166 MOSTLY ABOUT TROUT 



that next spring will be as others ; but one 

 may as well experiment it will be a nice thing 

 to know for certain whether it is true. . . . 

 I have just tried, and I commend the experience 

 to others. I picked one of the buds, and cut 

 it in half with a sharp knife. First came the 

 thick, sticky brown outer case, with a lining 

 of pale green, forming the counterpane of the 

 bed in which the delicate flower- column is 

 kept warm and secure from frosts ; then some 

 pale green blankets with soft woollen linings ; 

 then the baby leaves, smothered in silvery 

 wool, and then the little column of pink baby- 

 flowers, each well protected from the cold by 

 similar, only still softer, wool. And all that 

 to be seen with the help of a pocket magnifying- 

 glass ! The thought arises of the other wonders 

 which a proper microscope would disclose. I 

 must try, some day. 



From the study window to near the chestnut- 

 tree runs a lilac hedge, and that gives much 

 more interest ; not the hedge itself, which is 

 too aged to flower or to prodiice more than a 

 very few leaves, but the birds that frequent 

 it. By the way, I wish that the bird experts 

 would make it as easy as the botanists do for 

 the ignorant amateur to find out what he wants 

 to know without a prohibitive amount of labour 



