During this month we get the finest effects of the changing tints of
foliage; after a wet, windy summer the colours are poor, but fine and
varied after dry calm weather.
These autumnal changes of colour are caused by decay and death; the life
in the leaf enabled it to withstand certain chemical changes, which it
can no longer resist as the vital force wanes, and the green colouring
matter is either changed or destroyed.
We can prove this fact for ourselves if we notice how often, while all
the rest of a tree is green, the leaves and small branches which are
partly broken, and have, therefore, lost a great part of their vitality,
lose their green colour, and become yellow or red.
* * * * *
Not only are the broad effects of a landscape made beautiful in autumn
by the rich colouring of large masses of trees, but the close observer
will find every hedge, bottom, and wild common flaming with colour.
Heath tell us "it is the commonest plants whose colours are the most
beautiful and striking." Amongst those which produce the most brilliant
autumnal tints, the following are found almost everywhere in the hedges
in England: Bramble, hawthorn, wild strawberry, dock, spindle-tree, herb
robert, cranes-bill, silver weed, hedge maple, dogwood, black bryony,
ivy; while in the kitchen gardens nothing can exceed the beauty of the
asparagus and the common carrot.
* * * * *
Many birds come to England from the north to spend the winter. Wild
ducks, woodcocks, fieldfares, and curlews are coming now, besides
thrushes, larks, and other small birds. Some of these live with us all
through the year, and are only joined by relatives from colder climates.
In very cold winters many birds who do not usually migrate, are driven
south in search of food; but the reception they meet with is hardly
calculated to attract great numbers of strangers to our shores; for the
notice one usually reads in the newspapers is that such and such a rare
bird "has been seen and _shot_."
* * * * *
"It is as hot as we have it in India, or, at any rate, I feel the heat
as much." One often hears this statement on a hot summer's day from an
Indian visitor; while, on the other hand, our Canadian cousins assure us
that their bright, clear winter, though so intensely cold, is not so
trying as ours. This is to a great extent caused by the unusual moisture
of the air in England. John Burroughs tells us that "the average
rainfall in London is less than in New York, and yet it doubtless rains
ten days in the former to one in the latter," which he explains by the
fact that in England "it rains easily, but slowly."
That we can bear greater dry than damp heat is easily proved by holding
one's hand before a fire, and then plunging it into hot water, using a
thermometer in both cases to test the heat. The same fact with regard to
cold can be tried by holding both hands in a draught of cold air, the
one hand being wet, the other dry.
* * * * *
Lovers of natural history are not all aware what advantages the first
sharp frost offers them for the study of animal and vegetable life in
ponds. Thoreau, one of the most devoted admirers of nature, says in his
"Walden," that, "The first ice is especially interesting, being hard,
dark, and transparent, and affords the best opportunity that ever offers
for examining the bottom, where it is shallow; for you can lie at your
length on ice only an inch thick, like a skater insect on the surface of
the water, and study the bottom at your leisure, only two or three
inches distant, like a picture behind a glass."
* * * * *
[Illustration]
Country girls have an opportunity during the early darkness of winter
afternoons of appreciating one of the dangers which beset arctic
explorers during the long twilight which takes the place of day during
the winter months in those northern climes. In towns, the well-lighted
and well-paved streets make walking in the dusk as easy as in the day;
but girls, whose walks lead through fields and rough country lanes, know
how many trips and stumbles are caused by the uncertain light before
darkness sets in. Greely, in his terribly sad history of the sufferings
of his men during their arctic expedition, tells us how much their
difficulties were increased by this dimness of the light. It was
necessary that they should go long journeys on foot, each man carrying a
heavy load of provisions and other stores; and he adds: "The absence of
sufficient light to cast a shadow has had very unfortunate results, as
several of the men have been badly bruised and sprained. When no shadow
is formed, and the light is feeble and blurred, there is the same
uncertainty about one's walk as if the deepest darkness prevailed. The
most careful observation fails to advise you as to whether the next step
is to lie on a level, up an incline, or over a precipice. A few bad
falls quite demoralise a man, and make him more than ever distrustful of
his eyesight."
* * * * *
There is not much to be done in the garden this month, but bulbs may
still be put in, though the flowers will not be so good as those planted
earlier. Hyacinths, narcissi, and tulips planted now ought to flower in
April.
If the weather is mild, the grass should be rolled occasionally; early
peas and beans may be planted in a dry place, and a little radish seed
sown in a warm corner, but they must be carefully covered if a sharp
frost comes.
Green hedges should be clipped, and shrubs needing it pruned. Now that
the leaves are off, the fruit trees may be more easily examined, and
dead branches, or those that rub against one another, removed.
If the weather is very cold, take care of delicate plants by spreading
cocoa-nut fibre or light manure over the beds, or by covering the plants
with matting.