ng the spring song, and they cover
themselves with white, in advance of any sign of green leaves on their
twigs. The apple has an advantage; coming more deliberately, the little
pink buds are set amidst the soft greens of the opening foliage, and the
leaves and flowers expand together in their symphony of color and
fragrance. The grass has grown lush by this time, the dandelions are
punctuating it with gold, and everything is in the full riot of
exuberant springtime.

But there are apples and apples and apples. Even the plain orchard
gives us a difference in flowers, as well as in tree aspect. Notice the
trees this coming May; mark the flat, white flowers on one tree, the
cup-shaped, pink-veined blooms on another. Follow both through the
fruiting, and see whether the sweeter flower brings the more sugary
fruit. This fact ascertained, perhaps it may be followed up by
observation of the distinctive color of the twigs and young
branches--for there are wide differences in this respect, and the canny
tree-grower knows his pets afar.

Perhaps there is a "crab" in the old orchard, ready to give the greatest
burst of bloom--for the crab-apple flower is usually finer and more
fragrant than any other of the cultivated forms. It is an especial
refuge of the birds and the bees, you will find, and it invites them
with its rare fragrance and deeper blush, so that they may work all the
more earnestly at the pollination without which all this richness of
bloom would be ineffective in nature's reproductive scheme.

[Illustration: When the apple trees blossom]

This same crab-apple is soon to be, as its brilliant fruit matures, a
notable object of beauty, for few ornamental trees can vie with its
display of shining color. There was a great old crab right in the flower
garden of my boyhood home, amid quaint box-trees, snowballs and lilacs.
Lilies-of-the-valley flourished in its shadow, the delicate
bleeding-heart mingled with old-fashioned irises and peonies at its
feet. From early spring until mid-August the crab-apple held court of
beauty there--and an always hungry boy often found something in addition
to beauty in the red and yellow fruits that were acid but aromatic.

With a little attention, if one would plant crab-apples for their
loveliness of fruit hue and form, a fine contrast of color may be had;
for some varieties are perfect in clear yellow, against others in
deepest scarlet, bloom-covered with blue haze, and yet others