APPENDIX. 145 



BIRCH WINE AS MADE IN SUSSEX. 



In a quaint old book, dated 1728, a recipe for making 

 this is thus given : ' ' Take the sap of Birch fresh drawn, 

 boil it as long as any scum arises; to every gallon of liquor 

 put two pounds of good sugar ; boil it half an hour ; when 

 'tis almost cold set it with a little yeast spread on a toast; 

 let it stand five or six days in an open vessel, stirring it 

 often ; then take such a cask as the liquor will be sure to fill, 

 and fire a large match dipped in brimstone, and put it into 

 the cask and stop in the smoak, always keeping it shook; 

 then shake out the ashes, and as quick as possible pour in a 

 pint of sack or rhenish, which taste you like best, for the 

 liquor retains it, rinse the cask well with this and pour it 

 out. Pour in your wine and stop it close for six months, 

 and then, if perfectly fine, you may bottle it." 



STARRY-HEADED TREFOIL 



(Trifolium Stellatum). 



This is one of the most beautiful of our wild flowers, 

 and is found in Britain at Shoreham only. There it has 

 long been known. By a botanist at Kew it was said to be 

 extinct. To disprove this, Mrs. Butcher, of Worthing, sent 

 me, in June, 1888, a series of specimens in bud, in flower, 

 and in seed. The petals of light pink, surrounded by calyces 

 clothed with fine silky hairs, are exceedingly lovely, and it 

 is altogether one of the most interesting plants in our 

 Flora. Fortunately, it is very difficult to extirpate any of 

 the leguminosm, and it may therefore be hoped that it may 

 long continue to adorn the shingle beach at Shoreham. 



