do look, Miss Harson," said Clara, "at these lovely half-open buds!
They are just like tiny roses, and _so_ sweet!"

Down went Clara's head among the clustered blossoms, and then Edith had
to come too; and Malcolm declared that between the two they would smell
them to death.

"It seems," continued Miss Harson, "that the apple tree grows wild in
every part of Europe except in the frigid zone and in Western Asia,
China and Japan. It is thought to have been planted in Britain by the
Romans; and when it was brought here, it seemed to do better than it had
done anywhere else. It is said that 'not only the Indians, but many
indigenous insects, birds and quadrupeds, welcomed the apple tree to
these shores. The butterfly of the tent-caterpillar saddled her eggs on
the very first twig that was formed, and it has since shared her
affections with the wild cherry; and the canker-worm also, in a measure,
abandoned the elm to feed on it. As it grew apace the bluebird, robin,
cherry-bird, king-bird, and many more, came with haste and built their
nests and warbled in its boughs, and so became orchard-birds and
multiplied more than ever. It was an era in the history of their race in
America. The downy woodpecker found such a savory morsel under its bark
that he perforated it in a ring quite round the tree before he left it.
It did not take the partridge long to find out how sweet its buds were,
and every winter eve she flew, and still flies, from the wood to pluck
them, much to the farmer's sorrow. The rabbit, too, was not slow to
learn the taste of its twigs and bark; and when the fruit was ripe, the
squirrel half rolled, half carried, it to his hole. Even the musquash
crept up the bank from the brook at evening, and greedily devoured it,
until he had worn a path in the grass there; and when it was frozen and
thawed, the crow and the jay were glad to taste it occasionally. The owl
crept into the first apple tree that became hollow, and fairly hooted
with delight, finding it just the place for him; so, settling down into
it, he has remained there ever since.'

"Speaking of these buds, Clara," said her governess, "I think I forgot
to tell you that the apple tree belongs to the family Rosaceae, and
therefore the half-opened blossoms have a right to look like roses. The
tree is not a handsome one, being a small edition of the oak in its
sturdy outline, but it is less graceful or picturesque-looking, being
often broader than it is high an