35 COLIN CLOUTS CALENDAR. 



root stock ; the crocus and the autumn-saffron in their 

 bulbs ; the catkin-bearing trees, the elm and the almond, in 

 their inner bark and woody tissues. Trees, indeed, have an 

 immense advantage in their huge perennial trunks ; for, 

 before the foliage falls in autumn, they withdraw all the 

 useful material from the dying leaves, storing it away in 

 their permanent tissues ; and so almost all of them are 

 enabled to flower vigorously in spring before any other 

 plants, except the hoarders which possess bulbs, have 

 been able to anticipate them. 



