E^srsss^ NUTTY AUTUMN jgF_ 



elms very little, and the beeches not much more : 

 so it would seem that their hues will not be gone 

 altogether till November. Frosts have not yet 

 bronzed the dogwood in the hedges, and the hazel 

 leaves are fairly firm. The hazel generally drops 

 its leaves at a touch about this time, and while you 

 are nutting, if you shake a bough, they come down 

 all around. 



The rushes are but faintly yellow, and the slen- 

 der tips still point upwards. Dull purple burrs 

 cover the burdock ; the broad limes are withering, 

 but the leaves are thick, and the teazles are still 

 flowering. Looking upwards, the trees are tinted; 

 lower, the hedges are not without colour, and the 

 field itself is speckled with blue and yellow. 

 The stubble is almost hidden in many fields by the 

 growth of weeds brought up by the rain ; still the 

 tops appear above and do not allow it to be green. 

 The stubble has a colour white if barley, yellow 

 if wheat or oats. The meads are as verdant, even 

 more so, than in the spring, because of the rain, 

 and the brooks crowded with green flags. 



Haws are very plentiful this year (1881), and 

 exceptionally large, many fully double the size 

 commonly seen. So heavily are the branches 

 laden with bunches of the red fruit that they 

 droop as apple trees do with a more edible burden. 

 Though so big, and to all appearance tempting to 

 167 



