OCTOBER. 171 



been rendered increasingly patent by the number and 

 beauty of the spring flowers especially the narcissi and 

 primroses which have brightened our borders for some 

 weeks past, by the white tresses of our orchard trees now 

 brightening into a pink flush as the apple blossoms are 

 opening, and by the varying hues of green which have been 

 displayed by the unfolding foliage of the trees and hedge- 

 rows. The development of bud and leaf is beautifully 

 exemplified in the introduced deciduous trees, and it is 

 wonderful to note the protective devices of the various 

 species, and the economy of space in many a bud in which 

 the young leaves are being quietly folded close together 

 waiting the advent of the warmer weather and the longer 

 days. Lubbock has published a book on Biids and Stipules, 

 and it is worth anyone's while who has sufficient interest 

 in the subject, and who will take the time to do so (and 

 who has not the time, unless it be the person who has 

 nothing to do?), to examine those examples quoted by 

 him, which are now to be commonly found here. The ash 

 and lilac, with their scale-like outer leaves covering their 

 now-opened winter buds ; the maple leaves, covered by 

 the former leaf stalks ; the beech, oak, elm, poplar, and 

 chestnut, with their covering stipules; the horse chestnut 

 buds, with their coating of gummy secretion and hair 

 these and many others are to be met with, and now is the 

 time to see their unfolding. 



The native bush shows but little of this diversity. The 

 same cavises which have given us an evergreen vegetation 

 the comparatively equable climate and the derivation of 

 most of our trees from those of warmer zones have tended 

 to produce simplicity of bud structure. Here the need of 

 protection during a severe winter season is not universally 

 felt as in the northern hemisphere. Most of our trees and 

 bushes grow together and mutually protect one another. 

 Their thick foliage and branches prevent radiation and 

 consequent cooling of the surface of the earth, and thus, 

 while the buds on the lower branches are protected by 

 those above, those on the upper branches are out of the 

 range of all but very hard frosts. So it comes about that 



