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was decided to substitute a search for signs of spring. The pre- 

 ceding period of more than two weeks of unseasonably high 

 temperature had given rise to frequent reports in the news- 

 papers of the flowering of fruit trees especially; though this is 

 not at all an unusual phenomenon, it was emphasized by the 

 opening of the buds of Forsythia, Ginkgo, and Acer within and 

 close to the city. 



A study of the buds of our native plants, for comparison 

 with the cultivated genera mentioned above, was made. The 

 outer bud scales of the Shag-bark Hickory, Carya ovata, were 

 dropping in certain cases; those of the Cherry Birch, Betula 

 lenta, had elongated, so that the green portions of the scales 

 were exposed for a considerable distance between the brown 

 parts; and the buds of the Gooseberry, Rihes oxyacanthoides , 

 also seemed unusually far along. Aside from this meager evi- 

 dence, the obvious conclusion was that the overwhelming 

 majority of the plants examined gave no indication of preco- 

 cious development. One might expect, perhaps, flower buds of 

 Spice Bush, Flowering Dogwood, or the aments of the Alder 

 to show some effect of the warm weather; but the results were 

 negative in each case. Red Maple, Viburnum, Mountain Laurel, 

 Tulip Tree, Oaks, and numerous other genera were examined; 

 all of them were in the normal winter condition. The great 

 majority of the woody plants between Suffern and Ramapo 

 certainly showed no appreciable effect of the "warm spell." 



Edwin B. Matzke 



