158 BRAMBLES AND BAY LEAVES. 



from taking more than they require. Mr. Loudon states, that one 

 farmer who had several cows and a horse, required only one ton of 

 hay in the course of a year, feeding his cattle almost entirely upon 

 the ranunculus. 



A very common flower, and one which may be found in plenty at 

 the early season of the year, the dandelion, Leontodon Taraxacum, is a 

 plant of very great utility. Its beauty is very great, and if more rare 

 it would be highly prized. Elliott has called it the sunflower of the 

 spring ; and it throws a golden light over moorland and lea when the 

 gradually lengthening days betoken that the time for the blooming of 

 flowers and the singing of birds is at hand. It is one of the earliest 

 flowers for the bee, and produces a considerable quantity of honey. 

 Its root is prized as a medicine throughout France and Germany. 

 Large quantities are burnt and sold as a substitute for coifee. It is 

 much used in this country in dyspepsia, possessing tonic and diuretic 

 qualities of great value. The common groundsel is closely allied to 

 the dandelion ; it supplies the birds with food at all seasons, and they 

 eat largely of its seeds and foliage. It may be found in almost every 

 part of the world, and always springs up in the lands of new colonies, 

 as if destined to be an attendant on man in all his wanderings. There 

 are nine British species, and as many as five hundred and ninety-six 

 in various parts of the world. AVe are inclined to think that this 

 plant is capable of very extended application, from its bland emollient 

 properties. It imparts soft and healing qualities to water, and, dur- 

 ing rough windy weather, water in which groundsel has been steeped 

 is useful for washing the skin that has been chapped and inflamed by 

 the wind. 



That well-known plant, the coltsfoot, Tmsilago Farfara, is in 

 blossom early in spring long before its leaves appear, and its presence 

 always indicates a clay soil. The down which is found beneath the 

 leaves was formerly used by villagers for tinder, and might, doubtless, 

 be used in many textile manufactures. The feathery appendage to 

 the seeds is used by the Highlanders for stuffing beds and mattresses. 

 It is known universally as a remedy for affections of the lungs, and it 

 is in this respect worthy of great esteem. The ancient Greeks were 

 in the habit of sucking the smoke of the dried flowers through a reed 

 as a cure for asthma ; and it is much used at the present time in 

 villages in the same manner. Another spring plant is the ground- 

 ivy, GUehoma Sederacea ; its leaves exhale a delightful fragrance ; it 



