The Work Of Nature In The Months.

cursory observer , but an examination of their beauties will well repay the student of Nature , for" Not a flower But shows some touch in freckle , streak , or stain , Of His unrivalled pencil . There is not one but Seems , as it issues from the shapeless mould , An emanation of the indAvelling life , A visible token of the upholding loves , That are the soul of this wide universe . "

Passing on Ave come through such shrub-like plants as the Wood Spurge , Avith its greenish-yellOAV blossoms scarcely distinguishable at a distance from its foliage , and the larger Bed Shrubby Spurge , to the Trees , of Avhich several are blooming this month . — Amongst such are the Poplars ; the Lombardy , Avith its toAvering spire-like form which bends before the gale Avith a plume-like motion of its Avhole form , instead of merely waving its branches to the blast . Of this Leigh Hunt says . —

" The Poplar ' s shoot , Which , like a feather , waves from head to foot . " The White Poplar Avhich Cowper thus beautifully describes : — " The Poplar , that with silver lines his leaf . " The Black Poplar , and the Aspen Avith its ever-moving foliage , from which hascome the proverbial description of " quivering like an Aspen leaf . " Spenser uses this peculiar quality of the tree descriptively : —

" His hand did quake , And tremble like a leaf of Aspen green . " Very seldom , indeed , are the Aspens still , indeed , we suppose , never except in that breathless silence that precedes a shower . Thomson thus graphically describes this rare stillness : — " Gradual sinks the breeze

Into a perfect calm ; that not a breath Is heard to quiver through the closing Avoods , Or rustling turn the many twinkling leaves Of Aspen tall . "

The Poplar floAver closely resembles the " catkin " of the Hazel , and is to the Botanist an exceedingly interesting and beautiful specimen of Nature's handiAvork . On the footstalk of the Black Poplar leaf are frequently found small round protuberances , Avhich are the home as Avell as the handiwork of insects of . the Aphis tribe . The wood of all the kinds is valuable for various kinds of turnery , —for building purposes , owing to its extremely SIOAV combustibility , —ancl particularly for packing cases , owing to its

toughness being such that nails may be driven in close to the edge Avithout splitting it . All the Poplar tribe are invaluable to the layers-out of pleasure grounds , on account of their quick growth . Such is the rapidity -with which they come to maturity that we may mention , as an instance , that lately there Avas to be seen at Great Tew , in Oxfordshire , a Lombardy Poplar , Avhich the planter lived to see attain the height of one hundred and twenty-five feet in the space of fifty years .

During this month , too , the Alder bears a someAvhat similar " catkin " to the Poplar and Hazel , whilst the tiny tufts of purple flowerets are to be found on the Elm , from which are developed those flat , oblong , fruits that come Avhirling doAvn upon us during the breezes later on in the year . Alderwood is useful for a variety of purposes , charcoal for gunpowder making , soles for clogs , and as a substitute for Ebony when dyed black ; but its greatest use is its applicability for piles , as , whilst under water , it is Avellni gh imperishable . It is on Alder piles that the beautiful arch of the famous 1-halto of Venice is said to bo supported .