'" Dinner is reidy I ' the spring wind cried ; 

 And from hive and hiding far and wide, 

 While the Hlac laughed to see them come, 

 The little gray-jacketed bees come hum-m I 



" They sipped the sirup from every cell, J;; *' 

 They nibbled at taffy and caramel ; fi.j 



Then, without being asked, they all buzzed-;',' We 

 Will be very happy to stay to tea ! ' " 



The lilac does not lose its beauty 

 with the fading of its flower and lerf. 

 In winter its branches stand out in 

 sturdy fashion against a cold sky, 

 showing plainly the next year's buds 

 carefully. wrapped up against the cold. 

 To me the lilac is one of the surest 

 indicators of the approach of spring, 

 for the one beneath my window shows 

 a pale and delicate shade of green 

 almost as early as the larch. To that 

 herald I look for signs of colour late 

 in February. 



There is a saying in some parts 

 of the country that if the lilac and 

 horse-chestnut buds are well set, it 



