April and Early May 



of the first breath of spring, the concen- 

 trated exhalations of the earliest growing 

 things, is fraught with an irresistible in- 

 toxication the intoxication of youth it- 

 self. 



The silver maple flowers even earlier 

 than its sister of the swamps and low 

 woods, but its yellow or reddish blos- 

 soms are less conspicuous. The sugar- 

 maples leaf and flower simultaneously ; 

 while the blossoms of the striped and 

 mountain species appear when the trees 

 are in full foliage. With our native elms 

 we find that the blossoms invariably pre- 

 cede the leaves. From the graceful 

 branches of what is perhaps the most 

 beautiful of our trees, the American or 

 white elm, the also yellow or reddish 

 flower- clusters droop from their slender 

 stems in April ; while the little, close-set 

 bunches of the slippery, or red, elm may 

 be looked for as early as March. 



Like their near of kin, the alders, the 



