ng of the petals in the bud
at the epoch of expansion may differ in two flowers on the same tree.
One petal may stand guard outside the others and free from them, both
edges uncovered, while the remaining petals are spiral with one edge
under and one edge over; or there may be two guard petals, one on
either side; or sometimes all the petals may be spiral, one margin
out, one margin in; in some cases all the petals stand free as the
flower is expanding, with no margin interlapping. Sometimes one petal
is missing, and again the petals may be six.

This infinite variety within the bonds of so great regularity lends a
subtle charm to natural objects, that is wholly absent in man's
perfected machine-work. Man aims at uniformity, two and two alike;
nature aims at endless difference, every object or even every member
of an object having its own character. Much of man's energy is
expended in trying to overcome the diverseness of nature.

Gradually and slowly the flower balloons enlarge and puff themselves
up, the petals standing together at their tips; all the variety is
united into a harmony of exuberance, color and form; then one day
there is a shower of genial rain, a warm sun, birds in the air, bees
released, grasses soft and lush, and behold! the apple-tree is in
bloom,--a great heavenly mound of white and pink exhaling a faint
delicious breath. Then the pulses stir, the dogs bark at the edges of
the wood, the fields call, the scented winds lead on forever.

IV

THE WEEKS BETWEEN THE FLOWER AND THE FRUIT

The petals expand broadly, usually losing most of their pink. The
blade is oblong and rounded at the end, at first cupped and then
nearly flat, three-fourths of an inch long, narrowed at the base into
a short stem-like part and usually hairy there, the edges perhaps wavy
but entire. The expanse of the flower may be one and one-half to two
inches. The brush of stamens, erect in the center, sheds its pollen
and the anthers collapse.

Then the petals fall, like flakes of snow, borne often by the wind.
There remain the stout woolly flower-stems an inch or more long and
bearing minute dry bracts, with the young fruit at the summit topped
by the five recurving woolly sepals and the pencil of stamens and
styles. The bloom being gone, the flowering system of the apple is
thenceforth little observed. Not until the fruit begins to color do we
come back to the apple-tree to look at it closely; yet in these
interveni