222 THE RING OF NATURE 



OCTOBER 



WILD FRUITS 



THE hawthorns, which were the glory of the 

 month in early May when covered with 

 creamy, almond-scented blossom, have been 

 overlooked all the summer. But on a day in 

 August when the world was wild with blossom, a 

 hawthorn at the southern angle of the spinney 

 caught the sun and tossed it back from crowds 

 of fruit just turning reddish brown. The first 

 colouring was all on one side like that of rather 

 dingy apples. But the brown soon covered the 

 whole fruit, then turned to flaming scarlet, which 

 is now deepening as the days go by into a richness 

 that bespeaks ripeness. 



Hips and haws are undoubtedly the chief of the 

 wild fruits that last into the winter. Familiar as 

 they are, they are so little understood that in most 

 country places they obtain the one comprehensive 

 term ' hipseyhaws.' The child is not quite certain 

 which are hips and which are haws. It is only in 

 late autumn, when the grass is long and wet 



