SOME OTHER TREES 



May and June, it then sings its song of the 

 year. The laden apple tree has a pure glory of 

 the blossoms, and another warmer, riper glory 

 of the burden of fruit, but we think most kindly 

 of its flowering time. Some trees maintain such 

 a continuous show of interest and beauty that 

 it is difficult to say on any day, "iVow is this 

 tulip or this oak at its very finest I " Again, the 

 spring redness of the swamp maple is hardly 

 less vivid than its mature coloring of the fall. 



But as to the liquidambar, or sweet -gum, 

 there can be no question. Interesting and ele- 

 gant the year round, its autumn covering of 

 polished deep crimson starry leaves is so start- 

 lingly beautiful and distinct as to almost take 

 it out of comparison with any other tree. 

 Others have nearly the richness of color, others 

 again show nearly the elegance of leaf form, 

 but no one tree rivals completely the sweet- 

 gum at the time when the autumn chill has 

 driven out all the paleness in its leaf spectrum, 

 leaving only the warm crimson that seems for 

 awhile to defy further attacks of frost. 



As to shape, the locality settles that ; for, a 

 very symmetrical small to maximum -sized tree 



219 



