WEST OF THE ADUR 235 



all over the land ; compared with these species the 

 juniper is a rare plant, very local in its distribution. 

 In many places the ground has been cleared of it to 

 give better food to the sheep, or when well grown it 

 has been cut down for fuel and for other purposes; 

 and we may say that in many places the juniper is 

 disappearing from the downs simply because the great 

 landowners have not thought proper to preserve it. 

 Yet how congenial the soil is to it, how readily it 

 grows, may be seen on some downs, as at Kingly Vale 

 for instance, where large areas are covered or rather 

 thickly sprinkled over with its bushes. But you will 

 not find here one large or well-grown bush; it is all 

 a dwarf scrub, where no doubt the largest plants are 

 periodically cut down. 



One must go to other districts, in many cases 

 where the soil is less favourable to it, but where it has 

 not been ill-treated, to see the juniper in its perfection. 

 It is a handsome plant, but its greatest attraction lies 

 in its variety. The variety of the hawthorn, which 

 gives a charm to that tree, consists as much in colour 

 and light and shadow as in form ; in the juniper the 

 variety is in the form rather than in colour. To appre- 

 ciate this character of the plant, it must be seen 

 where it is pretty abundant, on some open spot away 

 from all other tree and bush vegetation. At a dis- 

 tance it may be mistaken for a furze-bush, being not 

 unlike that plant in size, colour, and manner of growth. 

 Seen nearer, it is not of so rough and prickly an 



