1 30 May Oak Leaves in May. 



dish or greenish, and it often turns so red that whole 

 fields and hill-sides are painted with it early in May, 

 painted a deep, rich, hot color, of the sort which peo- 

 ple who do not observe accurately are accustomed to 

 associate exclusively with autumn. Now I cannot but 

 think that it is an advantage to an artist to have such a 

 resource as this rich color affords him, and to know 

 the cause of it ; and I think also that it would perhaps 

 be well if critics knew enough of Nature not to be taken 

 by surprise when a landscape-painter happened to avail 

 himself of this coloring. There are tints in spring, of 

 which this is an example, that everybody would call 

 autumnal in a picture, and yet in Nature they often com- 

 pensate for the crudeness of the early greens by ming- 

 ling with them in large masses. Amongst the numerous 

 varieties of oak that are indigenous in western Europe 

 there are species whose young leaves, freshly sprouting 

 in the month of May, give the richest golden color, 

 deepening into red, especially glorious when the sun- 

 shine filters through them ; and so, in a minor degree, 

 do the leaves of the aspen poplar in their season. 



Although the May landscape is richer in floral 

 splendor than that of any other time, and splendor 

 of that kind is difficult to harmonize, it is still much 

 nearer to artistic harmony than the hues of April. The 

 hawthorn, having abundant leafage intermingled with 

 its flowers, escapes the extreme chilliness of the snow- 

 like blossoming of the blackthorn, and the plentifully 

 sprinkled starworts carry the white down into the 

 hedge bottoms. Hardly any color at this season is un- 



