ed that any of the cereals are so
worldly wise. They have not had to think and shift for themselves as
the weeds have. It does indeed look like a kind of forethought in the
redroot. It is killed by the first frost, and hence knows the danger
of delay.

How rich in color, before the big show of the tree foliage has
commenced, our roadsides are in places in early autumn,--rich to the
eye that goes hurriedly by and does not look too closely,--with the
profusion of goldenrod and blue and purple asters dashed in upon here
and there with the crimson leaves of the dwarf sumac; and at
intervals, rising out of the fence corner or crowning a ledge of
rocks, the dark green of the cedars with the still fire of the
woodbine at its heart. I wonder if the waysides of other lands present
any analogous spectacles at this season.

Then, when the maples have burst out into color, showing like great
bonfires along the hills, there is indeed a feast for the eye. A maple
before your windows in October, when the sun shines upon it, will make
up for a good deal of the light it has excluded; it fills the room
with a soft golden glow.

Thoreau, I believe, was the first to remark upon the individuality of
trees of the same species with respect to their foliage,--some maples
ripening their leaves early and some late, and some being of one tint
and some of another; and, moreover, that each tree held to the same
characteristics, year after year. There is, indeed, as great a variety
among the maples as among the trees of an apple orchard; some are
harvest apples, some are fall apples, and some are winter apples, each
with a tint of its own. Those late ripeners are the winter
varieties,--the Rhode Island greenings or swaars of their kind. The
red maple is the early astrachan. Then come the red-streak, the
yellow-sweet, and others. There are windfalls among them, too, as
among the apples, and one side or hemisphere of the leaf is usually
brighter than the other.

The ash has been less noticed for its autumnal foliage than it
deserves. The richest shades of plum color to be seen--becoming by and
by, or in certain lights, a deep maroon--are afforded by this tree.
Then at a distance there seems to be a sort of bloom on it, as upon
the grape or plum. Amid a grove of yellow maple, it makes a most
pleasing contrast.

By mid-October, most of the Rip Van Winkles among our brute creatures
have lain down for their winter nap. The toads and turtles have bu