Spring and Summer Vegetation 



" Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote 

 The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote, 

 And bathed every veyne in swich licour, 

 Of which vertu engendred is the flour " — 



Chaucer's April being twelve days later 

 than ours, and the March drought of 

 which he speaks concluding with those 

 dry east winds which we so often get at 

 the beginning of the former month. Now 

 it is evident that all this work will be 

 greatly impeded by thick abundant vege- 

 tation, and that loose, branching, long- 

 stalked vegetation would itself sustain 

 much damage. Plants never tend to 

 assume this latter character on the higher 

 parts of mountains, or on open heaths or 

 moorlands, or anywhere else where the 

 winds play freely. And so the neces- 

 sities of Nature lead to one of the most 

 striking features of the scenery of spring, 

 its openness and compactness. Every- 

 thing is free, and pervious to sun and air. 

 We never get that feeling of seclusion, 

 of being covered in, so beautifully adapted 

 to the summer heat, which takes away 

 our activity, and makes us long for rest 

 in the shade. Then we have languor, 

 meditation, and repose. Now everything 

 is lively and joyous ; little rest or lying 

 down in the open air, for no dependence 



193 N 



