170 FRESH FIELDS 



prickly, disagreeable shrub to the touch, like oui 

 ground juniper. It seems to mark everywhere the 

 line of cultivation; where the furze begins the plow 

 stops. It covers heaths and commons, and, with 

 the heather, gives that dark hue to the Scotch and 

 English uplands. The heather I did not see in all 

 its glory. It was just coming into bloom when I 

 left, the last of July ; but the glimpses I had of it 

 in North Wales, and again in northern Ireland, 

 were most pleasing. It gave a purple border or 

 fringe to the dark rocks (the rocks are never so 

 lightly tinted in this island as ours are) that was 

 very rich and striking. The heather vies with the 

 grass in its extent and uniformity. Until midsum- 

 mer it covers the moors and uplands as with a dark 

 brown coat. When it blooms, this coat becomes a 

 royal robe. The flower yields honey to the bee, 

 and the plant shelter to the birds and game, and is 

 used by the cottagers for thatching, and for twisting 

 into ropes, and for various other purposes. 



Several troublesome weeds I noticed in England 

 that have not yet made their appearance in this 

 country. Coltsfoot invests the plowed lands there, 

 sending up its broad fuzzy leaves as soon as the 

 grain is up, and covering large areas. It is found 

 in this country, but, so far as I have observed, only 

 in out-of-the-way places. 



Sheep sorrel has come to us from over seas^ and 

 reddens many a poor worn-out field; but the larger 

 species of sorrel, Rumex acetosa, so common in 

 English fields, and shooting up a stem two feet 



