£27 
First you find about seven of these outside wrappings. 
The very outer ones are thick and brown, and covered 
with the sticky stuff that makes them proof against 
rain. 
The next ones are brown and thick where their tips 
are exposed to the air, while the inner ones are green 
and delicate. But altogether they make a warm, snug 
covering for young leaves and flowers. 
As for the baby leaves themselves, they are all done 
up in a furry stuff that keeps them from catching cold, 
even if a gust of wind or a few drops of rain should 
manage to make a way through the waterproof and 
almost air-tight wrappings. 
So you see that the leaves and branches and young 
flowers of a plant or tree are looked after just as care- 
fully as is the seed within the seed case, or the baby 
plant in its seed shell. 
0 -g00-— 
i eee eo RE RSE 
ERE you see a branch from the red maple (Fig. 
130). 
On the flowering shoots three buds grow side by side. 
The middle, smaller one holds the leaves. These leaves 
do not appear until the two outer, larger buds have 
burst into flower clusters; for the flowers of the red 
maple appear before its leaves. 
I want you to bring to school as many different kinds 
of branches as you can find, and I hope you will examine Fie. 130 
