i6 
UNAPPRECIATED FLOWERS 
out from a multitude of openings in their sides* The 
pussies on the Willows have come out confidingly in 
many places, but seem to have been chilled and dis- 
couraged by the lingering winter* These, too, are 
flowers, greeting the returning sunshine with all the 
eagerness of new life* In a short time the male and 
female trees will be easily distinguished as the catkins 
turn yellow or red* And as the season advances and 
the yellow catkins fall to the ground, the fertile trees 
will bear bundles of diminutive pods, bursting with 
the airy, cottony wings that carry the seed away on 
the passing breeze* The spirit of new life among the 
flowering trees is struggling in the tenacious hold of 
winter, and sympathetic nature feels already the thrill 
of its certain emancipation* 
