EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 49 
March 3, 1857. To Fair Haven Hill. 3 P. 
M. 24°-f- iii shade. The red maple sap, which 
I first noticed the 21st of February, is now 
frozen up in the auger holes, and thence down 
the trunk to the ground, except in one place 
where the hole was made on the south side of 
the tree, where it is melted and is flowing a lit¬ 
tle. Generally, then, when the thermometer is 
thus low, say below freezing point, it does not 
thaw in the auger holes. There is no expand¬ 
ing of buds of any kind, nor are early birds to 
be seen. Nature' was, thus, premature, antici¬ 
pated her own revolutions with respect to the 
sap of trees, the buds (spiraea, at least), and 
bi(ds. The warm spell ended with February 
26th. 
The crust of yesterday’s snow has been con¬ 
verted by the sun and wind into flakes of thin 
ice from two or three inches to a foot in diame¬ 
ter, scattered like a mackerel sky over the past¬ 
ures, as if all the snow had been blown out 
from beneath. Much of this thin ice is partly 
opaque and has a glutinous look even, remind¬ 
ing me of frozen glue. Probably it has much 
dust mixed with it.The slight robin 
snow of yesterday is already mostly dissipated, 
but where a heap still lingers the sun on the 
warm face of this cliff leads down a puny, trick¬ 
ling rill, moistening the gutters on the steep 
4 
