The reddening of the twigs is in effect a pre- 

 lude, and precedes the real spring as dawn precedes 

 daylight, or twilight the night; this is the dawn 

 of the year and these blueberry twigs its first flush. 

 Smilax turns suddenly green as the sap circulates in 

 its spiny stems, and the brown and sear aspedl: of 

 the earth is relieved and enlivened. This early 

 green is as refreshing to the eye as the first rhu- 

 barb to the palate. 



One of the earliest signs is the little rosette 

 of bright-colored leaves on the smaller hair-cap 

 mosses, growing in contact with an outcropping 

 ledge. You may see whole patches in the pastures, 

 varying from orange to deep red, a vivid bit of 

 color next the brown earth and looking like 

 diminutive blossoms. Then come the fruiting 

 spikes of the common field horsetails, poking out 

 of some sand-bank. These signs of the awakening 

 season appeal to the trained eye rather than to the 

 casual glance. Such an one detects the slightest 

 swelling of a leaf-bud, the faint reddening of a 

 twig, the deeper green of another. The sap drip- 

 ping from the freshly cut limb of a birch, or 

 pendent from the wound in a long glittering 

 icicle, is evidence of the quickened circulation of 



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