X. 



THE GREEN LEAF. 



WHAT an exquisite green, deeply tinged with yellow, 

 this young foliage of the oak shows us in these its earli- 

 est stages ! The first flush of the hedges was spoiled for 

 us this year, indeed, by the long mild weather of March ; 

 the hawthorn bushes came out too slowly and sporadi- 

 cally before their due season ever to display that living 

 outburst of fresh verdure in which they revel when a 

 week of bright sunshine comes in early April after pro- 

 tracted east winds, followed by a single quickening 

 shower or so, to plim out; and burst the swelling buds. 

 But the larger trees are making up for it now : their 

 leafing is favored by just such an interchange of sun and 

 shower as best suits their ingrained habits. The country 

 people use them to prognosticate the weather, with 

 scarcely more distinguished success than the Meteorolog- 

 ical Office itself. "When the oak's before the ash," 

 runs our rustic jingle, " Then you may expect a 

 splash ; When the ash is before the oak, Then you may 

 look out for a soak." A priori considerations might 

 thus easily induce one to conclude that in England the 

 ash invariably preceded its great rival. But, as a matter 

 of fact, here as so often elsewhere, practice seems to 

 contradict theory the oak oftenest leads the way. 

 Hence, considering the nature of our climate, the prov- 

 erb usually turns out wrong ; which, of course, makes 

 no difference at all in the faith reposed in it year after 

 year by some thirty millions of people in this kingdom. 



