CHAPTER III. 



SPRING EFFECTS ON THE LAWN. 



IPRINGTIME is the season of buds. 

 Now everything is swelling with 

 revived life and ecstasy. The new 

 year is growing, and nature is burst- 

 ing with all possible haste Into the 

 full perfection of June. Some spe- 

 cially endowed plants actually reach 

 their goal of bloom before summer sets her seal-warrant on 

 their perfection, but they do it in many cases only by pre- 

 senting their flowers on twigs and branches, which scarcely 

 as yet show their leaves. 



So many plants have this habit of flowering before 

 their leaves appear that I propose to dwell chiefly on 

 their intrinsic peculiarities as dominating the most charac- 

 teristic portions of spring effects on the lawn. I always 

 fancy April and early May as the true springtide of the 

 year. Late May is generally June in appearance as far as 

 the effects of grass, foliage, and flowers go. The hurry and 

 activity of the bright early spring days have passed by the 



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