NATURE IN JANUARY. 



THE Frontispiece which graces this opening essay may, or 

 may not, correctly represent the surroundings during the first 

 month of the year, owing to the variation of our climate. But, 

 as we write, the whole land is clothed in whiteness and looks 

 most beautiful. 



Snow varies, as most people know. I think there is nothing 

 so dull and cheerless as a thawing snowfall, or even a thaw 

 when the snow has fallen. What commends itself to me is a 

 good dry snow, when one can get about in comparative comfort, 

 without having to wade through a mixture of snow, mud and 

 slush, to use a somewhat vulgar expression. At the time this 

 sketch is being written we have a clean, dry, frosty snow, and 

 it is delightful to ramble in the lanes and through the woods, 

 taking notice of the Wild Life which is astir. Nothing makes one 

 feel better in health or temper than a sharp ten miles ramble 

 under such conditions as I have described, and only those who 

 have participated in such walks with Nature at this season can 

 appreciate them. 



First of all let us explore in the neighbourhood of the woods 

 and park of one of England's greatest and most respected 

 landowners. I cannot do better than set out an actual ramble 

 as written in my Note-book. It bears the date of January 1899 

 and runs as follows: 



"Before reaching the woodland glade, we rambled along the 

 rutted roadway ; it boasts of no path for it is an old country 

 lane, on the sides of which the various bushes, such as the 



