GETTING AC^AINTED WITH THE TREES 



purely white, with no hint of pink, and the 

 mass of bloom that covered it was only punc- 

 tuated by the green of the expanding leaves. 

 The especial elegance of this crab was in its 

 whiteness, and that elegance was not diminished 

 by the later masses of little yellow and red, 

 almost translucent, fruits. 



A somewhat smaller tree is commonly called 

 the Chinese flowering apple, and its early 

 flowers remind one strongly of the beauty of 

 our own wild crab, as they are deeper in color 

 than most of the crabs, being almost coral-red 

 in bud. This "spectabilis," as it is familiarly 

 called, is a gem, as it opens the season of the 

 apple blooms with its burst of pink richness. 



The beauty-loving Japanese have a festival 

 at the time of the cherry-blooming — and it is 

 altogether a festival of beauty, not connected 

 with the food that follows the flowers. They 

 actually dare to cut the blossoms, too, for 

 adornment, and all the populace take time to 

 drink in the message of the spring. Will we 

 workaday Americans ever dare to "waste" so 

 much time, and go afield to absorb God's 

 provision of soul and sense refreshment in the 



90 



