50 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
January  20,  1898 
any  season  to  an  extent  that  rendered  it  otherwise  than  in  a  fit  state 
for  seeding  and  jdanting,  and  could  be  turned  over  Avith  the  sjiade  to 
any  desired  depth  any  day  in  the  year  with  goo^  results.  On  moving 
from  this  garden  to  go  under  the  late  Mr.  Turnbull,  at  Both  well  Castlej 
Avhere  general  gardening  at  that  time  was  in  the  foremost  rank,  and  I 
may  say  vegetable  culture  specially  so,  I  Avas  rather  surprised  at  first  that 
autumn  or  winter  tillage  was  never  thought  of.  The  soil  Avas  a  heavy 
tenacious  one,  and  the  rainfall  very  considerable.  All  other  work  Avas 
vigorously  pushed  on  in  winter,  and  the  digging,  but  mostly  trenching, 
Avas  not  commenced  till  spring.  Under  this  order  of  matters  I  do  not 
think  the  Avork  Avas  materially,  if  at  all,  retardel.  Beyond  all  doubt 
under  this  system,  which  Avas  the  result  of  the  observation  of  a  very 
shreAvd  and  energetic  man,  the  ground  AA'as  always  found  in  far  better 
condition  in  spring  for  the  operations  of  the  spade  and  general 
cropping.  Tn  my  OAvn  practice,  as  a  head  gardener  for  fifty  years,  and 
in  tAvo  instances  having  to  do  Avith  large  gardens  of  soil  inclining  to 
clay,  my  experience  has  been  the  same. 
The  idea  that  the  pulverising  intluence  of  frosts  extends  more 
deeply  into  loose  soil  is  a  fallacy  that  I  had  a  striking  example  of  in 
a  winter  when  there  Avas  an  unbroken  frost  of  fourteen  weeks,  Avith 
very  little  snow  on  the  ground.  In  trenching  a  quarter  of  heavy 
soil  in  spring,  lumps  of  frozen  soil  were  thrown  up  on  to  the  surface 
from  a  depth  of  quite  2  feet,  while  some  ground  that  had  been  broken 
up  before  the  commencement  of  the  frost,  the  frost  had  not  penetrated 
nearly  so  deep.  I  have  invariably  found  that  such  ground,  if  turned 
over  in  autumn,  has  been  far  longer  in  drying  and  becoming 
amenable  to  the  action  of  garden  tools  and  more  difficult  to  get  ready  for 
seeding  and  planting  than  when  left  in  a  firm  condition  till  sjAring, 
The  principles  and  laA\as  involved  in  this  case  are  precisely  the 
same  as  those  which  have  taught  the  farmer  not  to  plough  heavy  laud 
from  which  Turnips  haA^e  been  removed — and  which  he  calls  “  red 
land” — in  Avet  weather,  but  makes  him  shift  his  ploughs  to  firm 
grass  land,  or  Avhat  is  termed  “  lee  ”  in  Scotland,  that  can  be  turned 
over  in  a  condition  in  which  it  holds  less  water  in  suspension  than 
“  loose  ”  land  does.  I  believe  that  all  who  have  cultivated  heavy 
weald  land  have  experience  that  would  corroborate  these  observations. 
Such  experience  is  exactly  what  anyone  with  some  knowledge  of 
natural  philosophy,  or  the  laws  that  govern  matter,  might  expect  to 
realise  Avithout  much  experience. 
I  have  said  that  loose  soil  holds  more  Avater  in  suspension  than  the 
same  soil  can  hold  when  in  a  more  compressed  condition.  Its  very 
looseness  prevents  the  more  rapid  evaporation  of  the  water,  on  the 
same  jArinciple  that  surface  stirring  in  Avarm  weather  conserves  the 
moisture  for  the  use  of  the  plant  in  Avarm  summers.  Hence  Avinter 
trenching  delays  the  drying  of  the  tillage  in  si)ring.  The  poAver  of 
this  same  laAv  prevents  the  radiation  of  heat,  and  consequently 
prevents  the  more  rapid  entrance  of  frosty  air  into  the  depths  of  the 
soil,  just  the  same  as  an  iron  bar  conducts  heat  more  rapidly  than  a 
Avooden  one.  Hence,  by  leaving  the  ground  untrenched  till  spring, 
the  beneficial  effects  of  frost  to  a  greater  'depth  is  the  result,  as 
compared  Avith  the  opposite  practice. 
