THE 



t. 



fan 



OCTOBEE, 1861. 



INTEE is fast approaching, and it is high time 

 preparations were made for all the risks that 

 iccompany it. With such lovely autumn sunshine,^ 

 the mention of the ap^^roaching winter may, to some ot 

 our readers, be as unwelcome as the display of the corpse 

 at an Egyptian banquet ; but that distasteful exhibition 

 was sanctioned by the "wisdom" of the nation, to 

 remind men of their doom ; and if this presage of fogs 

 and frosts appears uncalled for, we assure our friends 

 we are prospecting solely for their good — for there are 

 plenty of more cheerful subjects to which we might de- 

 A'ote this space. Trusting not to share the fate of Lot's 

 wife, let us look back for a moment. "Who cares to remember the last 

 winter and its freezing horrors ? But we can't forget it, for there are 

 places yet blank about us with the date of the disappearance of their 

 tenants marked upon them in characters which memory can translate but 

 too readily. The winter before that was sharp, protracted, and it began 

 early. Do you remember how the chrysanthemums were caught just at 

 blooming time, and melted into pulp ten days before the earliest of the 

 shows ? The winter preceding that, the chrysanthemums were similarly 

 scathed, and thousands of well-grown plants, supposed to be "safe enough 

 yet awhile," were caught like delicate maidens on their way to scenes of 

 revehy, and nipped by the night wind in the opening bud. Eor three 

 years in succession the chrysanthemums have suffered to an extent that 

 has actualljr diminished the popularity of the flower, and robbed us of 

 certain accustomed festivities at the Temple Gardens and elsewhere that 

 we used to count upon as certain as Christmas, Good Friday, and quarter 

 day. Now, don't let it happen again. Prevention is better than cure, 

 and in this particular case cure is impossible. Plants that have had daily 

 watching and incessant care since November, 1860, are not to be ruth- 

 lessly sacrificed in November, 1861, through the momentary dropping of 

 the thermometer a few degrees below the limit of safety. It is a fact to 

 be remembered that, towards the close of the autumn, we usually have in 



VOL. IV. KO. X. I- 



