THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
183 
j December 5. 
Do they not bitterly repent of their mad folly, perhaps all 
the days of their lives ? And even this pity cannot be 
i given to those, who, in years of discretion, do foolishly. 
They have no excuse, except that “ a deceived heart has 
turned them aside,” and their sufferings must and will be 
severe. But when we turn the light of Scripture upon these 
I actions, we see them in their full hideousness. We see the 
; child breaking one of God’s most solemn commands; and we 
I see the woman taking a false oath before the face of the 
Almighty. “ Shall not I visit for these things, saith the 
Lord ? ” 
I must keep the conclusion of Lydia’s tale for my next 
i paper; or rather, I should say, the continuation of it; for her 
story is not yet concluded. But I shall have enough to say 
to deepen the lesson still. Let my readers remember, that 
Lydia was respectable ; far from being, what is called by the 
world, unprincipled, and thinking, as many others, no doubt, 
think, that she was doing very wisely and very well. But 
she had no judgment; no sober-mindedness; all was empty 
folly and nothingness, and whichever way she went, she 
weut wrong. 
Dear readers ! what are the very best, the very wisest of us 
all, without “ the law and the testimony ? ” How needful 
that our ignorance and folly should be visited and bridled 
by the Word of God ! 
{To be continued.) 
APIARIAN’S CALENDAR.— December. 
By J. H. Payne, Esq., Author of “ The Bee-Keeper's 
Guide," Ac. 
Presuming that each hive intended to stand through the 
winter has been carefully examined, and found to contain 
about twenty pounds of honey in store, and that the stocks 
are all well protected against wet, they will require no further 
attention, at present, beyond occasionally cleaning the floor¬ 
boards, choosing a mild, bright day for the purpose. 
Ventilation.— I have never yet found that hives made 
entirely of straw require any ventilation whatever; indeed, 
I consider it better for them to have none ; while those of 
wood or glass are in great danger of being destroyed without 
it, for in very cold weather, the vapour of the hive con¬ 
denses on the top and sides, and runs down upon the floor¬ 
board in such quantities, as to cause general dampness and 
mouldiness upon all the combs ; when in this state, if timely 
assistance be not rendered, ruin very soon follows. A simple 
method of effecting ventilation is to place a feeding-pan 
upon the top of the box, the slider of the box being taken 
away. This pan may be left till March, when the box should 
again be closed. 
Hives.— This is a good time to get a supply of straw hives 
in readiness for the coming season, and to have them well 
covered with three coats of paint, stone or straw colour is 
the best; white, when the sun shines upon it, is too dazzling, 
and any dark colour absorbs too much heat. 
Shallow Hives. —I am more and more convinced, from 
experience, that Bees do much better in broad, shallow 
hives, than in any others. All the hives that I have used 
myself for the last three years, and those that I have had 
made for other persons for the last two, have been of this 
kind, namely, seven inches deep, and fourteen inches wide, 
measuring in the inside. The only inconvenience that can 
possibly arise from a hive of this shape is, that from the great 
weight of supers, which, year after year, it will have to bear, 
the top will sink a little; therefore, it should never be used 
without an adapting-board of twelve inches square; this 
will take the weight of the supers from the centre to the 
side of the hive; indeed, it would be better to let the adapting- 
board remain a fixture upon the hive, when once fastened 
down by the Bees, and should the corners at all interfere 
with the cover, where the milk-pan is used, they may be 
rounded off a little to the size of the hive. 
NOTES FROM PARIS—No. 4. 
FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 
Tiie weather, in general, round Paris, has been more 
variable this year than usual, but the average of the whole 
has so far been satisfactory. From about the first of January 
to the middle of February, we had a mixture of sunshine, 
rain, snow, and fog, but not much wind. From February to 
May we had bright sunshine nearly every day, with hardly a 
cloud to be seen, but the wind, such as it was, in the north. 
June came in with cold gusts and heavy showers, the latter 
being frequent till the end of July. Since then, with the 
exception of one or two stiff breezes from the south and 
south-west, the weather has been steady, mild, and warm. 
The first few days of November, however, were cold, dull, 
and damp, and a slight touch of frost was felt in the en¬ 
virons during the nights of the 27th and 28th of October. 
At present, the approach of winter begins to be percep¬ 
tible, especially at night and morning, but still the trees are 
not yet all denuded of their foliage, though we are near the 
middle of November. The Sycamore, Alder, Acacia, and 
one or two varieties of Elm, particularly the younger trees, 
would still afford a little shade, if such were needed. Many 
of the young trees are quite green. This circumstance may 
be accounted for, I think, by the absence of strong winds, 
more than anything else, as it forms the principal point of 
difference between Paris and London, with respect to climate. 
There is, of course, also much more sunshine here, and 
it frequently continues without intermission, that is to say, 
without rain, or dull, cloudy weather, for several weeks 
together. Clear moonlight is general during the night. 
But heavy and long-continued showers have been the dis¬ 
tinguishing features of the summer weather this year, not 
only round Paris, but in many of the provinces; and though 
the cereal crops have been abundant and good, the Vine, 
especially where grown on a large scale, has suffered con¬ 
siderably from too much wet, which though preventing, as 
some authorities here assert, the ravages of Oidium Tuckeri, 
has proved, in some cases, almost as bad as the disease. 
Potatoes have been but little infected this year, yet, whether 
owing to the soil or the sorts, they are not so good as could 
be desired, and they are rather dearer than usual. In 
general, though clean and sound, they are much too waxy 
and watery. 
At present, vast quantities of Grapes, both Black and 
White, are iu the markets, and have been for two or three 
weeks. They are usually in lots weighing about twenty- 
eight pounds, and such a lot may be had for sums varying 
from five to eight francs (4s. 2d. to fis. 8d.). They are 
grown, for the most part, out-of-doors, in the vicinity of 
Paris, but the better sorts come from the adjacent depart¬ 
ments towards the south, as the Lone, Marne, and Soane. 
In general, these Grapes are about the size of the Sweet 
Waters exhibited at Chiswick and Regent’s rark, and when 
well ripened make an excellent dessert. Large quantities, 
I. am told, are sent every year to London, and, indeed, the 
Parisians complain, if such a term may be used, that the 
English take all their best fruits and other garden pro¬ 
duce. Some very superior samples may be seen, now and 
then, but these have been grown with more than ordinary 
care, under the advantages of shelter and artificial heat. 
Peaches have not been plentiful this year in the markets, 
but they have been good aud large, at from two to three 
francs a dozen (Is. 8d. to 2s. Od.). Apricots at from twenty 
to thirty sous (lOd. to Is. 3d.) a pound. The French 
pound is one or two ounces heavier than ours. Nectarines 
have been rather scarce, but Figs, Plums, Pears, and Apples, 
plentiful enough. 
The fruit-dealers here, for the most part, deal in flowers 
in pots, and also in bouquets, but the poorer sorts merge 
into what we would call the greengrocer; only here the 
greengrocer takes a much wider field of action, and decks 
out his shop with all kinds of dairy produce, crockery ware, 
and kitchen utensils. With the exception of the pretty 
“ American Lady,” the Apples and Pears to be seen in the 
shops of the first dealers are remarkably large and well 
ripened, but I have no means, at present, of obtaining their 
real names. The Ducliesse d'Angouleme, however, is not so 
difficult to reoognise. 
Of imported fruit, there is a plentiful supply of Spanish 
Oranges, the better samples of which are from three to 
four inches in diameter, and sell at about sixteen sous a 
piece (8d.). But that most in season now, as for one or 
two weeks past, is the Pomegranate, which is also supplied 
abundantly by Spain and Portugal. The best samples are 