If  these  few  remarks  on  this,  if  somewhat  simple  yet  important 
subject,  will  lead  some  of  my  younger  brethren  Avho  have  not  yet,  to 
some  extent,  studied  the  domain  of  natural  philosophy  in  so  far  as  it 
bears  on  our  gardening,  they  will  not  be  in  vain.  A  knowledge  of 
these  laws  will  open  up  a  new  world — so  to  speak — to  them,  and  one 
that  will  throw  great  light  on  the  rights  and  wrongs,  the  whys  and 
wherefores,  of  their  everyday  work,  and  Avill  be  to  them  a  source  of 
the  deepest  interest. 
If  I  may  go  a  little  further,  there  is  a  volume  I  would  recommend 
them  to  get  and  study — namely,  “  The  Infinitely  Great  and  the 
Infinitely  Little.”  It  would  be  an  eye-opener  to  many  of  your 
numerous  young  readers,  and  would  help  to  lead  them  to  see  that  a  life 
that  is  worth  living  does  not  depend  on  “  bread  alone,”  and  would  teach 
them  much  of  the  mysterious  splendour  (if  I  may  be  allowed  the 
term)  of  Natnre.  The  garden  affords  peculiar  opportunities  foi'  such  a 
rich  enjoyment,  and  Avhich  may  issue  in  most  instructive  results. — 
D.  Thomson. 
THE  FIRST  OF  THE  FLOWERS. 
In  one  of  his  last  essays,  “  The  Hours  of  Spring,”  Richard  Jefferies 
speaks  of  the  “  Sweet  Briar  wind  ”  which  brought  Avith  it  the  breaking 
up  of  a  long  hard  frost  and  the  advent  of  the  groAvth  of  spring. 
Clouded  over,  as  his  Avords  seem  by  ill-health  and  an  unavailing 
longing  to  be  once  more  amid  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  open  air, 
they  do  us  good  at  these  times.  We  see  our  lost  Nature-lover  at  the 
Avindow-pane,  looking  out  upon  the  frozen  earth  and  the  Avar  of  snoAv 
and  Avind.  AVe  see  him  with  his  weary  eyes  once  more  lit  up  Avith 
hope  and  joy  as  they  drink  in  the  signs  of  the  coming  of  spring,  and 
his  ears  are  filled  Avith  the  songs  of  the  feathered  minstrels.  We  can 
enter  into  the  spirit  of  his  mood,  even  if  we  cannot  hope  to  attain  to 
his  knowledge  of  Nature’s  ways  or  his  mastery  of  the  English  tongue, 
Avhich  touches  and  uplifts  us  as  we  read. 
No  “  Sweet  Briar  wind”  is  it  to-day  Avhich  comes  from  the  south- 
Avest,  but  one  fierce  and  rain-laden,  like  so  many  we  have  had  this 
winter.  No  brightness  does  it  bring,  but,  instead,  fog  and  flying  rain, 
Avith  dull  grey  skies.  Yesterday  the  Avind  Avas  high,  and  brtmght 
with  it  clearer  skies  and  long-Avished-for  sunshine.  Pleasant  was  it  to 
see  the  sun  glinting  on  sea  and  mountain.  Pleasant  was  it  to  be  in 
the  garden  to  observe  the  promise  of  spring.  Faint  and  sickly  as  was 
the  sun,  and  though  the  clouds  hung  heavily  OA’cr  the  mountain  top, 
it  gave  us  cheer  wiiile  it  lasted,  and  lit  up  the  feAv  flowers  of  the  time. 
Not  a  Crocus  could  open,  so  feeble  AA-ere  the  rays,  but  their  tiny  cones 
Avere  brightened  as  we  looked  vainly  for  the  outspreading  of  their 
segments. 
The  Winter  Jasmine  AA\as  lit  up,  too,  and  a  few  SnoAvdrops  spread 
out  their  pdals  as  if  to  invite  to  sip  from  their  treasures  any  adA^en- 
turous  bee  which  might  dare  the  season’s  froAvns  in  search  of  food. 
