246 OLD PLYMOUTH TRAILS 



inch and a half long, the short peduncle which 

 attaches it to the branch has lengthened and 

 thickened, but is not able to hold it wholly erect, 

 so much has it gained in weight. At that season 

 the young cone and its fellows have tipped over 

 horizontal or even becomes slightly pendulous. 

 Thus it remains through the winter, its scales 

 pressed close to its core and to one another, de- 

 fending the tender seeds from all cold and mak- 

 ing a seemingly solid chunk of the whole. To- 

 ward spring I have known squirrels to attack 

 these young cones, but rarely, and I am not sure 

 whether it was because of the pressure of hunger 

 or whether some young squirrel's instinct to 

 sharpen his teeth on them made him a bit pre- 

 cocious. These adolescent cones begin growing 

 again very early in the spring. Youth will have 

 its way, and in this case it seems to seize on the 

 first sap that gets as far as the topmost branch 

 tips, compelling it to the nourishing of the young 

 cones before it can go to the making of new 

 leaves or even of the crop of staminate and pis- 

 tillate blossoms for the ensuing summer. The 

 cones add a quarter of an inch to their length 

 before the blossoms of that year appear, and 

 their weight sags them still more on the stem. 



