When does Spring Commence ? 



their hungry mouths, and not only those growing among 

 thorny plants. 



Here is another view from Pliny's Natural History* 

 as translated by Philemon Holland : " To proceed, then, 

 the Spring openeth the sea for sailors ; in the beginning 

 whereof the west winds mitigate the winter weather, at 

 what time as the Sun is in the twenty-fifth degree of 

 Aquarius, and that is the sixth day before the Ides of 

 February." 



Meteorologists give us a more exact and practical con- 

 ception in dating the beginning of Spring when the 

 average daily temperature reaches 48 F. 



This of course varies with the latitude, and works out 

 like this for Europe : 



March i. Bordeaux, Barcelona, Marseilles, Genoa. 



15. Brest, Turin, Venice. 



April i. S.W. Ireland, Land's End, Paris. 



,, 15. N.W. Ireland, London, Brussels. 



May i. Edinburgh, Moscow, N. Alps. 



15. N. Scotland, St. Petersburg. 



June i. N.W. Norway. 



15. S. Iceland. 



July 1-15. N. Cape. 



It is, however, from the gardener's point of view we 

 must regard the question, and the wise one will follow 

 Bacon, and be content with nothing less than ver perpetuum 

 in his garden. Reference to the celebrated Essay shows 

 that Bacon was satisfied with mere evergreens for the 

 greater part of winter, and he writes : " For December 



1 Plin. i, II, Cap. xlvii, C. p. 23. 



3 



