May — Willow. 1 5 5 



but with the difference that the flowers promise life, 

 and the renewal of life ; whereas when the pretty 

 Christmas tapers are lighted upon a tree they are a 

 sign that its end is near, according to Andersen's mel- 

 ancholy story. The horse-chestnut has only been an 

 European tree for the last three centuries, and is one of 

 the happiest importations from Asia. There is an octa- 

 gon of them at the Val Ste. VeVonique, and the eight 

 brothers are all equally well grown, — tradition says, that 

 eight boar-hounds are buried under them, a hound under 

 each tree. In the heat of summer they offer a delight- 

 ful shade, for their broad leafage makes an impenetrable 

 dome of verdure. 



XXX. 



Willow — Spanish Chestnut — Walnut — Ash and Walnut — Beech — 

 Young Beech-leaves — Light through them — Birch — Character of 

 Birch — It bears extremes of Heat and Cold — Birch-bark — Sap of 

 Birch — Prejudices against Trees — Abuse of Painters who study 

 certain Trees — Trees and Politics — The Birch always Beautiful — 

 Willow — Spanish Chestnut — Its Strength and Longevity — Beauty 

 of Foliage of Chestnut — Oak and Chestnut — Bird-cherry Prunus. 



THE horse-chestnuts are amongst the earliest of 

 the trees in leaf and flower. The willow, as 

 we know, is earlier still, and its leaves are now fully 

 developed, glittering a great deal in the sunshine, when 

 the pleasant May breezes move them. The young green 

 leaves of the Spanish chestnut are rapidly making foli- 



