42 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



autumn, and its blossoms fade away, the furze still stands its 

 ground, and brightens the declining year. 



It is a common saying among country folk that 

 when the furze is out of flower kissing is out of 

 season, whence we are of course given to understand 

 that as at almost all times some few blossoms at least 

 may be met with, such a token of affection can rarely 

 be ill-timed. Even when the golden flowers of the furze 

 are but sparingly to be found, the plant is always welcome, 

 as it preserves its verdure throughout the year. Our 

 plant is almost equally well known as the gorse, while 

 a third name for it is the whin. Goldsmith speaks of the 

 "blossomed furze/' and Cowper of the "prickly gorse," 

 its two commonest names and its two most striking fea- 

 tures being thus at once illustrated. Thompson, too, calls 

 it " the flowering furze poured forth profusely " a testi- 

 mony to a third marked feature, its abundance. Gold- 

 smith, however, goes on to call it " unprofitably gay/' 

 while Cowper terms it (< shapeless and deformed, and dan- 

 gerous to the touch ; " and here we must at once beg to 

 enter our protest. The furze is most distinctly not un- 

 profitable. It is sometimes planted as a hedge ; at other 

 times it affords an admirable cover for game. It will grow 

 near the sea, too, and is, therefore, of great value in 

 shielding young plantations from the salt-laden and sweep- 

 ing gusts of wind that would prove fatal to them, while 

 few things throw out a fiercer heat when burnt. 



Any one at all familiar with country life will have seen 

 the furze faggots being cut on the heath, or will at least 

 recall the places bare of all but stumps whence this harvest 

 has been gathered. It is ordinarily cut once in three years, 

 so that we generally find not only the bare ground, but 



