¥ WOODS AND FIELDS 185 
gradually disappearing. This is, I suppose, un- 
avoidable, but it is a matter of regret. Forests 
have so many charms of theirown. They give 
a delightful impression of space and of abun- 
dance. 
The extravagance is sublime. Trees, as 
Jefferies says, “throw away handfuls of flower ; 
and in the meadows the careless, spendthrift 
ways of grass and flower and all things are not 
to be expressed. Seeds by the hundred million 
float with absolute indifference on the air. 
The oak has a hundred thousand more leaves 
than necessary, and never hides a single acorn. 
Nothing utilitarian — everything on a scale of 
splendid waste. Such noble, broadcast, open- 
armed waste is delicious to behold. Never 
was there such a lying proverb as ‘ Enough is 
as good as a feast.’ Give me the feast; give 
me squandered millions of seeds, luxurious 
carpets of petals, green mountains of oak- 
leaves. The greater the waste the greater 
the enjoyment —the nearer the approach to 
real life.” 
It is of course impossible here to give any 
idea of the complexity of structure of our 
