The bark of the trunk is
reddish, and that of the smooth branches and small twigs is light gray.
The branchlets are very small, light and slender, and are set
irregularly on the sides of the small branches; so that they form a
flat surface. This arrangement renders them singularly well adapted to
the making of brooms--a use of the hemlock familiar to housekeepers in
the country towns throughout New England. The leaves, which are
extremely delicate and of a silvery whiteness on the under side, are
arranged in a row on each side of the branchlets. The slender,
thread-like stems on which they grow make them move easily with the
slightest breath of wind, and this, with the silvery hue underneath,
gives to the foliage a glittering look that is very pretty. But I think
you all can tell me when the hemlock is prettiest?"
"After a snow-storm," said Clara. "Don't we all look, almost the first
thing, at the tree by the dining-room window?"
"Yes," replied Miss Harson; "it is a beautiful sight with the snow lying
on it in masses and the dark green of the leaves peeping through. 'The
branches put forth irregularly from all parts of the trunk, and lie one
above another, each bending over at its extremities upon the surface of
those below, like the feathers upon the wings of a bird,' And soft,
downy plumes they look, with the snow resting on them and making them
more feathery than ever."
"So they are like feathers?" said Malcolm, to whom this was a new idea,
"I'll look for 'em the next time it snows; yet--" He was going to add
that he wished it would snow to-morrow; but remembering that it was only
the beginning of June, and that Miss Harson had shown them how each
season has its pleasures, he stopped just in time.
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