31une 



XL VIII 



THE flurry of spring has settled down to the 



affluent fruition of full summer-tide. 



Full 



Intense heat in May has made up the Summer- 

 leeway caused by what will be talked of 

 for many years to come as the severest winter on 

 record that of 1894-5. Even the ash has found it 

 incompatible with decency to remain naked any 

 longer; and as for the oaks, by Royal Oak Day 

 (May 29) not one king only, but a whole dynasty 

 might have sheltered unseen in the branches of any 

 tree of moderate size. 



The meadows beside the Itchen have taken a 

 more varied hue, less brilliant than spring verdure, 

 but more richly jewelled. The most princely flower 

 there is the sceptred flower-de-luce, which in heraldic 

 lore vies with the oak as the emblem of rule. But 

 the most delicate masterpiece of the marsh at this 

 season is the lowlier buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), 



153 



