34 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 18. 
lages, far from the bustle and noise of towns, to judge 
of a nation’s real prosperity-—and England’s villages 
tell us, on the whole, a cheering tale. Some look 
more dirty and neglected than others, bearing the 
stamp of that deadly snare, the beer-liouse; but 
these, I trust, are few compared with the number 
spread over England’s surface. In almost every 
parish we find a village, or something like one—a 
clustering together of men—and I have scarcely ever 
seen one that does not possess some picturesque or 
interesting feature. There is always a church stand¬ 
ing calmly by, as if to still “ the madness of the peo¬ 
ple,” and calling them continually to prayer and 
praise. What a solemn and beautiful sight is a sim¬ 
ple primitive British church ! We gaze with delight 
on a scene of nature only, where the eye ranges over 
earth, and water, and trees, and sky; all is so pure 
and good as if sin had not blighted it; yet, when a 
little column of smoke rises from among the trees, or 
we hear the deep bay of the watch dog, or the toll of 
the church clock, warning us from its hiding place 
of the flight of time, what an involuntary interest 
springs up at once in our hearts. There is a cot¬ 
tage ! or a farm! or a nestling hamlet within those 
sheltering trees! and such simple sounds add many 
charms to the beauty of the landscape. There is in 
our hearts, implanted by God, a love for our “kind;” 
and although sin has caused man to be “ a murderer 
from the beginning,” and we “bite and devour one 
another,” still, yet we should not be happy alone. 
Feeling this, let us strive, “ as opportunity offers, to 
do good unto all men;” and how much of the bitter 
of life may thus be done away. 
I like to see a village interspersed with hedges of 
elder. Jt is a most valuable tree—so much so, that 
Boerhaave, the great Dutch physician, never passed 
one without raising his hat. Let us raise our hearts 
to God, who has caused so many plants to spring up 
around us that are good for food and medicine. The 
elder is a native of England, but grows in many 
parts of Europe also. It thrives in every kind of 
soil, on the banks of streams and ditches, and on old 
walls and ruins; thus marking the tender care of our 
heavenly Father in making so medicinal a tree hardy 
and adapted for every situation. Cottagers should 
encourage it, for it is good in every season and use¬ 
ful in every part. The leaves are excellent for sores 
and external inflammation. The flowers make an 
invaluable ointment for man and animals, and every 
farm-house should have an ample store. It is very 
simply made. Simmer equal quantities of the flowers 
and fresh lard in an earthen pan placed in a kettle 
of water over a moderate fire for four or five hours, 
then strain it through a sieve or cloth into small 
pots, but do not squeeze it, or a liquid will remain 
below the cold ointment and ooze through it. This 
once happened to myself, and although 1 pierced the 
ointment and poui'ed out the liquid, it was not so 
firm or good as it would otherwise have been. Sprigs 
of the elder will make good ointment, if the flowers 
are required to remain for fruit, but it is not so fra¬ 
grant. Elder flowers cut from the coarser stalks and 
carefully dried are excellent for disordered stomachs 
when made into tea and drank freely. This tea is also 
good for erysipelas and eruptions of the skin. The 
inner bark is fine in cases of dropsy, boiled in milk 
and water in the proportion of three handfuls to a 
quart, and simmered till it is reduced to a pint. 
Half a pint should be taken at night and in the 
morning, and repeated ever day. Elder-flower water 
is cooling to inflamed eyes and pleasant to the skin; 
its very scent is refreshing and reviving. And who 
does not relish a glass of warm elder wine on a«cold 
frosty day? It is a harmless and acceptable offering 
to a friend, when more expensive hospitality cannot 
be indulged; and it is very excellent indeed even 
when drank cold. If a cottager’s wife could contrive 
to make but a couple of bottles of this wine she 
would find it very useful in the cold severe nights of 
winter, if her husband returned home wet aud shiver¬ 
ing at a late hour. A cup of hot elder wine would 
warm and comfort him far more than the unwhole¬ 
some beer sold to the poor, and which many of the 
labouring class rarely drink at home. Elder berries 
are destructive to poultry, and bees are said to dislike 
the tree. I have often seen bunches of the leaves 
hung upon the bough from which a swarm has been 
taken, to prevent their settling there again. There 
is a sort of fungus sometimes found growing on the 
trunk of the elder, the inside of which is black, and 
the outside inclining to white. This is said to be an 
excellent remedy for sore throats and quinsies, but 
I cannot discover the way in which it should be ap¬ 
plied ; very possibly it should be laid warm on the 
throat, but this I cannot venture to assert. The 
season for gathering the fruit is quite like a little 
vintage where it grows plentifully; and the black 
clusters look almost like wild grapes, bending down 
from the weight of the ripe berries. A hedge of elder 
might be planted in many gardens; and if the poor 
coidd earn a shilling or two by selling the flowers or 
fruit they would turn to good account. There is 
often a great lack of management among cottagers— 
a disinclination to try new plans, and neglect of 
many little sources of profit by which they might 
benefit. In some of “ our village walks” we may 
give our poorer neighbours a hint or two from per¬ 
sonal observations that may be of use to them; 
although I well know how difficult it is to do any¬ 
thing when work is scarce and money comes slowly in. 
To be thrifty we must have something to economize 
with; yet in my own immediate neighbourhood I 
know that the poor do actually prefer shivering with 
cold, and picking up sticks, or stealing wood, to cut¬ 
ting turf from a common close to their own doors 
and storing it up for winter use. This is a striking 
proof of idleness and wilful negligence, and such in¬ 
stances make us sometimes feel vexed and hard¬ 
hearted. Yet let us remember the “ mote ” and the 
“ beam,” and gain from our daily observation a hint 
for out own use. Is there not a heavenly Friend 
seeking our welfare, and grieved because we hew out 
for ourselves “ broken cisterns that can hold no water,” 
when the “fountain of living waters,” close to our lips, 
is forsaken? Do we not choose rather “ to drink the 
waters of Silior,” or even to perish with thirst? Let 
us have pity for the ignorant and foolish, as God hath 
pity for us; and let every instance of human corrup¬ 
tion around us strike and convict our own rebelllious 
hearts. 
NEW PLANTS WORTHY OF CULTIVATION. 
Wistaria sinensis var. alba .—This white variety 
was introduced from China by Mr. Fortune. Its 
blossoms are not so beautiful as those of the lilac- 
flowered, but may have a pleasing effect when blended 
with the latter.— -Journ. Hort. Soc. iv. 221. 
Ccelogyne asperata (Rough Gcdogyne ).—Is the 
finest of the genus, a native of Borneo, bears spikes 
of noble, fleshy, pale cream-coloured blossoms, three 
inches in diameter. It requires to be grown in the 
stove.— Journ. Hort. Soc., iv. 221. 
