i8 A YEAR IN A LANCASHIRE GARDEN. 



III. 



Frost The Vineries and Vines Early Forcing Orange-trees 

 Spring Work Aconites The Crocus. 



February 6. We have had no morning so beau- 

 tiful this winter. A clear, bright frost is in the air, 

 and on the grass, and among the trees. Not a 

 spray but is coated with crystals, white as snow 

 and thick as moss ; not a leaf of Holly or of 

 Ivy but is fringed with frosted fretwork. There is 

 not a breath of wind, and the birds, that were 

 singing yesterday, have all vanished out of sight. 

 It is wonderfully beautiful while it lasts, but it will 

 be over before night. 



Meanwhile, I am thankful for any touch of frost, if 

 it will only come now instead of later. It will help 

 to kill some few of the eggs and larvae, which, in 

 the different form of noxious insects, will plague us 

 through the summer. It will keep back the fruit- 

 tree buds, which are sadly too forward, and which 

 will run a poor chance unless they are checked 



