150 Gilpin's foe-est scenery. 



ances as tlie spring advances. When tlieir buds 

 begin to swell, most of them push out a bloom 

 which overspreads them with great richness. 

 But of all others, the Ash presents the most 

 singular and beatitiful aspect. Aboiit the end 

 of March or the beginning of April, it throws out 

 a knotty bloom which, opening gradually, not 

 only enriches the spray, but is itself one of the 

 most beautiful among the miniature appearances 

 of Nature. The seminal stems are of an olive 

 tint, and each of them is tipped with a black seed. 

 Often, too, the spray of the Ash is enriched by the 

 1 ragged remnants of the keys and tongues of the 

 i last year, which, mixed with the bloom, have a 

 good effect. 



The Elm, too, throws out a beautiful bloom, in 

 form of a spicated ball, about the bigness of a 

 nutmeg, of a dark crimson colour. This bloom 

 sometimes blows in such profusion as to thicken 

 and enrich the spray exceedingly, even to the 

 fulness almost of foliage. It is not, however, 

 often seen in such perfection. In the sprino- 

 of the year 1776 it was more than commonly 

 profuse. Indeed the bloom of forest trees in 



