Show CATKINS By Georgina Fraser Eraser Newhall I I a Then men saHren swarms swarms swing o from all the ticklers So 60 plump they look like Caller cater j R it Lowell I This In la to be a great month for com coin in ing Ini o out t pt I mean meau the comine e I OB out of oC 1 budy budit For instance the th the pussy willows and and the Ul poplars will present w whole ole families It Is III a 8 season of or Inter eat 1 to at 1 t half haIr the world when the hussy ey 1 are out for despite many man other of o 0 r f spring it is upon these thet le blossoms th that at popular attention centers especially they are at their most st al e Whence they came or whither the so go Q after this delightful P Iod of r ther existence are questions which do not t themselves to the y ye r rIt rIt rIt It may be n nS vs s to many man that as far back hack as last Jast one might have found the very beginning gInning b of or these very demure little lit vers Even then hail had one taken a m nt nth E dle die and forced on n the wrappers rappers in which Dame Nature hud had enfolded their a pocket microscope would have revert leve led the wee i pussies each ready with wilh U 1 s stamens or pistils securely packed waiting 1 the time when the ee should have dis dlf discarded discarded carded her leaves been ready to give her attention t the new family Winds blew and rod ked the small pus pusI I lW ghosts of or flowe V fl floated by rains lathed and frosts ased then them but bu 1 through it all nIl they nourished flourished swelling b by slow and invisible growth until I with the first hint of spring they burst i their leathery Je thery jackets j i and emerged the pussy willows delighted of oC child childhood chIldhood hood But one may not be kittenish long even though thou 11 one oDe be a pussy puss willow There is always the b of life Ii and soon the willows ire fire re decked in I I either silvery green or golden Solden catkins the former being an arrangement of pistils partly covered by fringed scales while hUe the latter contain the male or staminate flowers flow yellow pollen I if carried by wind and insect to the th waiting pistils of or the u female flowers and thus fertilization is Js accomplished I Later when the woods wOlds are green some oom of the willows will again be i furry I the w n ee pp pods lods of the silver catkins will vial open and set free their th 1 minute and I multitudinous seed see progeny each adl ir pro vided with a tl little tuft tun of wool w that may maybe ma mabe be used as a a wing with Ith wh to fly ny a boat on which hien to foal oat or or a pillow on which to fall Willows you see have havea a far more adventurous life Ufe than we might expect from their very sleek aspect as aspect aspect in to the dos dars of or Most poplar buds bud look Jook like those of the willow so 80 much so that few tew dis discriminate discriminate discriminate criminate between them One fears f that this may tay not be an acceptable state of affairs to the poplars They are such sueh a very ancient family Poplars Poplar r t y II itA itAf f 1 Sa r 4 1 0 s f S i ih ic h c e es eL et ert s L l f t tWo rt y 4 rt T i Balm of Gilead d Catkins n S r s iet when when w as on ona ont 1 a 3 t very vez ve v exclusive basis Only the Cy J ads Cypresses and yews firs and spruces took precedence of them They I were the first to have bare armorial bea beat j I logs Ings that is leaves At least so geologists say There is one of this family famil however who disdains such a bid for popularity as pussies prefers to be useful u ful and is part perfumer p umer part physician This Is the Balm Bal of Gilead eagerly sought by bl t man pl for healing purposes Out I of the great sticky aromatic buds whose w fragrance goe oe btu make spring breezes delightful is eventually ev thrust the catkins male or fe female female male lUale which are to perpetuate the speet et Ci cg s s Most beautiful of all are the buds of another of time i T rs which has hns discarded di ded plain chinchilla grays gras in favor of crimson rimson effects The buds are ar I charming either when like kittens kit ens they the cuddle oon or when as ded I necklaces they the deck their theil mother I tree as vas the Roman mother in the dear jewels of or her maternity Quite as carefully as her cousin the I willow the poplar o lar sends her progeny adrift not empty but br b way wa or of sh sa the Scotch nut if 11 I f with little of off t wool on which one J I may frequently see them sauntering 1 forth Into the great unknown About the time when Ute the pussy J u sJ wil willows willows willows lows are decked de ked in pollen ollen down where the th are deepest and brownest you will find the alders ald rs and hazels in I bloom They do not bother with any i I thing like kittens The pollen onen is dis distributed distributed before other trees begin to leaf for leaves would sadly interfere inter re with I 1 the work of fertilization The alder aldei indeed Is very forehanded She began sis as early as last July to prepare p pare for this out season reason on But gut who could guess that she could conceal so much grace and an 1 loveliness within those prim little scaly objects which one is likely to mistake for fOI newly varnished d twigs She surprises us with lovely pendulous catkins which the faint faintest fa in t test I est breath sets swinging chains of blended scales and f stam starn staminate I flowers These rhese having haying no taste te teI for robber insects in are content to trust their pollen to the ancient carrier the I wind The Th insignificant female no lowers ow rs are nrc to be found at the Ups tips of the very ver smallest twigs twig They ThY are glutinous branched and hairy that they play may hold all allor of the golden pollen Hung flung their way wa These The e grow into dainty ones cotes which one may find adhering to the previous ears growth and h afford shelter to the seed ENI until it matures natures 1904 1909 by bv the Nature I I Stor 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