FARM PENCILLING S AT LAKESIDE. 243 



life go on undisturbed. Winter to deciduous trees 

 and herbaceous, plants is their night-time, when 

 they sleep, to recuperate their vital energies, and 

 becojne prepared for the labors of reproduction 

 when the spring opens. As is the case with human 

 beings, it is better that this sleep be continuous 

 and undisturbed, in order that full strength may 

 be had for work in the season of activity. A win- 

 ter in which there are many fitful changes, first 

 warm and then cold, is unfavorable for the growth 

 and perfection of seeds and fruit ; and trees and 

 plants suffer more from these causes than from 

 drought or wet in summer. 



We have spoken of the trees as being bare of 

 foliage in winter; but this is not absolutely true, 

 for trees have winter leaves as well as summer 

 leaves. The winter leaves are less apparent, but 

 they are no less real or perfect. If we take from a 

 tree one of its buds, and examine it carefully, we 

 shall see that it is composed of a little bunch of 

 true leaves, nicely compressed together in layers, 

 resembling fish-scales. These are the winter leaves 

 of trees, and every species has them perfectly char- 

 acteristic of its kind. 



This winter dress of trees is no apparel suddenly 

 formed, or put on late in the autumn ; it is the 

 growth of all the spring and summer months. 

 During the hot season, when the sap is active, it 



