222 FLOWERS AND FOLKS. 



that be the production of buds, blossoms, 

 berries, leaves, bark, timber, or what not; 

 and our judgment of them must be corre- 

 spondingly varied. The vine bears blos- 

 soms, but is to be rated not by them, but by 

 the grapes that come after them; and the 

 rose-tree bears hips, but takes its rank not 

 from them, but from the flowers that went 

 to the making of them. "Nothing but 

 leaves "is a verdict unfavorable or other- 

 wise according to its application. The tea- 

 shrub would hold up its head to hear it. 



One of the most interesting and sugges- 

 tive points of difference among plants is 

 that which relates to the matter of self- 

 reliance. Some are made to stand alone, 

 others to twine, and others to creep. If it 

 were allowable to attribute human feelings to 

 them, we should perhaps be safe in assuming 

 that the upright look down upon the climb- 

 ers, and the climbers in turn upon the creep- 

 ers; for who of us does not felicitate him- 

 self upon his independence, such as it is, or 

 such as he imagines it to be? But if inde- 

 pendence is indeed a boon, and I, for one, 

 am too thoroughbred a New Englander ever 

 to doubt it, it is not the only good, nor 



