546 GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



it is observable, tbat one distinct tone of colour is common to the autumnal 

 leaves of all of tlie same species. Those of the oak change, in this season, to 

 M yellowish green ; the plane-tree becomes tawny ; those of the sycamore dark 

 V)rown ; the elms take an orange hue ; the leaves of the hornbeam assume a 

 bright yellow tint ; the cherry becomes red, and those of the beech are dark 

 greentending to deep orange. Theoak, mellowed to a bronzed green, thus blends 

 \vith the faded yellow of the palmated chestnut-leaves and the deeper hues 

 of the elm, while the darker shadows of the pines are relieved by the lighter 

 1 ints of the fresh leaves and green underwood. Beautifully as they are now 

 Llended, however, they are contemplated with a feeling allied to sadness : — 



•' Are there not voices in the autumn gale, 



Whispering sad tales of the decaying year ? 

 Strange mournful tones which summer joys bewail, 

 Sighs for its fragrant breath, — its heavens clear.?" 



Over the hedgerow trails the rambling briony, the "wild bramble of the 

 brake," and the wild rose, some of its fruit becoming tipped with scarlet, 

 mingles with the blackberry, the hawthorn, and the convolvulus, — a morning 

 flower, which opens its tnampet-shaped blossom to the morning sun, closing 

 it again with the closing day. 



1705. In many places spiders' webs are suspended from plant to plant, and 

 .rom branch to branch, sometimes two or three webs thick, one over the 

 other ; at other times floating in the air in huge flakes, much to the surprise 

 of the spectator, who is full of wonder both as to their object and the manner 

 in which the feat of attaching their extremities to the branches was accom- 

 plished, — not to speak of the geometrically-exact pattern of the web, which 

 always must remain an object of intense interest to the observer. 



1706. Beautiful are the old English orchards in this month : — 



*' With ruddy fruit the orchard now is hung ; 

 The golden hop droops pendent in the breeze ; 

 For Autumn from her ample hand hath thrown 

 Her richest treasures on the laden trees." 



The heavy fruit bows down the branches of the trees, and tells of a summer 

 departed. Their gnarled and twisted branches and Hchen-covered stems are not 

 always indicative of good cultivation, however, any more than the trim and 

 well-regiilated fruit-tree forms a picturesque object in the landscape, or adds 

 greatly to the pictorial beauty of the scene. A verdant sward of deepest green, 

 which the shade of the trees keeps moist and fresh all the year round, receives 

 the earlier-ripened waifs and strays, as well as those whose tender lives tho 

 • ' worm i' the bud " has undermined. 



1707. In the flower-garden, if the full measure of colour remains, the fra- 

 .jrance of Rummer is gone. Most of the flowers of August continue to bloom 

 through September ; but their number is gradually less as the month 

 advances. The scentless hollyhocks, dahhas, China-asters, and other 

 autumnal-blooming flowers, take the place .of the aromatic and fragrant 

 pinks, carnations, and sweet violets ; — 



In colour those, and these delight the smell j"* 



