January 3, 1S65. ] 



JOUENAL OP HORTIOtJLTTrEE AND COTTAGE GAE.DENEE. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 1 Day 



of of 



M 'nth' Wees. 



Tu 

 W 

 Th 

 F 

 S 



JANUARY 3-9, 1865. 



Average Temperature 

 near London. 



Jelhro Tull died, 1740. 

 Rosemary flowers. 

 China Rose flowers. 

 EptPHANT, 12th Day. 

 Black Hellebore flowei'?. 



1 SCNDAT AFTER EPIPHAST. 



Primrose flowers. 



Day. 

 43.4 

 42.6 

 41.S 

 41.3 

 41.6 

 411.9 

 4L2 



Nieht., M&in. 



81.1 

 31.5 

 30.4 

 29.5 

 29 

 30.1 

 31.1 



37 1 

 37.0 

 361 

 35.0 

 35.3 

 3SS 

 3G.1 



Rain in 



last 



Snn 

 Bisea. 



38 years. 





Days. 



m. h.. 



19 



8af8 



17 



8 8 



U 



8 S 



14 



7 8 



15 



7 8 



11 



7 8 



14 



6 8 



Son 



Seta. 



m. b. 



2af4 

 3 4 



Moon 

 Bises. 



Uoon 



Seta. 



m. h. 



45 10 



14 11 



42 11 

 after. 



49 



33 1 



24 2 



m. h. 

 39 11 

 mom. 

 55 



11 

 23 

 30 



Moon's 

 Age. 



^j^^^l j LIBRARY 



"st": , Y*e^«° |NEW YORK 



GARDEN. 



8 

 9 

 10 

 11 

 12 



5C 

 23 

 90 

 16 

 42 

 8 

 32 



From observations taken near London dnrin? the last tlr>tr-eight Tears, the average day temperature of the week is 41.9^, and its night 

 temperature 33.4'. The greatest heat was 54° on the 5th, 1544; and 'the lowest co\d, 6', on the Oth, ISU. The greatest fall of rain waa 

 0.86 inch. 



THE ^■E'\r TEAE. 



ATlS at last, and plenty of it too. 

 The snow wMch fell a few 

 days since, making one feel 

 thatpietorial representations 

 of Christmas are not always 

 myths, is altogether gone : 

 one night's heavr rain has 

 caused it to descend into ie 

 earth, and not a trace re- 

 mains behiad. The white 

 landscape on which I looked 

 butyesterday is wholly gone. 

 Eain ! rain I how it pours ! 

 Just been to see old Widow Green, 

 and took her some tea. How these 

 little Christmas-boxes to the poor 

 warm their hearts ! Eeader, areyon 

 inarrear with your Christmas-boxes ? 

 Go out this minute and distribute 

 them until your conscience is clear. 

 iNerer delay them — thev hare been 

 looked forward to — talked over — 

 reckoned on. If in money, it has 

 been in idea appropriated to such 

 and such an object — perhaps a red 

 comforter a-piece for the boys. 

 Segan my barrelled oysters last night, sent to me each 

 year oy dear old ilr. Dash. X.B. — -He has all his life 

 been fond of his garden, perhaps that accounts for his 

 kindness of heart. N.B. 2^o. 2.— Barrel heavy, but the 

 oysters sat light ; inference, they are good for digestion. 

 y.B. 2^'o. 3. — Last autumn heard a respectably dressed 

 man, a clerk in an oiSce, call Asters " Chinese Oysters." 

 He must have been, like the barrel, heavy. 



Dear me ! I have wandered in a maze and almost lost 

 myself. I am quite amazed. Oh I the rain. Trudging, 

 as I have been, on the slippery roads (IViltshire roads 

 bad, oh for Berkshire gravel !) a mile is a mile and a 

 half now, because at each step you slip back half the 

 way. I don't Kke walking in the rain. There is one's 

 alpaca umbrella — the silk one I keep to lend to my lady 

 friends. Silk is soft, suited to " velveted hands." (By 

 the way, editors seem to like pats from velveted hands.) 

