ked Miss Harson as they
came to some large bushes with great pinkish flowers.

"I like 'em," replied Edith, "because they're so little. And oh what
pretty flowers!"

"Some more relations of the rose," said her governess. "And do you
notice how fragrant they are? The tree is always low and crooked, just
as you see it, and the branches straggle not very gracefully. The under
part of the dark-green leaves is whitish and downy-looking, and the
flowers are handsome enough to warrant the cultivation of the tree just
for their sake, but the large golden fruit is much prized for preserves,
and in the autumn a small tree laden down with it is quite an ornamental
object. The quince is more like a pear than an apple. As the book says,
'it has the same tender and mucilaginous core; the seeds are not
enclosed in a dry hull, like those of the apple; and the pulp of the
quince, like that of the pear, is granulated, while that of the apple
displays in its texture a firmer and finer organization.' The fruit,
however, is so hard, even when ripe, that it cannot be eaten without
cooking. It is said to be a native of hedges and rocky places in the
South of Europe."

[Illustration: PEACH-BLOSSOM.]

"These peach trees," said Clara, "look like sticks with pink flowers all
over 'em." "They are remarkably bare of leaves when in bloom," was the
reply: "the leaves burst forth from their envelopes as the blossoms pass
away; but how beautiful the blossoms are! from the deepest pink to that
delicate tint which is called peach-color. But do you know that we have
left the apple and rose family now, and have come to the almond family?"

The children were very much surprised to hear this, and they looked at
the peach trees with fresh interest.

"Yes," continued Miss Harson, "the family consists of the almond tree,
the peach tree, the apricot tree, the plum tree and the cherry tree; and
one thing that distinguishes them from the other families is the gum
which is found on their trunks.--Look around, Malcolm, at the peach,
plum and cherry trees, which are the only members of the family that we
have at Elmridge, and you will find gum oozing from the bark, especially
where there are knotholes."

Malcolm not only found the gum, but succeeded in helping himself to some
of it, which he shared with his sisters. It had a rather sweet taste,
and the children seemed to like it, having first obtained permission of
their governess to eat it.

"That is anoth