JANUARV 81 



snowballs, pray for an open winter ; although, indeed, frost in 

 moderation is a good thing for the land, as it pulverises the earth 

 and destroys noxious insects by the thousand. 



To-day I saw the first snowdrops blooming in the garden. 



In walking over the eight-acre meadow on Baker's to look at 

 the dykes which the man has now finished drawing, I heard the 

 partridges calling to each other on the neighbouring layer for the 

 first time this year. I have not, however, seen any pairs as yet 

 This meadow is full of docks, the result of long neglect, and it 

 will cost much trouble and expense to get rid of them. On our 

 marshes, indeed, it is impossible to keep clear of these weeds, for 

 as fast as you pull them out new ones establish themselves, sprung 

 from seed brought down by the flood water. The vitality of the 

 dock is something dreadful. (Query : Why are all evil things, 

 even among herbs, more vigorous and easier of propagation than 

 good things ? He who could answer this question would, I suppose, 

 know the riddle of the world !) To-day I picked up one on 

 the wheatland, of which the root stood several inches above the 

 surface of the soil. On pulling it out of the earth I discovered 

 that its head was buried deep in the ground. Yet, in that 

 unnatural position, even thus early in the year, it was growing 

 vigorously, for from the crown of the plant were springing thick 

 tufts of leaves, which on their journey to the surface had bent 

 themselves into the shape of a hook. Another week or two and 

 that dock would have been completely re-established, with the differ- 

 ence that what had been its head would henceforth be its tail. l 



Ever since I began to observe the ways of plants I have 

 been trying to discover what useful part a dock can perform in 

 the economy of Nature, but hitherto without the slightest result. 

 It is a great exhauster of the land, since, if left undisturbed, it 

 will grow to the dimensions of a moderate-sized carrot ; no animal, 



1 Where will a dock not live ? On the shore of the Island of Coll in 

 the Hebrides I found one recently flourishing in a cranny of rock, almost with- 

 out soil, and exposed to the washing of sea spray and the full fury of the 

 northern gales. 



G 



