136 THE FLORIST. 
(this plant is not worth a further trial); Pinus insignis, uninjured ; 
and Pseudo-strobus, ditto. I name these as in some places they are 
considered tender. We have long since given up all the long-leaved 
kinds of Pinus, as too tender for our climate, excepting Hartwegn, 
which is safe here, at which I am surprised, as it is generally reported 
tender. All the rest, including P. Bungeana, A. cephalonica, Webbiana 
and Brunoniana, are safe ; the latter only very slightly injured. Cepha- 
lonica is as hardy as Pinsapo when it gets up a few feet in height; 
Webbiana is injured only by spring frosts (the cold of winter does not 
seem to effect it while dormant, but when the young growth commences 
it is as tender as a Cucumber); Bays and Laurestinus browned in 
exposed places; hybrid Rhododendrons in many places killed down to 
the ground, particularly the scarlet crosses ; strange to say, many of 
the Sikkim varieties are perfectly hardy, standing untouched by the 
side of hybrids from garden varieties quite dead. Garrya elliptica, dead in 
places; the said to be hardy Chusan Palm, quite dead, which is a loss, 
as it was likely to be largely introduced into garden scenery ; the gold- 
blotched Coltsfoot, from the same country (China), killed to the ground, 
but where a little litter was placed over the crowns of the roots they 
are alive; the Euonymus and Arbutus injured only in exposed places. 
Lardizabala triternata against a wall, alive. 
We have only a kind of purple Broccoli left, and the hard white 
dwarf Russian. All other vegetables, except Borecoles, were destroyed. 
SOMERSET. 
THE SIX OF SPADES. 
CHAPTER V. 
AND thus those gentle ladies survey with an amused benevolence the 
anxious difficulties of their faithful Joseph. Who, indeed, could be 
seriously angry with him, beaming, as he does, from a desire to please, 
and glowing with a determination to do his best? If on your coat some 
venial gravies fall, look in his face, and you'll forget them all. He 
impinges, I confess, upon his fellow-servants, at times when their 
equilibrium ought to be especially respected, as, for instance, when they 
are engaged in the administration of coffee, in the setting on of lamps, 
and the like; but only from an earnest, affectionate wish to hand you 
your muffin hot, an anxiety to get at you with something to eat—a noble 
sympathy, which, to feed you, my friend, kicks the shins, treads upon the 
corns, and ignores the proximity of meaner men. You do not approve, 
and I do not justify, the deep immersion of his thumb in the Trifle, as 
_ he places it proudly before you, although his Berlin glove is of snowy 
whiteness (‘I would I were a glove upon that hand,” whispers your 
comic neighbour, ‘‘ that I might kiss those sweets ’’); but we must both 
of us admire his attentive care of that beautiful crystal bowl, which he 
insists on carrying, to the intense terror of the whole household, knowing, 
as we do, that, rather than break it, Joseph Grundy would prefer to be 
“set quick 1’ the earth, and bowled to death with turnips.” 
Only once, within my cognizance, has he been seriously, nay sternly, 
