THE BROOM-BUSH 131 



of the romantic ballad in the natural growth of a 

 wilderness of broom. That is implied in the amount 

 of poetry that grew out of it or that found refuge in 

 it. But the broom has also (as the phrase goes) its Uses of 

 100 utilitarian side. It is still (thanks to its clean, strong, t ^ Broom 

 straight, angular twigs) made into rustic besoms and 

 brushes for yards, enclosures, floors, and griddles 

 though for the last-mentioned purpose hens' feathers 

 wage with it a persistent rivalry. Its twigs are also 

 sometimes woven into baskets, but in no keen com- 

 petition with wicker and hazel ; and they furnish a 

 green dye, while a yellow dye is got from the flowers. 

 Even the fibres have been manufactured into textile 

 fabrics. The seeds, small and shiny, which are scat- 

 no tered with a crack when the pods grow black and 

 explode in August and September, are (like the tender 

 shoots of the plant) not unpleasantly bitter, and as 

 diuretic as the dandelion, and utilized therefore both 

 in cookery and pharmacy. Two centuries ago Sir 

 William Temple regarded broom as more friendly to 

 health than any other plants of our climate and soil. 

 It was sovereign in dropsies, ' whether brewed, or its 

 ashes taken in white wine every morning.' Lastly, 

 here not to exhaust its useful merits, from the wood 

 120 of the main stem, where it attains firmness and size, 

 handsome veneers may be cut by the cabinet-maker. 



Though vigorous in appearance wherever it grows, A more 

 the common broom looks less robust than the rough, ^^than 

 jaggy whin ; yet it can endure the rigour of higher the furze. 

 latitudes, bourgeon in situations more exposed, and 

 thrive on thinner soil. In the Scottish Highlands the 

 whin is by no means common, and it pines or dies in 

 hot climates. England, perhaps, or the Lowlands of 



