70 HOME AND GARDEN 



time of flowering, scarcely any is noticeable in the 

 Elder. So that one may say that however changeable 

 in their characters may be the other days most pro- 

 minent in the almanac from their connection with 

 Feasts of the Church or matters of custom, yet 

 Midsummer Day always falls on the 24th of June. 

 Indeed I have often noticed that however abnormal 

 may have been the preceding seasons, things seem 

 to right themselves about the middle of this month. 



The country people say that the roots of Elder 

 must never be allowed to come near a well, still less 

 to grow into it, or the water will be spoilt. The 

 young shoots are full of a very thick pith ; we used 

 to dry it in my young days, and make it into little 

 round balls for use in electrical experiments. The 

 scent of the flowers, especially wind-wafted, I think 

 very agreeable, though they smell too strong to bring 

 indoors. If I were not already overdone with home 

 industries, I should distil fragrant Elder-flower water ; 

 but I let the berries ripen and make them into Elder- 

 wine, a pleasant, comforting, and wholesome drink for 

 winter evenings. 



It is always convenient to have names for the 

 different parts of a garden. I made this remark to 

 a friend as we were passing a solid wooden seat under 

 one of the tall Birches that give rather a distinct 

 character to the lawn and garden space just north of 

 the house, and I added that a name for that seat was 



