Jannary 2, 18«6. ] 



JOUENAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEK. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



u W YC 



oOTANJi 



OAKDE 



NEW YEAR! 



d T is with many persons a cus- 

 tom to watch out the year, ! 

 to relinquish in a friendly 

 way the departing guest, 

 and to greet cheerily and 

 trustfully the new comer. 

 Although I had experienced a rather fatiguing day, I was 

 determined thus to act. Undeterred by the reiterated argu- 

 ments and warnmgs of my better half, who remarked. 

 •' What folly ! Why, you know you 11 be asleep in a few 

 minutes ! You areas' tired now as you can be !" I waved 

 her away, my determination was unalterable. I would 

 hear the old year rung out. or at least sit up till the tune 

 when that ceremony takes place, and so I only replied — 



*' Eing out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 

 The flying cloud, the frosty light ; 

 The year is (lying in the night, 

 Eing out, wild hells, and let him die." 



And yet, to tell the strict truth, it was useless waiting for 

 oiu- village bells to ling out, as we have but three, and one 

 of those is cracked ; so wisely we do not ring in the new 

 year, fearing that if we commenced the operation we might 

 fiighten liim away altogether. 



Left to myself, the house was soon quiet. Silence and 

 night are the times for visions. How many persons in 

 company together have ever seen a gho.st? The fact is 

 that these supematiu-al beings agree with the proverb, 

 " Two are company ; three, none," and they prefer making 

 their visits to single gentlemen and ladies — not necessarily 

 bachelors and spinsters, but a state of single blessedness, 

 whether of long or short dm-ation, appears necessary to 

 enable us mortals to make then' personal acquaintance. 



Determined to resist any attacks of " Nature's sweet 

 restorer." I had ordered cotiee, and indulged in a strong 

 cup of the refreslung beverage ; I soon was hard at work, 

 pen in hand, indulging in some stave to be inflicted first 

 on ■■ our Editors," and, b.y their sanction, on the readers 

 of " oiu- Journal." My pen ran fast and fiu'iously. I could 

 hardly believe my eyes, but the hands of the clock marked 

 11.4'/ P.M. 1 Was it possible'.' WeU, the pile of manu- 

 script showed I had not been idle, and my watch agreeing 

 as to time, I rested my head on my hand, intenduig to 

 meditate away the remaining moments of the year. I was 

 soon lost in a reverie. New fiiends, alas ! too frequently 

 usm-p the place of the old : the rishig deity is worshipped. 

 I woidd not. however, be so ungrateful to my exph-ing 

 friend ; he had been the bearer to me of many mercies, 

 and as these rapidly flitted tlu-ongh ray brain, I trast I 

 felt grateful to the Giver of all good : a.d. ISG.5 would be 

 in my diary a year of mercies and pleasant memory. 

 And now, whether the weird influence of the near approach 

 No, 249.— VcL. Xn New Sekies. 



of the first small hours of the new year, or the expirmg 

 moments of the old, or whether these were stn\-mg for 

 the mastery I cannot determine, but visions appeared and 

 vanished before my mental sight with gi-eat rapidity. 

 Remember. I was not asleep! Sirs. "Y. B. A. Z." might 

 have been certain I was ; nay, she would have brought 

 forward the closed eye and the heavy regular breatliing as 

 conclusive evidence of her %iew of the case ; hut every one 

 Imows how conducive to sound meditation is that closui-e 

 of the lids, which separates us fi-om the material world, 

 and allows oiu- thoughts free scope. It is, perhaps, often 

 mistaken for sleep ; but who. I ask, is the best judge— the 

 person looking on the closed eye, or the unconscious per- 

 son so absorbed in thought '.' Let common sense detennine. 

 As I have abeadv remarked, I did not, although I might 

 have felt disposed, intend to go to sleep— of coiu'se not ! 

 therefore Mrs. " Y. B. A. Z.'s" theorj- must go for what 

 it is worth 1 



As I had been \vriting for '• our Journal," it v,as natui-al 

 that my meditations shoidd be on the same subject. I 

 reflected on the eagerness \nth wlucli I haOed the weekly 

 issue, not ueulh/. mmd you, for none of us are disposed to 

 tliink lightlv of' anytliing in wliich we ourselves sometimes 

 bear a part," however iosignilicant. Besides, was it not our 

 Journal'? I seized the last Number, and scanned its con- 

 tents, and I became identified ^ith the various contributors, 

 and was faiilv, I presume, under some mesmeric influence. 

 I was in a part of the country new to me. suiToimded by 

 busv workers, and I fancied inyself metamorphosed into 

 "Devonshire BEE-KEErEi;.' and I was dismal and de- 

 sponding under a -i-isitation of foul brood, but persever- 

 ance rendered mv apiary again floiuishing and contented ; 

 yet as I looked at this longed-for result, I saw on the table 

 before me a small bell-glass, hermetically sealed, contain- 

 ing a cm-ious substance ; it was labeUod, "The last trace of 

 , foul brood. Lo( we), there it is." Tlieu I was no longer the 

 " Devonshire Bee-Iv-eeper," hut " FiLix-rffiMiNA," scram- 

 I bling after some rare specimen of Fern high aloft, a trea- 

 sm-e"^! had long coveted, to v.ii— WeU, I do not doubt but 

 I that I could find some suitable Fern name that would do 

 I duty, but botanical names are a somewhat tender point 

 witii me, and I forbear. I have a pahiful recollection of 

 I losing caste in my voimger days. Veronica beccabunga is 

 one o'f the few botanical names that fastened itself on my 

 I memon-. The name, alas I was only tliere, and m me it 

 had no connection irith any plant, yet being, as the old 

 woman said of Mesopotamia, such a comforting word, it 

 often sen-ed me for replv when appealed to for the name 

 of anv plant. Failing tliis reply, I generally coined some 

 word." making it a sine qud mm that it should contain four 

 syllables. On one occasion, when out ^ith several friends, 

 who were aware of my pciich'iiit for Veronica, the question 

 ! arose. What was the name of that little plant hi the brook? 

 I was refen-ed to. It was a moment pregnant with my 

 botanical fate 1 it was the tide m my history, wluch I tailed 

 ■ to avail myself of. Had I but coutkiued constant to \ e- 

 ronica I might ever after, maintaining a discreet and con- 

 ' venient silence, have passed for a botanical authority, 

 perhaps even for a genius. Miserahilf dktu, I corned a word, 



No. 901.— Vol- XXXV. Old Skktes- 



