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The American sweet chestnut in winter 165 Sweet chestnut blooms 167 The chinquapin 170 A shagbark hickory in bloom 173 The true nut-eater 178 The American beech in winter 180 The witch-hazel 181 Sweet birch in spring 191 Yellow birches 192 Flowers of the spice-bush 194 Leaves and berries of the American holly 195 American holly tree at Trenton 196 Floral bracts or involucres of the dogwood 199 The red-bud in bloom 201 Blooms of the shad-bush 206 Flowers of the American linden 207 The American linden 209 Flowers of the black locust 211 Young trees of the black locust 212 The sycamore, or button-ball 215 Button-balls—fruit of the sycamore 217 The liquidambar 220 The leaves and fruit of the liquidambar 222 The papaw in bloom 226 Flowers of the papaw 227 The persimmon tree in fruiting time 231 Berries of the spice-bush 234

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A Story of Some Maples

This is not a botanical disquisition; it is not a complete account of all the members of the important tree family of maples. I am not a botanist, nor a true scientific observer, but only a plain tree-lover, and I have been watching some trees bloom and bud and grow and fruit for a few years, using a camera now and then to record what I see—and much more than I see, usually!

In the sweet springtime, when the rising of the sap incites some to poetry, some to making maple sugar, and some to watching for the first flowers, it is well to look at a few tree-blooms,