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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



THE LONG AND POINTED BUDS QF BEECH 



our shyest native birds that seeks "the 

 most interminable of swamps." 



Therefore in view of all the many 



thing's that have been so generally and 

 so well said of buds in the last sixty 

 years, and especially in the last ten, 

 iet us for the first time give the buds 

 an opportunity on the printed page 

 to speak for themselves and to show 

 us their beauty. It is a strange fact 

 that in no text-book on botany, in no 

 article for teachers that has come to 

 ArcAdiA, are there any commendable 

 illustrations of buds. The only ex- 

 ception is in some country or suburban 

 magazine that occasionally has a dec- 

 orative "Contents" photograph of the 

 opening of those buds commonly 

 known as pussy willows. These fluffy 

 bursts of spring in the lowlands are 

 interesting Mower buds, but are not 

 myriads of others as beautiful and in- 

 teresting? 



Coulter's and Bailey's textbooks of 

 botany have clear, well written, in- 

 teresting descriptions of buds, but the 

 illustrations are not adequate. 



Bailey's "The Burst of Spring," a 

 Cornell nature study leaflet, is so viv- 

 idly written and so full of the enthu- 

 siasm of spring that it makes one's 

 heart beat more rapidly and induces 

 one to turn his steps towards the 

 woods in springtime. One must be 

 dormant if he is not inspired by that 

 leaflet, but the only photographic il- 

 lustration is of four boys climbing a 

 leafless tree, supposedly in search of 

 buds, though they look as if they were 

 merely posing for the photographer. 



What are the best things that have 

 been said about buds? For many years 

 I have been collecting books, mag- 



THE SHORT AND STUBBY BUDS OF THE SYCAMORE. 

 These are covered in summer by the leaf stems ar.d exposed in winter. 



