Colours of Wheat. 145 
buttercups. He knows when it is ready for the scythe 
without reference to the almanac, because of the 
brown tint which spreads over it from the ripening 
seeds, sometimes tinged with a dull red, when the 
stems of the sorrel are plentiful. At first the after- 
math has a trace of yellow, as if it were fading; but 
a shower falls, and fresh green blades shoot up. Or, 
passing from the hollow meads up on the rising slopes 
where the plough rules the earth, what so beautiful to 
watch as the wheat through its various phases of 
colour ? 
First green and succulent ; then, presently, see a 
modest ear comes forth with promise of the future. 
By-and-by, when every stalk is tipped like a sceptre, 
the lower stalk leaves are still green, but the stems 
have a faint bluish tinge, and the ears are paling into 
yellow. Next the white pollen—the bloom—shows 
under the warm sunshine, and then the birds begin to 
grow busy among it. They perch on the stalk itself 
—it is at that time strong and stiff enough to uphold 
their weight, one on a stem—but not now for mischief. 
You may see the sparrow carry away with him cater- 
pillars for his young upon the housetop hard by; 
later on, it is true, he will revel on the ripe grains. 
Yesterday you came to the wheat, and found it 
pale like this (it seems but twenty-four hours ago— 
it is really only a little longer) ; to-day, when you 
look again, lo! there is a fleeting yellow already on 
the ears. They have so quickly caught the hue of 
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