86 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



scarlet berries in the lanes of Devonshire, not by any means 

 one of our most northern counties, and have assisted with 

 the greatest satisfaction in many a glorious raspberry- 

 gathering expedition in Wiltshire. Indeed, it is, we believe, 

 possible to go raspberry-seeking — not, perhaps, quite the 

 same thing as raspberry-finding — almost within sight of the 

 dome of the Metropolitan Cathedral, as the plants maybe 

 found on several of the open common lands around London. 

 Though the individual fruits are smaller than those 

 of the cultivated plant, they are as fragrant and luscious, 

 and the preserve they make is fully equal to the garden 

 product. They are also in such profusion that the basket 

 quickly fills, and as they grow on stems some four feet 

 high, Nature has given a very happy medium indeed to 

 the gatherer, avoiding on one hand the continuous stooping 

 that befalls the picker of the hedge-bank strawberries,^ and 

 the considerable reaching that is sometimes necessary 

 to gain possession of those particularly fine blackberries 

 that look so very tempting high overhead, and which are 

 so magnificently ripe because so ungetatable. The stems 

 are covered with a soft downiness, and are furnished with 

 weak and small prickles. The foliage, green above, has 

 the lower surface almost white, a very noticeable feature 

 when a breeze sets all in motion ; this arises from the felting 

 of greyish-down or soft hairs with which this under face of 

 the leaf is covered. The flowers are small, the petals white 

 and narrow, scarcely rising above the calyx, and therefore 

 very inconspicuous. 



' The blushing Strawberry 

 Which lurks, close-shrouded from high-looking eyes, 

 Shewing that sweetness low and hidden lies. 



