THE BLACKTHORN. 105 



coming. A single primrose, a leaf-bud of Hawthorn or 

 Elm either of these is a prophet in whom we place un- 

 bounded confidence ; they are emblems of soft west winds 

 and sunny showers : but the Blackthorn bespeaks our at- 

 tention to the possible return of black east winds, frosty 

 nights, and nipping blights. 1 



NOT does the Sloe-tree find a champion in the husband- 

 man. It is by no means particular in its choice of soil 

 and situation, but thrives everywhere. Its long creeping 

 roots extend so rapidly, that in the course of a few years 

 a single plant would, if left unmolested, cover an acre of 

 ground. 2 Thus left to itself, it has no disposition to as- 

 sume the character of a tree, but forms a low thicket, to the 

 exclusion of every more valuable plant, and, if growing in 

 the neighbourhood of sheep-walks, most unceremoniously 

 levies contributions from every woolly visitor who comes 

 within reach of its knotted and thorny branches. If, by 

 being deprived of its suckers, it is compelled to throw all 

 its strength upwards, it will sometimes attain the height 

 of thirty feet ; and even in natural situations, where it 

 cannot extend itself laterally, it rises to fifteen or twenty 

 feet. The name " Blackthorn" appears to have been given 

 to it from the hue of its bark, which being much darker 

 than that of the Hawthorn, probably originated the name 

 of " White-thorn " given to the latter tree. 



1 " This tree usually blossoms while cold north-east winds blow ; 

 so that the harsh, rugged weather obtaining at this season is called 

 by country people, ' Blackthorn winter.' " WHITE'S Selborne. 



2 "The name of Mere-du-Bois (Mother of the Wood) is applied to 

 the Sloe-thorn in France, in the neighbourhood of Montargis, 

 because it has been remarked there, that when it was established on 

 the margins of woods, its underground shoots, and the suckers 

 which sprung up from them, had a constant tendency to extend the 

 wood over the adjoining fields ; and that, if the proprietors of lands 

 adjoining forests where the Sloe-thorn formed the boundary did not 

 take the precaution of stopping the progress of its roots, these 

 would, in a short time, spread over their property ; and the suckers 

 which arose from them, by affording protection to the seeds of tim- 

 ber trees (which would be deposited among them by the wind, or by 

 birds), would ultimately, and at no great distance of time, cause the 

 whole to be covered with forests." LOUDON. 



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