282 THE ROLL OF THE SEASONS 



The buds of hawthorn, apple, laburnum, and even 

 the rose can be counted almost as soon as the leaves 

 unfold. Theirs is not so much a growth as the 

 unfolding of what has already grown. Loaded with 

 the inheritance of last summer, their work of this 

 year is very much the provision of ready-made 

 blooms for the next. As they hurried to their 

 opening, so they hurry to their seeding, lavishly 

 shedding honey for the strictly business section of 

 the insects, then as soon as possible dropping their 

 petals and getting on with the business of fruit- 

 making. The succession of species deceives us with 

 an impression of gaiety, but the mood of each one 

 of them is feverish anxiety. Goldsmith's gorse, " un- 

 profitably gay," is, perhaps, the greatest hustler of 

 them all. 



It is true that the business of every flower is the 

 same, but by comparison with any other time August 

 and September are Flora's holiday months. The 

 story of nearly every flower in the garden now is 

 different at every point from that just written. The 

 annuals have been slowly elaborated from seed, and 

 are far more apparently the work of this single 

 summer. The leaf first, without the least sketch of 

 the blossom that is to be ; stalk and whorl, branch 

 and more leaves ; then, according to the success of 

 each individual plant, the planning, the laying down, 

 the growing, and the unfolding of the blossoms. 

 That is the end. When it is achieved there is, as it 

 were, a little time to enjoy life. There will be time 

 for the setting of the seeds, which need not be 

 planted much before the winter frosts. Insects are 

 now so numerous that there is not much object in 



