AUTUMN IN THE WOODS 



333 



In October wo may sec the well-formed catkins of the Birch 

 that are to bloom in the following April, in company with the ripe 

 fruiting catkins of the present year. The Alder also bears its 

 catkins that are to flower five months later, together with the woody 

 remains of the female catkins of the previous spring ; and the 

 Hazel may be seen with its ripe nuts'and its future flowers both on 

 the same twig. 



THE AliDER IN AUTtTMN, WITH THE CATKINS WHICH MATURE IN THE 



FOLLOWING Spring. 



The leaves, having manufactured the materials necessary for 

 the formation of the buds that are to produce the leaves and flowers 

 of the following year, and then transferred their remaining store of 

 nutrient matter to a suitable storehouse for the winter, are now 

 practically empty and lifeless. Had they remained alive and active, 

 they woiild have endangered the Mfe of the tree by giving off more 

 moisture than could be replaced by the inactive roots. In their 

 present, lifeless condition they are useless to the tree ; but by falling 

 to the ground, and decomposing where they lie, they improve the 



