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Article THE WORK OF NATURE IN THE MONTHS. ← Page 5 of 8 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Work Of Nature In The Months.
Our bouquet still wants leaves , and there are none so graceful as those afforded by tbe Ferns ; of these beautiful plants , if the situation be a faA'ourable one , Ave shall be sure to find at least one , the Harfc ' s-tongue . The waving and spreading fronds of this handsome , althoug h somewhat common kind , is too Avell known to need description . The addition of a few berries will be no umvelcome addition , so let us look for the little black clusters PrivetThese berries Avill dsilks Avoollens beautiful and durable
of the . ye or a green ; the leaves yield a rose-coloured dye , similar to that Avith which Oriental beauties stain their nails , whence its Portuguese name of Al Ilena . The shrub itself is a great favourite , from its small roots and close groAvth , as a garden hedge . Speaking of hedge-row shrubs brings us to our Christmas friend , the Holly , which makes a capital hedge ; there was one 400 feet long , 9 feet high , and 5 feet thick , at Saye ' s Court , tho residence of John Evelyn , AAdio much deplored its demolition by the destructive Czar Peter . One peculiarity of its growth , has been beautifully described by Soutbey .-
—" 0 Reader 1 hast thou ever stood to see The holly tree ? The eye that contemplates it well perceives Its glossy leaves , Ordered by an intelligence so wise As might confound the atheist ' s sophistries . Below a circling fence , its leaves are seen A \ rinkled and keen
; No grazing cattle through their prickly round Can reach , to wound ; But as they grow where nothing is to fear , Smooth and unarm'd the pointless leaves appear . * * * « * * « And should my youth , as youth is apt , I know , Some harshness show , All vain asperities I day by day
Would Avear aAvay , Till the smoo tb temper of my age should be Like the high leaves upon the holly tree . So serious should my youth appear among The tliougkless throng-So would I seem among the" young and gay More grave than they , That in my age as cheerful I might be As the green winter of the holly tree . "
In France the young shoots form winter food for sheep and deer , whilst the stems are much used for driving-Avhips ; the wood is beautifully white , and is employed as a groundwork for painted ornaments , such as screens . The berries afford food to the birds , but the treacherous bark supplies to their enemy the bird-catcher the fatal bird-lime The Holly is a plant everywhere venerated;—the followers of Zoroaster believe that the sun never shadows itwhilst the Parsees are said to throw waterin which it has
; , been steeped , in the face of new-born children . The Christian use of it for Christmas decoration , is said to have its origin in the tradition that Holly formed the Eedeemer ' s w > wn of Thorns . Other shrubs used for decoration are the Laurel and the Bay , the latter sometimes mixed with Eosemary , as mentioned by Ovid in his beautiful description of the far-famed b ymettus : —
" Near , where his purple bead Hymettus shews , And flow'ring bills , a sacred fountain flows , With soft and verdant turf the soil is spread , And sweetly-smelling shrubs the ground o ' ershade , There , Rosemary and Bay their odours join , And with tbe fragrant Myrtle ' s scent combine . There , Tamarisks with tbick-leav'd Box are found , And Cytisus , and Garden-Pines abound . While thro
' the boughs , soft winds of Zephyr pass , Tremble the leaves , ancl tender tops of Grass . " . s -
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Work Of Nature In The Months.
Our bouquet still wants leaves , and there are none so graceful as those afforded by tbe Ferns ; of these beautiful plants , if the situation be a faA'ourable one , Ave shall be sure to find at least one , the Harfc ' s-tongue . The waving and spreading fronds of this handsome , althoug h somewhat common kind , is too Avell known to need description . The addition of a few berries will be no umvelcome addition , so let us look for the little black clusters PrivetThese berries Avill dsilks Avoollens beautiful and durable
of the . ye or a green ; the leaves yield a rose-coloured dye , similar to that Avith which Oriental beauties stain their nails , whence its Portuguese name of Al Ilena . The shrub itself is a great favourite , from its small roots and close groAvth , as a garden hedge . Speaking of hedge-row shrubs brings us to our Christmas friend , the Holly , which makes a capital hedge ; there was one 400 feet long , 9 feet high , and 5 feet thick , at Saye ' s Court , tho residence of John Evelyn , AAdio much deplored its demolition by the destructive Czar Peter . One peculiarity of its growth , has been beautifully described by Soutbey .-
—" 0 Reader 1 hast thou ever stood to see The holly tree ? The eye that contemplates it well perceives Its glossy leaves , Ordered by an intelligence so wise As might confound the atheist ' s sophistries . Below a circling fence , its leaves are seen A \ rinkled and keen
; No grazing cattle through their prickly round Can reach , to wound ; But as they grow where nothing is to fear , Smooth and unarm'd the pointless leaves appear . * * * « * * « And should my youth , as youth is apt , I know , Some harshness show , All vain asperities I day by day
Would Avear aAvay , Till the smoo tb temper of my age should be Like the high leaves upon the holly tree . So serious should my youth appear among The tliougkless throng-So would I seem among the" young and gay More grave than they , That in my age as cheerful I might be As the green winter of the holly tree . "
In France the young shoots form winter food for sheep and deer , whilst the stems are much used for driving-Avhips ; the wood is beautifully white , and is employed as a groundwork for painted ornaments , such as screens . The berries afford food to the birds , but the treacherous bark supplies to their enemy the bird-catcher the fatal bird-lime The Holly is a plant everywhere venerated;—the followers of Zoroaster believe that the sun never shadows itwhilst the Parsees are said to throw waterin which it has
; , been steeped , in the face of new-born children . The Christian use of it for Christmas decoration , is said to have its origin in the tradition that Holly formed the Eedeemer ' s w > wn of Thorns . Other shrubs used for decoration are the Laurel and the Bay , the latter sometimes mixed with Eosemary , as mentioned by Ovid in his beautiful description of the far-famed b ymettus : —
" Near , where his purple bead Hymettus shews , And flow'ring bills , a sacred fountain flows , With soft and verdant turf the soil is spread , And sweetly-smelling shrubs the ground o ' ershade , There , Rosemary and Bay their odours join , And with tbe fragrant Myrtle ' s scent combine . There , Tamarisks with tbick-leav'd Box are found , And Cytisus , and Garden-Pines abound . While thro
' the boughs , soft winds of Zephyr pass , Tremble the leaves , ancl tender tops of Grass . " . s -