THROUGH THE CHANGING YEAR 143 



one eschew the apples of cultivation and eat 

 crab-apples only! 



The means by which the struggle for ex- 

 istence is carried on are not obvious unless we 

 closely examine the trees. They do not count 

 for much in the general effect ; and a full ac- 

 count of them does not come within the scope 

 of this book. We have been led into partial 

 discussion of the struggle by the remark that 

 in summer the trees — the successful ones, that 

 is — seem as if they must rejoice, now that 

 their yearly labour, of which the great end is 

 reproduction, is so nearly accomplished. And 

 when they are in full leaf, they look so full of 

 life, so wealthy, so well-clad, they have such a 

 sumptuous appearance, that something of the 

 spirit of their well-being is communicated to 

 us, and we feel the richer for their riches. 



Let me dwell for a moment on something 

 that has been incidentally referred to again and 

 again. It is for their leafage that we chiefly 

 love the trees. For their strength and their 

 grace of lighter limb we have admiration. Of 

 the flower and fruit of the larger trees we take 

 little account. We commonly distinguish trees 

 from flowers, meaning merely that the most 



