2O Country Rambles. 



The phenomena of spring, as regards the vegetable 

 world, must not be viewed as beginning with the season 

 in question. Spring, while the harbinger and preparation 

 of the ensuing seasons, is itself the consummation of a 

 long series of wonderful processes, wrought in the silence 

 and darkness of winter, and largely beneath the surface 

 of the earth. We never see the actual beginning of any- 

 thing. Covered up though they be, by the cold snow, 

 the artizans of leaf and flower are diligently at work even 

 from the close of the preceding summer, and only wait 

 the vernal sunbeam to unfold the delicate product of 

 their labours. This is strikingly exemplified in "bulbous 

 roots," such as those of the tulip and crocus, in which 

 the future flower may easily be made out by careful dis- 

 section with a penknife. The hazel puts forth its infant 

 catkins as early as September, while the rich brown 

 clusters of the same season are but ripening, and the 

 autumn yellow of the leaves is in the distance. Soon 

 after this it is quite easy to find the incipient female 

 alder-bloom of the season to come, and the rudimentary 

 golden catkins of the next year's sallow. Thus is the 

 history of the flower beautifully in keeping with that of 

 its winged image the butterfly, which, like the flower in 

 the bud, has been forming all along, in the grub and 

 chrysalis, the bud-state of the perfect insect. 



The river approaches the Ashley meadows by an 

 exceedingly pleasant route, generally known as the lower 

 Bollin valley. The whole course of the stream, from 

 beyond Macclesfield downwards, is interesting, and at 



