240 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



Hartlib, writing in the year 1659, wisely enough declares 

 that " furze, broom, heath, these can hardly be so destroyed, 

 but at length they wil up againe : for God hath given a 

 peculiar propriety to every kinde of earth, to produce some 

 peculiar kind of Plants, which its wil observe euen to the 

 world's end." 



The broom varies in height from a foot or two to 

 eight feet or more, but one ordinarily finds it a shrub 

 of some four feet high or so. Its branches are long 

 and straight, evergreen and furrowed. Though they 

 be somewhat rigid-looking they are yet very flexible, 

 and conquer the searching blasts that sweep over them, 

 not by sturdy resistance, but by judiciously yielding. 

 As these stems are very fibrous they have been employed 

 as a material in the manufacture of paper, Tusser, we 

 see, says, " pluck broome, broome still ; cut broome, broome 

 kill." How far this may be true we cannot say, but we 

 do know that the plucking of broom owing to its tenacious 

 fibrosity ^ is a very difficult task. Broom tugged at and 

 wrenched apart would, we imagine, sufi^er more injury 

 than if clearly severed with a stout knife. 



The leaves of the broom are somewhat inconspicuous, 

 the general verdant look of the shrub being largely owing 

 to the mass of green branches. The lower leaves are on 

 short stalks, and made up of three leaflets, while the upper 

 ones are stemless, and only of a single leaflet. Those who 

 are so unfortunate as to suffer from the " blacke iaundice " 

 will be glad to know of the remedy commended by Fitz- 



' We cannot, we are afraid, quote precedent for the use of this word, but it 

 seems to just express the idea we want to convey, a somewhat pronouncedly 

 fibrous condition. Dictionary makers will kindly note for their new editions. 



