November ’20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
110 
in proximity to each other, I must at once refer to 
the laws of thorough bass or counterpoint, by which 
musicians are enabled to supply barmoniesj to any 
melody with scientific precision. These 1 shall en¬ 
deavour to simplify and explain, so that even the 
cottage gardeners may employ them in mingling 
colours to the best advantage, but especially to the 
harmonious arrangement of his flower-beds. Every 
one knows that, for the convenience of musicians, 
the notes of the scale are both numbered and lettered 
—the first seven letters of the alphabet and cardinal 
numbers being used. Thus, in the key of A, the 
scale is numbered and lettered as follows:— 
A. 13. C. I). E. F. G. 
1. 2. 3. 1. 5. 0. 7. 
Now, it does not signify what note we may start 
from, for the constitution of every key is the same, 
and only differing in the pitch being high or low, as 
the case may be. 'The key of C, however, is chosen 
by musical men as a standard, and hence called the 
natural key. As such I shall adopt it in the present 
notice. The order will then be as in the following 
table, to which I also add the equivalent colours:— 
C. 1). E. F. G. A. 13. 0. (octave*) 
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. (3. 7. 8. 
Red. Grey. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet, lied. 
Now, in harmonizing tunes composed in this key, 
four grand chords are employed—that is, four combi¬ 
nations are chosen out of these seven notes, and seve¬ 
rally used when they will apply as accompaniments 
to the notes of the subject or air. These chords, 
then, in letters, numbers, and colours, being known, 
the scientific or artistic gardener may modify them, 
invert them or change their position, and alter the 
arrangement of their fundamental constituents at his 
own pleasure. The chords are as follows in their 
natural position :— 
1.—THE COMMON CHORD OF 0 I, RED. 
Natural position, 
ft. G, blue 
3. E, yellow 
1. C, red 
First change. 
1. C,red 
5. G, blue 
3. F, yellow 
IT.- THE COMMON CHORD ON F. 
Second change. 
3. E, yellow 
1. C, red 
G, blue 
Natural position. 
I. 0, red 
fi. A, indigo 
4. F, green 
First change. 
4. F, green 
1. C, red 
(>. A, indigo 
III. —COMMON CHORD ON G, BLUE. 
Second change, 
fi. A, indigo 
4. F, green 
1. C, red 
Natural position. 
2. D, orange 
7. 13, violet 
ft. G, blue 
Second change. 
7. 13, violet 
5. G, blue 
2. 1), orange 
First change. 
5. G, blue 
2.1), orange 
7. 13, violet 
The fourth table may in the same manner be con¬ 
structed on the key of F, green. 
Surely I need add no more upon a subject which I 
think every reader must now thoroughly understand. 
Having said thus much by way of introduction, I 
will proceed to tell of my plants and their uses; and 
first, of the RanunculacejE. 
OUR VILLAGE WALKS. 
... .. (No. 8.) _ 
V hat a merciful provision is made for man’s com¬ 
fort by the simple circumstance of the fall of the leaf! 
A\ e have seeu leaves withering on the ground year 
after year ; we are grieved at their disappearance from 
the beautilul woods, and we cease to wander in search 
ot scenery while the trees are bare and desolate. 
* T'fty fi rsf: note, in effect, is repeated eight notes higher, and hence 
called the octave. 
Winter, to all but the ardent lover of nature in all 
her variations, is a dreary, joyless season. But we, 
perhaps, disregard the mercy attending this wise and 
| wonderful arrangement of the Most High. If the 
| trees in our cold latitudes never shed their leaves, if 
' their beauty was never disfigured, how could the 
faint sickly sunbeams of winter pierce through their 
density, and dry up the heavy moisture that at this sea¬ 
son soaks the earth, and would so much injure animal 
; and vegetable life, if left to exhale unhealthy vapours 
; beneath perpetual shade ? Wise men dive into those 
amazing and perfect laws of God, which we call science, 
whereby He directs and carries on the mechanical 
existence of all His hand has formed; and He gra¬ 
ciously permits the human eye to see some of His 
wonders, and great and beauteous are they all! But 
why some trees in winter shed their leaves, and some 
do not,—why in some climates there is almost perpe¬ 
tual verdure, and in others scarcely a tree or bush to 
decorate the scene,—needs a still brighter light than 
that of science to reveal. “ Out of the whirlwind ” 
must we be taught like Job. 
There is still beauty in the land. Here and there 
I see the beautiful berries of the wild vine, like large 
red currants, wreathing the bare stems of the hedge, 
and decorating the path as much by its glowing fruit 
as by the graceful festoons of its summer foliage. 
The wild rose-tree, too, is this season covered with 
! an unusual abundance of its bright scarlet seed pods, 
j and, in the absence of summer flowers, we are de¬ 
lighted to see them gleaming in the few sunbeams 
that cheer us now. There is virtue even in these 
bright berries, so well known by the name of hips. 
If the pulp is separated from the seeds and skin, and 
beat up into a conserve with sugar, it is a pleasant 
and beneficial remedy for coughs. The flowers ga¬ 
thered in the bud and dried are a very powerful 
astringent, more so even than the red roses usually 
dried for this purpose. 
Home cottage gardens still look gay with the pale, 
delicate China roses clustering round the window. 
A very few days ago I saw a beautiful crimson rose 
growing against a sheltered cottage wall; and ane¬ 
mones, violets, and lilac primroses are still decking 
the borders in some places, as if to give us one last 
glimpse of summer beauty before the stern hand of 
winter shuts them in. The ivy is becoming now 
very valuable to us, both as a screen and an orna¬ 
ment. I never remember to have seen such a pro¬ 
fusion of this beautiful creeper as 1 have this year. 
The shrubbery, the very woods have been carpetted 
with it; it has forced its way among the tall coarse 
grass, thickened round the roots of trees, and quite 
clothed the ground in many places, giving much 
additional beauty to the copse, and also to the plea¬ 
sure ground. As a creeper, the ivy does not blos¬ 
som ; but, when springing upwards, and climbing 
round the stems of trees, or against walls and houses, 
it is covered with the most starry-like flowers, and 
is, at that season, a very beautiful object indeed. 
Does not this teach us a lesson ? While we grovel 
on the earth, minding “ earthly things,” and “ speak¬ 
ing of the earth,” we can bear no fruit—we are “ of 
the earth, earthybut when our hopes and affec¬ 
tions spring upward, and are set on “ those things 
that are above,” then only do we bring forth fruit 
with perfection. Our beautful wild ivy, therefore, 
has instruction to give to the passer-by. Let it 
warn us to “ arise from the dust, ” and cling faith¬ 
fully to Him from whom alone our “fruit is found.” 
Wasps hover in great numbers around the flowers 
of the ivy, as if taking their last meal before they 
