WITCH-HAZEL. 
This little tree blossoms in the fall of the year. 
After the leaves are gone, and sometimes after the 
snow has conie, it stands in the 
edge of the woods dressed in a 
fairy costume of yellow lace-like 
flowers. After the flowers come 
the pods. They are very hard 
and horny and do not ripen until 
the next fall. 
It is fun to gather ripe witch- 
hazel pods, for when they have 
been in the house a little while 
and have become thoroughly dry 
they "go off." 
You may be sitting by the 
table reading, when pop ! — a 
hard, shining little 
black seed strikes you 
in the face. It is the 
witch-hazel beginning 
its cannonade. Pop ! 
— spat ! — crack ! — the battery has opened, 
and the seeds are flying with great force 
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