But  not  one  came,  and  these  and  other  floAvers  too  soon  felt  the 
coming  of  the  storm.  Mayhap  they  saAA',  as  we  did,  the  clouds  flying 
from  the  south-west,  and  Avhen  the  moon  uprose  the  lurid  colours 
which  shone  round  her  disc.  Who  knoAvs  ?  Too  long  have  they 
suffered  from  storm  and  rain  this  season,  and  many,  like  the  pale 
Primrose,  have  been  “born  to  die  unmarried,’'  and  have  fallen  a  prey 
to  the  combined  forces  of  rain  and  wind.  The  garden  is  not  cheering 
when  it  is  sodden  with  rain,  wlien  ])lanting  is  Avorse  than  vain,  and 
when  everything  is  a-drip  and  dreary.  It  is  not,  however,  our  aim 
nor  desire  to  linger  longer  over  the  discomforts  of  the  time,  but  even 
among  the  clouds,  as  Jefferies  did,  to  seek  to  find  the  silver  and  the 
gold  which  will  bring  cheer  Avhile  aa^c  await  the  happier  spring. 
The  maiden  Snowdrop  has  not  been  in  haste  this  Avinter. 
Fashioned,  as  some  of  the  poets  have  loved  to  fancy,  from  the  snoAv, 
and  bearing  its  name,  there  has  been  but  little  of  its  native  element  to 
give  it  birth.  So  might  the  poet  say,  but  the  gardener  is  more 
prosaic,  and  would  ascribe  its  dallying  to  another  cause.  But  it  is  not 
yet  late  for  the  “  Fair  Maids  of  February  ”  of  the  olden  time — not  late 
lor  the  flower  of  the  Feast  of  the  Purification — the  Snowdrop  knoAvn 
to  Parkinson  and  Gerard  or  other  old  time  gardeners.  Its  time  is  yet 
to  come,  and  Ave  speak  now  of  others  Avhich  are  Avont  to  come  before 
the  last  month  of  the  year  has  begun,  or  those  which,  at  times,  droop 
their  heads  ere  Nevv  Year’s  Hay. 
These  are  late,  delaj^ed  mayhap  by  the  cold  summer  and  the  dull 
rainy  autumn  and  Avinter  days.  Thus  the  little  Galanthus  octobrensis 
— a  small  and  delicate-looking  floAA-er — has  not,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  second  Aveek  of  January,  been  fully  open,  although  it  has 
drooped  its  flowers  for  a  Aveek  or  so.  The  earliest  SnoAvdrop  has  been 
Galanthus  Elsse,  originally  collected  by  Professor  Mahaffy  on  IMount 
Athos,  in  Greece.  This  AA^as  in  bloom  in  the  last  days  of  December, 
and  is  still  in  floAver.  It  must  be  said  that  G.  Elsse  is  not  so  laggard 
in  its  AA'ays  this  season  as  G.  octobrensis.  Again  Ave  have  been 
disappointed  in  not  seeing  the  flower  of  G.  Rachelse,  another  of 
Professor  Mahaffy’s  finds,  and,  like  G.  Elsse,  named  after  one  of  his 
daughters.  It  is  of  more  delic£ite  constitution  than  the  latter,  but 
Avould  have  floAA^ered  hist  winter  as  Avell  as  this  had  it  not  been  that 
the  slugs  robbed  it  of  its  petals  Avhen  the  flower  AA’-as  just  above  the 
ground,  while  they  leave  the  other  alone  although  close  by.  These 
garden  pests  seem  to  prefer  the  floAver  from  Mount  Hymettus,  famed 
for  its  honey,  rather  than  that  from  the  sister  height  of  Athos.  From 
Shepton  Mallet  our  leader  among  Snowdrop  lovers — Mr.  James  Allen — 
has  sent  an  early  flowering  selection  from  G.  byzantinus,  collected 
near  Broussa.  The  season  in  Somerset  has  been  more  favourable  than 
here,  and  floAvers  are  consequently  more  advanced.  IMy  SnoAvdrops, 
received  from  Broussa  the  same  year  as  those  of  Mr.  Allen,  are  coming 
forward  quickly  now,  but  this  selected  variety'  is  likely  to  be  in  bloom 
early  in  December  in  mo.st  seasons. 
There  are  many  stray  SnoAvdrops  shoAving  their  snoAvy  segments 
through  their  green  envelopment  ;  some  of  these  are  varieties  of 
G.  Elwesi,  but  in  other  seasons  the  opening  day  of  the  year  has  at 
times  shown  us  these  in  full  flower.  Welcome  ever  is  the  little 
Winter  Aconite,  Avith  its  golden  head  and  Elizabethan  ruff  below. 
For  days  Ave  looked  in  vain  lor  the  appearing  of  its  flowers  above  the 
black  wet  soil,  so  when  the  first  bloom,  with  its  encircling  ruff  of 
