is the Stonecrop. Some of the stems grow upright, while others are
trailing. At the top of each upright stem is a cluster of bright yellow
flowers. Some of these are fully open, and we see that each blossom has
five pointed petals. The trailing stems have no flowers at all, they are
barren; but the leaves on the barren stems are much more numerous and
closer together than those on the upright flowering stems.

[Illustration: COMMON STONECROP.]

These leaves are very curious. They are not flat like the leaves of the
Red Valerian, the Toadflax, and most other flowers; they are very thick
and fleshy--something like a short round pointed stick. They grow close
against the stalk, not in pairs, but alternately, first a leaf on one
side of the stalk, then a leaf on the other. They are erect too; that
is, they point in the same direction as the stalk.

On the barren stems the leaves grow so closely that they quite cover the
stalk. They have a hot sharp taste, and the plant is sometimes called
"Wall-Pepper." The roots are very thin and can spread easily through
narrow chinks of the wall.

We will see one more plant of the walls before we look for flowers
elsewhere. Our next plant is not very common at Willow Farm; still I
know where to look for it. Built against one side of the big barn in the
foldyard is a little lean-to shed. Often there are calves in it; but
just now we are more interested in something that is on the roof.

Standing close to the wall of the shed is a cattle crib--a kind of big
square box or trough on legs, in which hay or chaff is put for the
cattle. The shed is not very high, and by standing on the crib we can
scramble on to the roof. Here is the plant we want to see.

It is the Houseleek, of which a clump is growing between the tiles.
Almost flat on the tiles is a dense mass of large green fleshy leaves.
These leaves are evergreen, they do not die and fall off in winter. From
this cluster of leav