THE ALDER. 



GENERAL REMARKS . 



OT the least pleasant of our associations with trees of 

 different kinds, are the associations ot sound. The hum 

 of bees about the lime branches, " murmurous haunt ot 

 flies on summer's eves," the patter of the aspen leat, 

 which the faintest airs will set astir, the rush of ash foliage before 

 a sudden storm, the plaint of a fir-grove which is harp ot all the 

 winds, each of these do their part in giving an irresistible speech 

 and language to the trees of the wood. And with the Alder, for 

 its choice of the margins of streams, we associate the sound of 

 waters, the swirl and swish of some hasty North country beck, or 

 the calmer ripple of a lowland brook. There, ugly, dingy, weather- 

 beaten, but always holding its own in the marshy soil, it has for 

 companv those flowers that most frequent a lush meadow-land — king- 

 cups, ragged-robin, and forget-me-nots. 



The Alder displays a maze of roots above ground, and from 

 them rises its knobby and swollen bole. The colour of the bark is 

 a sombre, purplish-gray, but where the cattle rub the surface smooth, 

 rich red-brown patches enliven it. The stem is partially hidden by 

 upright suckers, bearing at intervals large rough leaves ; their shape 

 suggests most nearly that of a tennis racquet, for the narrower end 

 is next the stalk, a very unusual arrangement. At a certain distance 

 upwards from the base of the straight stem, horizontal boughs are 

 noticeable, which curve upwards and downwards in an odd tashion. 

 Towards their extremities are found smaller dark-coloured branches 

 similarly curved, and forming in their turn angles with the lighter- 

 coloured twigs. 



