But in winter it is that we appreciate most fully the beauty and value of this tree.

The Holly tree is one of the greatest ornaments of our gardens and shrubberies, and has been so for centuries, and we often see what Mason describes

"The Holly's prickly arms Trimm'd into high arcades."

"Is

It forms excellent hedges, impervious to man or beast. there," says worthy John Evelyn in his "Sylvia," "any more glorious sight and refreshing object of this kind than an impregnable hedge of about four hundred feet in length, nine feet high, and five in diameter, which I can still show in my ruined garden at Sayes Court (thanks to the Czar of Muscovy), any time of the year, glittering with its armed and variegated leaves, the taller standards, at ordinary distances, blushing with their natural coral? It mocks the rudest assaults of the weather, beasts, or hedge-breakers."

To understand this allusion, we should remember that while the Czar Peter was in England, Sayes Court, the property of Evelyn, was rented by government for his use and residence.

The Holly and the Mistletoe were associates in most festive scenes incidental to Yuletide, as it was formerly called; then, in the feudal ages it was customary with our forefathers to go forth with great solemnity to gather the Mistletoe on Christmas eve, and to hang it up in the baron's hall with great rejoicings.

Archdeacon Nares mentions the custom to have prevailed in his time of hanging up a bush of Mistletoe, with the important charm attached to it, that the maid who was not kissed under it at Christmas would not be married that year.

14

FLOWER-LANGUAGE

IN

BOUQUETS.

BOUQUET may be made to express hopes and fears and aspirations as plainly as spoken language itself; the only indispensable condition being that the sender and recipient should, to some extent, be adepts in the language and sentiment of flowers.

It will be easily seen that the sentiments themselves can be expressed by the flowers of which the bouquet consists, the connecting links being supplied by certain particulars of arrange. ment, of which the following are the chief :

A flower bent towards the right signifies "I"-one inclined towards the left means "you." Thus, a red rosebud, bent towards the left, means "you are pure and lovely ;" a snowdrop turned towards the right, "I hope."

Leaves also signify hopes, and thorns dangers. A rose with the thorns plucked off, and the leaves left, would signify hopeful love and confidence. When a flower is reversed, the meaning is reversed also.

A folded ivy leaf round a bouquet means "I have;" a laurel leaf folded signifies "I am;" a leaf of Virginian-creeper means, "I give;" a tendril of ivy expresses a wish.

The following may serve as examples of language-bouquets; and a reference to the Vocabulary will enable the reader to produce any number of letters with alterations and modifications of various kinds :

Bouquets.

I.

Geranium (Oakleaved), Gillyflower, and Heliotrope (with a leaf of Virginian-creeper), though the latter may be omitted. Meaning: I offer true friendship, affection, and devotion.

II.

Monkshood, Mountain-ash, Blue violet. Meaning: Danger is near. Be prudent. Be faithful.

III.

Vervain, Sweet Basil, Shepherd's Purse (wrapped in a laurel leaf). Meaning: I am enchanted with you. I wish you well. I offer you my all.

IV.

Mistletoe, Hawthorn, Heliotrope (turned to the right when presented). Meaning: I surmount difficulties. I hope. I turn to thee.

V.

Japan Rose, Purple Larkspur, Wild Tansy (turned to the left when presented). Meaning: You are only beautiful. You are haughty. I declare against you.

VI.

Red Poppy, Clematis, Harebell (bound with Virginiancreeper). Meaning: I offer consolation. You have mental beauty. I submit to you.

Two Bouquets.

A circle of azaleas, white as snow,
Edged by a delicate fringe of maidenhair,
And then a row of clustered violets,

And in the midst camellias pale and cold;
Fit flower for those who have no heart to love.

That is your bouquet, and a costly one,
But to my mind, for lady's hand too large,
Too artificial, and too stiffly planned.
Fancy it painted! just a mass of white
Not softened by the one dark heavy line.

Now look at mine, fresh gathered, leaf by leaf
From a green hedgerow. First a slender fern,
A common fern, but green as emerald;
Spreading its delicate fronds out like a fan,
And then another like a bishop's crook,
Tinged with bright gold and russet, now a group
Of lovely grasses, some like fairy plumes,
Some silvery tufts, and mosses soft and smooth,
And some so light as if a spider's threads
Had caught each shining seed upon their tips,
And hung them to the slender bending stem.
Here is a spray of dark ground ivy, bright
As polished jet, beside the sober grey
Of nun-like folded buds with silver touched,
And then for colour, here's a glowing leaf,
Shaded from palest brown to deepest red.
And here the rose tips of a sprig of thorn.
And here and there, amid these many hues,
Nestles a primrose in its own green leaf,

While some white violets peep out from the ferns,
And blue ones give a perfume to the grass.
I would not change this handful of the spring
For twenty clumps of costly hothouse flowers.