l of flowers, the air full of fragrance, and when every breeze
brings down the most beautiful showers of flowery snow.

And how beautiful and delicate is every individual flower! We are so
accustomed to looking at blossoms in the mass--at treesful and whole
orchardsful--that we are not apt to think that those great heaps of
pink and loveliness are composed of little flowers, each one perfect
in itself.

And not only is each blossom formed of the most beautiful white
petals, shaded with pink; not only does each one of them possess a
most pleasant and delicate perfume, but every one of these little
flowers--every one which comes to perfection, I mean--is but the
precursor of an apple. This one may be a Golden Pippin; that one which
looks just like it may be the forerunner of a Belle-flower; while the
little green speck at the bottom of this one may turn into a Russet,
with his sober coat.

The birds that are flying among the branches do not think much about
the apples that are to come, I reckon, and neither do the early
butterflies that flutter about, looking very much like falling
blossoms themselves. And, for that matter, we ourselves need not think
too much about the coming apple crop. We ought sometimes to think of
and enjoy beauty for its own sake, without reference to what it may do
in the future for our pockets and our stomachs.

There are other kinds of blossoms than apple-blossoms, or those of any
tree whatever. There are little flowers which bloom as well or better
in winter than in summer, and which are not, in fact, flowers at all.

These are ice-blossoms.

Perhaps you have never seen any of them, and I think it is very
likely, for they can only be formed and perceived by the means of
suitable instruments. And so here is a picture of some ice-blossoms.

[Illustration]

These curious formations, some of which appear like stars, others like
very simple blossoms, while others are very complex; and some of which
take the form of fern-leaves, are caused to appear in the centre of a
block of ice by means of concentrated rays of lights which are
directed through the ice by means of mirrors and lenses. Sometimes
they are observed by means of a magnifying-glass, and in other
experiments their images are thrown upon a white screen.

[Illustration]

We may consider these ice-flowers as very beautiful and very
wonderful, but they are not a whit more so than our little blossoms of
the apple-orchard.

The lat