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THE PR1\ET. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



F the winter-season has nothing to show comparable for 

 gaiety of colouring to the spring-tiowers, or tor richness 

 to the fruits of the autumn hedgerow, a whole gradation 

 of tones, delicate and unobtrusive are peculiarly its own. 

 Silver-grey on the bark ot Rowan-tree or Ash-sapling ; the mealy stems 

 of the wayfaring tree, or the yellow tints ot the Elder-berry ; the red 

 and purple of Maple or Cherry or the nut-brown of the Hazel tree. 

 Nor are all alike sombre in tone : the Cornels and the \^"ithies have 

 crimson shoots, the Spindle tree bright green ones ; the Hollies bear 

 a load of scarlet berries and glistening leaves. To this wintry harmony 

 the Privet lends the sott o;reens ot its foliag-e and the flossy blackness 

 of its clustered berries. 



