282 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



second period, are the wild rose, ttie gooseberry, the 

 barberry, the sweet gale, and a few others. Of our 

 fruit-trees, the pear, which exhibits several tints varying 

 from yellow to red, intermixed with a larger proportion 

 of green leaves, loses its foliage, during the first period 

 of autumn, ten days or a fortnight before the apple-tree. 

 The great majority of fruit-trees retain their leaves till 

 near the middle of November, and exhibit only a slight 

 mixture of tints. In general, our orchards continue in 

 leaf to a later date than our forests. This difference 

 may be attributed to the foreign origin of our common 

 fruit-trees. 



In the plains and lowlands, some of the most prom- 

 inent objects, during the second period, are the willows 

 of different species. These trees preserve their leaves 

 and their verdure very late in the season, fading only to 

 a light yellowish green before they fall. The weeping- 

 willow, which was originally brought from the south of 

 Europe, retains the greenness of its foliage till the late 

 frosts of November destroys it. There is no tree in our 

 climate except the evergreens, that preserves its verdure 

 so many weeks, putting out its leaves very early in 

 spring and retaining them until all other trees are 

 denuded. This habit of the tree makes a pleasant com- 

 pensation "for its almost entire want of those fine tinges 

 which are the glory of other trees that have a more 

 short-lived foliage. And when, amidst the general 

 nakedness of the groves, we behold the drooping 

 branches of the weeping-willow, waving majestically 

 in the wind, with its noble form and foliage still un- 

 changed by frost or by natural decay, it seems like 

 something protected by enchantment. 



The continued greenness of foreign trees, and their 

 habit of retaining their foliage to a later period than 



