30 
RURAL HOURS. 
probably we shall not be very far from the truth ; we are inclined 
to believe this calculation rather below than above the mark. 
From being almost entirely consumed on the ground where it is 
made, this sugar, however, attracts public attention much less 
than it would do' if it were an article of commerce to the same 
extent. 
Monday, Sd. — Delightful day; first walk in the woods, and 
what a pleasure it is to be in the forest once more ! The earher 
buds are swelling perceptibly — those of the scarlet maple and 
elm flowers on the hills, with the sallows and alders near the 
streams. We were struck more than usual with the mosses and 
Hchens, and the coloring of the bark of the different trees ; some of 
the chestnuts, and birches, and maples show twenty diff'erent 
shades, through grays and greens, from a dull white to blackish 
brown. These can scarcely vary much with the seasons, but they 
attract the eye more just now from the fact that in winter we 
are seldom in the woods ; and at this moment, before the leaves 
are out, there is more hght falHng on the limbs and trunks than 
in summer. The ground mosses are not yet entirely revived ; 
some of the prettiest varieties feel the frost sensibly, and have 
not yet regained all their coloring. 
The little evergreen plants throw a faint tinge of verdure over 
the dead leaves which strew the forest ; in some spots, there is 
quite a patch of them, but in other places they scarcely shoAv at 
all. We have many in our woods, all pleasant little plants ; 
their glossy leaves have generally a healthy character, and most 
of them bear pretty and fragrant blossoms at different seasons. 
Some ferns have been preserved, as usual, under the snow ; though 
they are sensitive to tlie frost, yet in favorable spots they seem 
