FURZE. 43 



patches elsewhere of more or less up-springing shoots, and 

 in other places the full-grown plants awaiting the woodman's 

 visit. Its ashes yield a serviceable dressing for the land, 

 and its upper shoots, after being bruised with a mallet, form 

 a valuable fodder for cattle and horses. In large dairy 

 establishments the gorse is crushed almost into a pulp by a 

 small engine, and then given to the cows. It may, there- 

 fore, be sown to advantage on poor land, .the proper propor- 

 tion being at the rate of 35 or 4-0 Ibs. of seed to the acre. 

 It is ready for cutting in the second autumn, and should 

 yield some two thousand bundles, or about eighteen tons 

 per acre. If to this we add its more indirect service to us 

 through the industry of the bees, we shall at all events 

 have clearly demonstrated that the furze can scarcely be 

 called " unprofitably gay " ; besides, beauty is- in itself an 

 end, and we need not feel under any compulsion to reduce 

 everything to a strictly utilitarian standard. We our- 

 selves feel perfectly content to enjoy its beauty in the land- 

 scape, and to revel iu its golden richness : Cowper's in- 

 jurious epithets, then, need not delay us long; a glance 

 at our figure, or, better still, a walk over the breezy and 

 furze-clad common, will effectually dispose of them. 



The word furze is derived from its Anglo-Saxon 

 name, fyrs, while gorse, also Anglo-Saxon in its origin, is 

 from gorst, a waste, and refers, of course, to the open 

 commons and moorlands on which we find the shrub. 

 The derivation of the word whin is obscure, and two or 

 three different theories are given in various etymo- 

 logical works; but into these we have not space to 

 enter. The furze is sometimes, but less commonly, called 

 the thorn-broom, its spiny branches, laden with the large 

 yellow broom-like flowers, being, of course, the cause 



