io8 THE ROLL OF THE SEASONS 



itself. It is because the English climate commonly 

 exceeds on the side of rain that the apparent enemies 

 of Horus, really his collaborators in fortunate hus- 

 bandry, are dreaded, and news of their advent eagerly 

 canvassed. 



It is a tribute to our climate that there are no 

 popular beliefs about really untimely events like 

 frost, hail-storms, and nipping winds in the summer 

 months. These are entirely in the province of the 

 prophetic almanac-makers. In great severity they 

 are so infrequent that they may well be due to the 

 unprovoked malignity of Mars or the mischief of 

 Saturn. We never descend to the anxious depths 

 of the French commune that begged its mayor to 

 have all blackthorns rooted out in order to abolish 

 the frost that comes when they are in blossom. 

 There are just a few critical days in spring and 

 summer when a really hard night-frost, preceded and 

 followed by certain other conditions, can do an 

 immense amount of harm. Fortunately, or un- 

 fortunately, those conditions fall with comparative 

 rarity. The " unfortunately " is hazarded because if 

 the calamity were more frequent it is likely that we 

 should be able to mitigate it by the simple means 

 found effective in other countries. Regular fruit- 

 growers are finding that it pays to take precautions 

 against night-frosts, even though in four years out of 

 five they prove to have been unneeded. The ordinary 

 man has his consolations. He regards the gifts of 

 his orchards in good years as a bounty. If he has 

 not his apples, he has his grass and the crops of his 

 fields of many times the acreage. Moreover, it is 

 good that the trees should have an occasional rest 



