XXVlll. INTRODUCTION. 



enjoyed by those who like to dwell constantly out 

 of doors. Thunderstorms are common in this sea- 

 sou, and the sliowers w^liich attend them greatly 

 relieve the gardens from the parched ground left 

 by the dry season of the spring to be baked by the 

 solstitial heats. The noiseless or summer light- 

 ning of an evening is also very beautiful at this 

 time. 



Natural History. — This season opens with 

 the roses which flower in succession throughout 

 the whole time, accompanied by pinks and sweet 

 Williams. Sheepsheari)ig commencing when warm 

 weather is fairly set in, reminds us of a custom 

 common in the South of England, namely, that of 

 scattering flowers on the streams at shearing time, 

 wliich lias been long observed in the South West 

 of England ; and is alluded to as an ancient rite 

 by Dyer, in his beautifully descriptive poem en- 

 tled T/>e Fleece. 



The farmer generally looks on the flowering 

 of the elder as a sign that the period is at hand 

 " when the lads and the lasses a sheepshearing 

 go," as the old soig says. 



The flowers of the early part of this season 

 are those which come into blow in the last, such 

 as tlie piojiies aiul varieties of iris, but all the 

 lilies however soon succeed by turns, with the 

 ly chins and the innumerable varieties of garden 

 poppies. The approach of the solstice is constantly 



