MAY 89 



it is as if the tree restrained the forward 

 buds until the more backward ones were 

 ready. 



CEAB-APPLE DAY 



Then comes a warm, clear, sunny day, 

 and that is crab-apple day, for that tree at 

 least. All over the tree the red globes swell 

 into open bowls of the most delicious nectar, 

 of an odor so pervading that even our poor 

 nostrils can catch it, in a gentle wind, nearly 

 a quarter of a mile away. The flower is so 

 alluring and the odor so enticing that all 

 sorts and conditions of insects gather from 

 near and from far to join in the vernal revel. 

 Industrious hive bees, too busy for dissi- 

 pation, delve assiduously at the bottom of 

 the coral cup; filmy little flies hover round 

 the red stem, filling the air with the con- 

 stant hum of their rapidly moving wings. 

 Wasps gather too, and their yellow-banded 

 bodies add a new note to the beautiful color 

 scheme. Hornets gather, not so much to 

 feast on the nectar as to gobble up the other 

 feasters. But of them all the Bumble is 



