Hpril 



77 



the young saplings are sufficiently tall they are cut 

 down, and after a few years the stems that have sprouted 

 from the root-stocks are just 

 the straight poles that are 

 required to support the hop- 

 plants. The process is re- 

 peated from time to time, so 

 as to maintain the needed 

 supply. A little wood of 

 this kind is called a 'shave/ 

 possibly a corruption of the 

 word shaw, with which we are 

 familiar. 



In olden times the ash was 

 called ' The Husbandman's 

 Tree,' as it supplies tough, 

 flexible handles for all kinds 

 of tools and agricultural im- 

 plements. 



We may easily distinguish 

 the two kinds of catkins on 

 the birch ; the pistil-bearing 

 flower is small and upright, 

 whilst the male catkin hangs 

 down and bears the pollen in its bracts. Towards 

 the autumn we shall find the small catkin, which is 

 now erect, will have become pendent and composed 

 entirely of minute seeds which autumnal gales will 

 carry far and wide. 



SEEDLING TREES 



The lawns and flower-beds are now covered 

 with sycamore, beech, and other seedling trees in 

 various stages of growth. As the two seed-leaves, or 



BIRCH CATKIN. 



