GIANT GRASSES. 113 



vegetation described in Kingsley's " Letters from the 

 Tropics " : for he delights to know 



"Quid quseque ferat regio et quid quaeque recuset." 



In the botanist's calendar, as in that of October, 1793, 

 each day in the year is sacred to some plant or 

 dedicated to some flower. For the lover of Nature a 

 walk in the woods, even in Winter, is a Feast of 

 Tabernacles, and the Summer is one long Floralia. 



And where can the invalid find so good a solace 

 as in Botany ? What occupation or pursuit is so well 

 adapted to silence that " strepitus Acherontis avari," 

 sad sound familiar to so many of those who visit the 

 Riviera ? 



But the Durra has been kept waiting while I sing 

 the praises of Botany. It is well called "Negro 

 Corn," for it is the main support of the negro race. 

 The Ligurians do not seem to eat the grain ; they give 

 it to pigeons and poultry. A Provencal poet speaks 

 of the Roquemaure fowls fattened on Durra, 

 "mi d'escoubo." The tough, wiry spikes of the 

 inflorescence are used for making brushes, whisks, 

 and brooms. For this purpose mainly it is grown. 

 Ask at the grocer's for a " balai en paille," and you 

 will generally find a number of the shiny brown grains 

 still adhering to it. Here then is a rival of the 

 Genista, the broom and besom plant of our own 

 latitude. " Broom " in English means both the Genista 

 and the bunch of its twigs which we use for sweeping. 

 The Kymric " bala " has the same double meaning, 

 and I believe that Lake Bala, in North Wales, is so 

 called from the Genista growing round its shores. 

 From " bala " is derived the French word " balai." 



Our northern plant is not restricted to the humble 



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