In April Weather 



55 



of the pear-tree, and those of the buckeye, let out 

 into the sun a whole cluster of leaves, surround- 

 ing a pyramid or bunch of buds. Mother Nature's 

 spring parcels are 

 coming undone, 

 and we see, with 

 astonishment, how 

 much they have 

 held. Their open- 

 ing is as surpris- 

 ing as the un- 

 packing of that 

 hat from which 



a 



FIG. 7. fa) Sleeping and (b] expanding buds of the horse-chestnut. 

 (From the Vegetable World.) 



the conjurer draws enough articles to fill a Sara- 

 toga trunk. The horse-chestnut buds, in latter 

 March, are no bigger than thimbles, yet from 



