Annual report ..[bulletins and circulars] . L 4 71.—Branch oj a tree bearing leaves inside a window^ whenthe tree itself is dormant. * * * Not only are the buds ready-formed and ready-fed, but they arecovered. Snugly is the tender, growing point protected. Pullaway the scales of a winter bud one by one. Observe how closelythey are placed. Often the chinks are filled with a packing ofwool, or are sealed with varnish. Dip the bud in water : thensee if the water permeates the covering. The chief value of thebud-covering is not to protect from freezing, as commonly sup-posed, but to prevent the so
Annual report ..[bulletins and circulars] . L 4 71.—Branch oj a tree bearing leaves inside a window^ whenthe tree itself is dormant. * * * Not only are the buds ready-formed and ready-fed, but they arecovered. Snugly is the tender, growing point protected. Pullaway the scales of a winter bud one by one. Observe how closelythey are placed. Often the chinks are filled with a packing ofwool, or are sealed with varnish. Dip the bud in water : thensee if the water permeates the covering. The chief value of thebud-covering is not to protect from freezing, as commonly sup-posed, but to prevent the soft growing parts from drying out. * * >i< The plants are waiting for spring. They are II. The Early Birds. {Louis Agassiz Fueries.) FTER a long winter, many of us are too impatient forspring to wait for the swelHng of the buds, the open-ing of the earl}^ flowers, and the springing of thegrass. Several weeks lie between the end ofwinter and the truly genial spring day s, and duringthis interval we look for something to herald thesettled spring season. And the thing which givesus that for which we are unconsciously looking, more thanall other signs, is the arrival of the birds. Who has notwarmed to the quavering call of the first blue-bird, or been sud-denly thrilled some early spring day with the sunny notes of thesong-sparrow ! In the southern part of this state, notably in the lower Hud-son Vallej^ several birds spend thelwinter which elsewhere we areaccustomed to see only after the winter has passed. Among theseare the blue-bird, robin, song-sparrow, white-throated-sparrow,meadows-lark, and possibly purple-finch. But in most of thestate we must wait until the first o
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