A SPRING RELISH 177 



near it for the young when hatched, it does just 

 what nature does in every kernel of corn or wheat, 

 or bean, or nut. Around or within the chit or germ, 

 she stores food for the young plant. Upon this it 

 feeds till the root takes hold of the soil and draws 

 sustenance from thence. The bud is rooted in the 

 branch, and draws its sustenance from the milk of 

 the pulpy cambium layer beneath the bark. 



Another pleasant feature of spring, which I have 

 not mentioned, is the full streams. Riding across 

 the country one bright day in March, I saw and 

 felt, as if for the first time, what an addition to the 

 satisfaction one has in the open air at this season are 

 the clear, full watercourses. They come to the 

 front, as it were, and lure and hold the eye. There 

 are no weeds, or grasses, or foliage to hide them; 

 they are full to the brim, and fuller; they catch 

 and reflect the -sunbeams, and are about the only 

 objects of life and motion in nature. The trees 

 stand so still, the fields are so hushed and naked, 

 the mountains so exposed and rigid, that the eye 

 falls upon the blue, sparkling, undulating water- 

 courses with a peculiar satisfaction. By and by 

 the grass and trees will be waving, and the streams 

 will be shrunken and hidden, and our delight will 

 not be in them. The still ponds and lakelets will 

 then please us more. 



The little brown brooks, — how swift and full 

 they ran! One fancied something gleeful and hila- 

 rious in them. And the large creeks, — how stead- 

 ily they rolled on, trailing their ample skirts along 



