246 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



at the bottom of the slope is a dry stone wall 

 about four feet in height. But you have to look 

 for the wall, for it is completely buried in brambles 

 rooted on both sides of it, and trailing over it. 

 There, facing the afternoon sun, the brambles 

 luxuriate, and are good to look at in all seasons 

 of the year. 



In July this bramble-hedge is full of white 

 blossom, but its midsummer appearance is its 

 least attractive. For, though the bramble flower 

 is a rose, it is a poor specimen of a rose, with 

 petals which never quite fill their place, and sex 

 organs which seem to overfill theirs. Late in 

 August it becomes more attractive. Then it shows 

 fruit at all stages of growth, a few rich and luscious 

 black berries, many more a strong, brownish red, 

 still more green, and among them, even at this 

 stage, flowers not a few. It reaches its best about 

 the last week of a bright September, when most of 

 the fruit is ripe and conspicuous. At this stage 

 the berry-picking boys and girls come upon the 

 scene and make the kind of scene dear to Birket 

 Foster's heart, and though blackberrying is not 

 exactly a thing of yesterday with me, I could 

 still enjoy taking a place in the picture on a sunny 

 afternoon. And the charm of the bramble hedge 

 is not all gone when the brambles are picked. The 

 bramble retains a considerable proportion of its 

 leaves throughout the winter, and some of them 

 turn a bright red, and others a vivid yellow. 

 These, with the long red and green stems, make 

 a fine picture against the snow when it comes. 



The manner of life of the bramble is not such 



