xxix RIVERSIDE LETTERS 229 



this flitting business, little or no work going 

 on in the fields ; the cottagers who are not 

 themselves moving, stand about gossiping at 

 their garden gates and chaffing the passing 

 flitters. I am told that old Michaelmas Day 

 is " Flit Day " for agricultural cottagers all 

 over England, but I have never noticed the 

 occurrence myself before. 



It has been a wonderful season for apples 

 and pears ; ours have been very fine and 

 plentiful. I am not sure but that I admire 

 an apple-tree in fruit almost as much as one 

 in blossom, there is a solidity in the glory of 

 the fruit which is very satisfactory ; and the 

 contrast it affords when seen against a deep 

 blue sky is even more beautiful than that of 

 the blossom. More beautiful still than even 

 the apple-tree when seen thus, is a quince- 

 tree with its handsome foliage and magni- 

 ficent golden fruit ; such a one grows in the 

 Rev. C. Wodehouse's garden at Langford, 

 on the lawn ; I can give you no idea how 

 splendid it looked in the autumn sunshine. 

 The colour of the fruit is a delicious mixture 



