THE PRACTICAL FLOWER GARDEN 



and asters remain beautiful throughout the 

 winter. The bare branches of the trees are 

 outlined against the sky in all their exquisite 

 structure, the smooth fields are golden gray 

 in the sunshine, and in woodland and thicket, 

 nestling under the leaves, hepaticas await the 

 April sun to unfold their delicate blossoms. 



Walking through the woods when clad in 

 the white shroud of midwinter, one feels the 

 charm of the mysterious stillness broken only 

 by the sound of a dead branch falling from a 

 tree, or by the gurgling of the brook flowing 

 so swiftly that ice forms only upon its edges. 

 There is, too, the added interest from the 

 presence of the many wild creatures that in- 

 habit the woods, whose frequent tracks in the 

 snow are visible to us, each telling its own 

 tale of woodland life. 



There is beauty in the bare fields; the weeds 

 and shrubs are lovely clad in their winter 

 tints of brown, red, mauve and gray, intensi- 

 fied by the changing tints of the snow. The 

 water of the streams assumes the somber 



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