THE LIVING GARMENT 41 



vegetation which has all the appearance of having 

 existed at that spot from of old. So unlike the 

 barren, thistly, and weedy waste lands and fallows 

 does it look, so harmonious, so natural all that grows 

 upon it, that in some cases you would find it hard 

 to believe that the plant life is not native, but has 

 migrated hither, and was only able to take permanent 

 hold of the soil because of the destruction of the turf. 

 These plants came in fact as weeds, but have long 

 established their position as members of the flora of 

 the downs, albeit in their larger growth, social habits, 

 and shorter life they differ markedly from the older 

 flora of the turf. 



The most curious thing about this vegetation of 

 the lands that have been tilled very many years ago 

 is that it varies in an extraordinary degree in different 

 places. A slight difference in the local conditions, 

 as, for instance, depth of soil, &c., in different hills, 

 or different spots on the same hill, has probably 

 brought about this result. At one place two or three 

 species have by chance fallen upon a suitable unoccu- 

 pied spot, after the turf has been killed, and have 

 spread over it and continued in possession ever since ; 

 but on the next spot different species have colonised. 

 Some of these places are overgrown with tall grass, 

 a monotonous green, with scarcely a flower among 

 it; but in most places the eye is caught by colour, 

 and the colour will be yellow, red, blue, purple, or 

 white, according to the species that predominate; or 



