FRUIT AND LEAF BUDS 35 



selves to float at the pleasure of the wind. 

 Note the misty lace-work of the curving elm 

 twigs, like the spray of a fountain ; the big arms 

 of the oak, each one a tree in itself; the sturdy, 

 spreading branches of the chestnuts and hicko- 

 ries; the maples' graceful outline and delicate 

 tracery in branch and twig ; the beautiful form 

 of the silvery beeches. What wondrous beauty 

 and varying color is everywhere presented in 

 bud and stem as they weave their 



. . . "plush-like mantles, 

 Brownish, grayish, reddish, green. 

 Changing, changing, daily, hourly. 

 Till they smile in emerald sheen!" 