 I lost two silk timbrellas so lent ; but I still lend on ia 

 full faith, for the angels only steal — hearts. The rain 

 comes tbrough the alpaca in a fine dust-like drizzle ; it 

 spoils one's hat, and gets upon one's spectacles. I re- 

 member seeing a fat bishop of the old school — a Banting 

 of a bishop — in great trouble. The good man was con- 

 seciating a church one hot day in July. The building 

 was sinall, the congregation large. The poor bishop 

 perspired profusely. The drops fell from his forehead 

 upon his spectacles. He wiped them. Again descended 

 the hot drops. And so he wiped and perspired, per- 

 spired and wiped in a frantic state, until, as he could 

 not see, his chaplain had to read for him. My case 

 Ifo. 197.— Vol. VIIL, Nrw Seefes. 



was not so bad ; but oh, the rain — how it finds out one's 

 knees ! 



Home again — home again ! What a blessing to hare 

 a home ! ^ow never, good reader, especially if you read 

 this in a gardener's cottage, never grow discontented and 

 in a sillv fit give up a settled comfortable home, though 

 you may not have quite all you wish. Think if no situ- 

 ation turned up when you had to turn out, small lodgings, 

 no room for the children to play, two removals, fomiture 

 broken, and other losses. Jv'ow take it kindly — I mean 

 well. " xfever give up a certainty except for a better 

 certainty." 



Oh this rain I But as out-door exercise is at an end 

 for one day at least, I wiU anticipate the evening, though 

 it be but afternoon yet, and in slippered ease enjoy 

 mvself. There, Gertrude darling, fairy-hke child with 

 the dancing curls, hand to me " Chambers' Book of Days." 



.Just easy, just happily settled, when the door odptis, 

 and I hear, '' My dear, have you not forgotten to ■mite 

 something for the Journal on the new year ? Last year's 

 was not very ." 



" Please, Materfaimlias, do not be hypercritical, though 

 bett^er that than hypocrirical, certainly." 



'■■ Well, you know I never flatter ; but I think (of 

 course what you call the humour was nothing) if you 

 can do good and make people kindly that is very well ; 

 besides, some will be on the look-out." 



" WeU, I will try." 



" There ! the rain's over. What a glare of sunshine !" 



(I do not like writing in a room facing the south). 

 " There, please draw the blind down one pane, and I 

 shaU have one pain less.'' 



I would, dear Editors and brother writers, that we 

 could all dine together once a-year — at Christmas, for 

 instance. I, the chaplain, would say grace. What 

 glorious bouquets would be on the table — somebody would 

 bring one for me, I flatter myself. Then the dinner 

 should be apropos. Vegetable soup — no fish (except from 

 Putteridge Bury) . Then what turkeys ! what poultry ! 

 what game ! what vegetables ! what a sweet course ! 

 gardeners and poultry -lovers doing their best. Then 

 what Celery, and cheese made from cows that do not 

 milk themselves. !1N^.B., I would find bacon. Then what 

 a dessert ! There our pomologists would shine. What 

 Apples, Pears, Grapes, &c. ! Then the toasts and 

 speeches ! What a cheery evening it would be — what 

 speeches ! (I am thinking over my own at this time — 

 three anecdotes in it). What talk, plea.sant, clever, 

 spirited ! not a Gooseberry fool among the whole com- 

 pany. Then there wotdd be the lady writers too — Fem- 

 loving, and flower-loving and poultry-loving fair ones. 

 Would not the wit be, like the flowers, brilliant and' 

 harmless ? 



Well, well, it is no use wishing ; I must write instead 

 of speak, though I prefer literally saying my say. Here 

 begins. Brothers of the pen. Editors, and all ! When 

 I look through the 2f umbers of 1864 I am bold to say 

 they are as good, or better, than their predecessors. 

 Sometimes the gardening part may be the best, at other 

 No. S49.— Vol. XXXIII., Oiu Sesies. 



