158 Our Field and Forest Trees 



willow). Its upper buds contain, as a rule, noth- 

 ing else but blossom clusters. Each is covered with 

 a united pair of scales, dark purple and leathery. 

 The fluffy oval which remains, after they have 

 been taken off, is hidden in its own fur. But split 

 the soft thing lengthwise, and the pocket lens 

 shows it to be next spring's pussy, perfect in every 

 part. Lower down on the pussy willow bushes are 

 smaller buds containing only leaves. 



On the hazelnut bushes are little green ovals, 

 clinging to the upper part of the branches, and 

 lower down on the branches are little green rods 

 hanging from the tips of the boughs. They are 

 next year's pollen shedding calkins full of interest 

 to whomsoever will pick them to pieces and 

 examine their tiny perfection. It is hard, at first, 

 to find any buds at all on the honey or thorny 

 locust. Is this a shiftless tree, going to be caught 

 without a costume when all the other ladies of the 

 woods are putting on their beautiful garments to 

 welcome the summer? 



Indeed, no ! Under each of the horseshoe- 

 shaped scars, which mark the places where last 

 summer's leaves grew, there is a little chamber, 

 hollowed, as it were, out of the wood. Its walls 

 are thickly upholstered with white fur, and in it 

 are three or four very small leaf-buds. They 

 have no wrappings, and they lie cuddled together 

 like naked birdlings in a down-lined nest. 



But most of the buds borne by native trees and 



