3 6 JANUARY 



centres so different from the dull information supplied 

 by the single brain that there is no arguing : &quot; the rest 

 may reason ; and welcome ! &quot; They &quot; know/ 



Can it be that the quality of the fruit is possessed also 

 by the rest of the plant, as a wild currant smells of wild 

 currant in all parts, or as the trunk of a lilac bush harbours 

 a lilac streak ? The question arises out of personal suffer 

 ing. I planted this winter a number of young fruit trees. 

 Three of the best sorts and those almost the nearest 

 to the house, where many workmen were engaged 

 were devoured by hares (which were not numerous in 

 the neighbourhood) before the wire guards could be put 

 up. In general, rabbits and hares so it seems to me 

 are guided by tissue and succulence. Dusty cork-like 

 stuff is safe. Any smooth, clean bark and this is, of 

 course, juicier is a sure bait ; and for this reason, per 

 haps, the most highly favoured species, in the wild, are 

 ash and holly, and in the garden the young apple-tree, 

 usually attacked where it is youngest, that is, as high as 

 the hare or rabbit can reach. 



Our winter weather is often called &quot; phenomenal/ 

 and now and again that strange Graecism carries its 

 proper meaning. The country becomes under stress of 

 weather peculiarly rich in phenomena, in curious and 

 sometimes beautiful appearances, or, if we must be 

 Greek, epiphanies. Much of the frost has been hoar or 

 rime ; and this always means the conjunction of fog or 

 mist or haze words that our experts in weather dis 

 tinguish by nice definitions with frost and, as a rule, 

 with those delicacies of atmosphere that have induced a 

 host of observers to connect mist with a mystery, Omnia 



