WHIN AND BROOM 61 



there are limits in the direction of bareness which 

 the broom positively refuses to cross. 



The whin covers the knobs of hard rock, and 

 pays for its lodging by helping to keep the thin 

 sprinkling of soil, gathered from the waste of the 

 stone, from being blown off by the wind or washed 

 down by the rain. Because of its tenant, the rock 

 gets the common name of whinstone. 



Long straggling roots give the whin a lot of 

 purchase, thus making it independent of depth. 

 So much one will learn who tries to grub it up. 

 This habit of root-growth it may have acquired 

 along with the prickles. In the way, where there 

 was enough of earth to strike straight down into, 

 it became a simple necessity of existence, as soon as 

 the shrub was driven beyond the limits of cultiva- 

 tion. It takes advantage of every crack to tighten 

 its grasp. 



It is a veritable fir tree among shrubs, and has 

 much the same place and function in nature. In 

 passing through fir forest or whin scrub, one has 

 to watch his feet very carefully lest he trip over 

 the exposed roots. The fall is to be avoided as 

 either very rough or very thorny. Should the 

 hard rock form a ridge, the fir tree and whin share 

 it between them. Nothing is commoner than the 



