122 LIFE OF A TREE. 
out of which it is formed, from the air,—and not, 
as we are naturally inclined to believe, from the 
earth! We have, however, lingered long enough 
over the food of plants. 
While we have been loitering to explain this 
part of the life of a Tree, a month has made a 
vast change in the look of our friend. See now 
the tree is in full dress, and on every branch 
behold a cluster of sweet smelling flowers! The 
air around teems with fragrance; and the tribes 
of insects come in crowds to pay court to the 
vegetable beauty, and to taste the sweet juices 
locked up in every flower. Our tree may be 
thought to be rather late in flower, for the tide 
of summer has reached its height, and many a 
Spring-flowering shrub has long since strewn its 
blossoms on the earth. But we gain this advan- 
tage, that the Spring-flowers are mostly pale, and 
often but feebly scented, while those of these 
warm and genial days are of a full rich colour, 
and emit a powerful fragrance, except at night, 
when they seem to lock up their caskets of scent, 
only to reopen them with the returning smile of 
the sun. 
This is rather a singular fact,—the difference of 
