Cfte d&rototl) of t!)e Oafe 



THE /^d saw.-, has it, "Great oaks from 

 litlfe acorns grow," and all of us who 

 remeriiber the saying have thus some 

 idea, of what Stb^ beginning of an oak is. But 



"V. '■■'':5' +*■ '^ . 



what, of the' b..eginning af the acorn? In a 

 :' general way, one'^inferentially supposes that 

 there must be a flower somewhere in the life- 

 history hi- the "towering "white oak that has 

 defied the *sto"rrti« of centuries and seems a 

 type of everything sturdy and strong and mas- 

 culine ; but what sort of a flower could one 

 imagine as the source of so much majesty? 

 We know of the great magnolias, with blooms 

 befitting the richness of the foliage that follows 

 them. We see, and some of us admire, the 

 exquisitely delicate blossoms of that splendid 

 American tree, the tulip or whitewood. We 

 inhale with delight the fragrance that makes 

 notable the time when the common locust 

 sends forth its white racemes of loveliness. 



27 



