246 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



Pastorals, puts together the "furzy tuft" and " brealce of 

 thorns " ; Somervile writes of the " prickly furze " ; and 

 Fawkes, in his translation of Theocritus, declares truly 

 enough that 



Thorny furzy hills should ne'er be trod 

 With legs unguarded, and by feet unshod. 



SHEPHERD'S NEEDLE (Scandix Pecten) 



The subject of our last illustration, Plate XXXVI., is the 

 Shepherd's Needle, a plant that, from the farmer's point 

 of view, is only too abundantly to be found in cornfields 

 and amongst his root crops. To those who, in these 

 days of unlimited competition, are not preoccupied with 

 the idea of getting their livelihood from the land, it appears 

 a graceful little plant enough, not very attractive, but with 

 a certain quaint charm and delicacy that appeals. This 

 arises from its very finely-cut foliage, from its heads 

 of pure white blossom, and, notably, from its very striking- 

 looking fruits. It flowers straight away from June to 

 November : our drawing, we see from our diary, was made 

 in October. We get almost all through the Summer 

 and Autumn months both blossoms and fruits simul- 

 taneously, the early flowers having passed on to the 

 fruiting stage, while other blossoms have scarcely begun 

 to think of putting in an appearance at all. Though 

 the plant be only an annual, its eradication is by no means 

 easy, since it seeds so freely and so persistently. The 

 plant was by some of the old herbalists commended as a 

 pot-herb, and they also, though that goes almost without 



