LEAF AND BRANCH 



267 



changes in a few lawn trees, but the attempt had 

 to be abandoned. The shif tings of color were so 

 frequent, owing to the changes of light, that 

 the notes were apparently conflicting and 

 led to no result but contradiction. Even with 

 the so-called "flower-bearing trees" like the 

 tulip, the locust, and the orchard fruit-trees, 

 the color-transitions from hour to hour are 

 swift. Beautiful, indeed, are the white blos- 

 soms of the cherry, the pink-and- white of the 

 apple, the darker pink of the peach. Seen in 

 the early part of May, before the foliage has 

 opened, they make charming masses of color 

 along the hill-side of the farm and against the 

 woods. They are tokens of the winter passed 

 and the spring arrived, and while they are sway- 

 ing cloud-like in the orchard, the castellated 

 cumulus is piling higher and higher in the 

 glowing sky. Fair things of spring, beautiful 

 they are while they remain with us, but how 

 quickly they pass ! The blossom of to-day is 

 not the blossom of yesterday. Its color and 

 light are different. And then some night the 

 wind rises, a "blossom storm" comes on, and 

 in the morning the light and color lie broken on 

 the ploughed ground and the dark boughs look 

 more desolate than ever. 



