36 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



During all the time that this leaf has been so busily at work for 

 the tree itself, it has been nursing the little bud which is to be 

 the leaf's successor in ofRce during the coming year. When 

 the bud is matured sufficiently, and is secured with a covering 

 so nicely arranged that the cold and moisture of the coming 

 winter cannot injure it, then the leaf has performed its mission 

 and falls to the ground, and still further contributes, by its own 

 decay, to the growth of the parent tree. What a wonderful 

 mechanism is here ! A tree may have a hundred thousand 

 leaves, yet every leaf has the same functions to perform. What 

 a grand illustration of Divine power and intelligence ! 



But in order to carry out our idea, we must still follow the 

 history of our little protege — the bud. The leaf has now left 

 the bud to the kind care of the tree, which, by its juices, feeds 

 it through the late autumn and winter, and prepares it for the 

 important duties it must perform during the coming season, 

 (for the active force of the tree continues to a certain extent 

 through the winter.) Spring comes, and kindly kisses the little 

 bud, and lo ! it bursts forth into the glory of leaf and flower. 

 And now another agency — a wise provision of Providence — in- 

 terposes to begin the work of fertilization. The gentle breeze 

 scatters with its wings the seminal dust or pollen in the greatest 

 profusion over the whole vegetable creation, or the busy bee, 



" That wanders all day long, 

 Sipping the sweet from every flower," 



bears with her the vitalizing atoms from flower to flower, taking 

 nectar in exchange, and bearing it away. 



Our little flower now drops its petals and goes on rejoicing, 

 making haste for " coming events." The tiny leaf, born with 

 the flower to be its companion, is now called upon to furnish 

 suitable food for the infant fruit, which grows and thrives upon 

 its simple diet until it nearly reaches its full size. It is now 

 time to mature and perfect the seed, the crowning object of its 

 existence. All the rich juices of the tree, the work of the year, 

 are brought forward to attain this one object of all its efforts. 

 That done, it puts on the finishing touches by flavoring and col- 

 oring, and the fruit is ripe, and the tree's mission, for the season, 

 is ended. 



For the better illustration of this principle, we will take the 



