50 HIGHWAYS AKD BYWAYS. 



^^ A breath of fragrance like a thought 

 That haunts you, but will not be caught/^ 



Nothing can be jDrettier than the blossoms, some of 

 which are bright pink, some nearly pure white, while 

 others are as delicately tinted as a sea shell. The 

 flow^ers are in axillary clusters. In some the stamens 

 extend beyond the pistils, and in others the pistil pro- 

 trudes farthest. Probably this arrangement is to assist 

 the insects m cross fertilization. The bumble-bees 

 seem partial to the arbutus, and on some knolls where 

 the blossoms were most abundant these bees were so 

 thick and noisy that my little daughter, who w^as with 

 me, did not dare to pick the flowers. The stems and 

 shining leaves, formed last summer, and the latter, 

 green all winter under the snow, took in as they grew 

 a food supply for their early blossoms, making it unnec- 

 essary for them to wait so long in the spring for the 

 elements of earth and air to be converted into flower 

 organs. The hej^aticas have this same ingenious device 

 for putting forth so early their attractive blossoms. 



JSTear the clearing in the upper woods we came across 

 a sandy knoll, the sunny side of w^hicli for a space of 

 several yards was completely covered }vith the thrifty 

 vines, all pink and white, and w^onderfuUy sweet. The 

 place had not been visited this spring, as the dry leaves, 

 beneath which many a bright cluster lay hidden, had 

 not been disturbed. The little girl was wild with 

 delight as treasure after treasure was revealed by^ the 

 removal of the leaves, and I confess my sympathy with 

 her when she knelt down and kissed them in their fra- 



