96 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



revel in cold weather, as if it were congenial to their health 

 and wants. To them has nature entrusted the care of dress- 

 ing all her barren places in verdure, and of preserving a 

 grateful remnant of summer beauty in the dreary places of 

 winter's abode. And it is not to be wondered, that, to the 

 fanciful minds of every nation, the woods have always seemed 

 to be peopled with fairy spirits, by whose unseen hands 

 the earth is garlanded with lovely wreaths of verdure, at a 

 time when not a flower is to be found upon the hills or 

 in the meadow. 



Whether we are adapted to nature, or nature to us, it is 

 not to be denied, that, on the face of the earth, those ap- 

 pearances established by nature are more congenial to our 

 feelings than others strictly artificial. The lichen-covered 

 rocks, that form so remarkable a feature of the hills surround- 

 ing our coast, are far more pleasing to every man's sight 

 than similar rocks without this garniture. All this may be 

 partly attributed to the different associations connected with 

 the two, in our habitual trains of thought : — the one present- 

 ing to us the evidence of antiquity, the other only the disa- 

 greeable idea of that defacement so generally attendant on 

 the progress of pioneer settlements. Hence the lichens and 

 mosses upon the surface of the rocks have an expression 

 which has always been eagerly copied by the painter, and is 

 associated with many romantic images, like the clambering 

 ivy upon the walls of an ancient ruined tower. 



At this season, when the greater part of the landscape is 

 either covered with snow, or with the seared and brown her- 

 bage of winter, this vegetation of the rocks has a singular 

 interest. In summer, the rocks are bald in their appearance, 

 while all around them is fresh and lively. In winter, on 

 the other hand, they are covered with a pale verdure, inter- 

 spersed with many brilliant colors, while the surrounding sur- 

 face is a comparative blank. Some objects are intrinsically 

 beautiful, others are beautiful by suggestio.i, others again by 

 contrast. This latter principle causes many things to appear 

 delightful to the eye at one period, which at other times 

 would, by comparison with brighter objects, seem dull and 



