158 HOUSE, GARDEN, AND FIELD 



a record of the direction and rate of the angular movement. 

 If the young shoot is pulled about, it reverses its direction 

 of movement for a .time ; and a free shoot will sometimes 

 do the same. Thus the exploring shoot is enabled to keep 

 out of the way of moving objects, and to feel about for a 

 fresh support when it has been brought to a stand. One 

 of my hop-shoots was stopped by an overhanging stone 

 cornice ; it persisted for a long time, as if trying vainly 

 to force a passage, but at length sank to a lower position, 

 and there found a suitable support. The rate of ascent 

 may be unexpectedly rapid. Between May 20 and June 3, 

 1902, a hop-shoot climbed thirty-eight inches, that is, 

 nearly three inches a day. When the growth was most 

 rapid, the shoot gained four inches of height in twenty- 

 four hours. In the same time the tip of the hour-hand 

 of my watch travelled six inches. 



Do you find in a hop anything which hinders the 

 slipping of the stem or its branches ? They are rough 

 to the feel, and on examining them closely, you will 

 see that the roughness is due to a multitude of small 

 hooks. Some climbing plants do not twine at all, but 

 trust entirely to their hooks ; we may call these hook- 

 climbers. How many more hook- climbers can you find 

 in our hedge ? 



Bramble. What parts of a bramble bear hooks ? I 

 should like a drawing, or failing that, a photograph of a 

 bramble-spray in the hedge. Choose your point of view 

 carefully, so as to bring out the arching of the leaves and 

 the curvature of the free end of the spray. Can you find 

 a rooting-branch of bramble ? If so, remark its tip, and 

 see what unexpected peculiarity it presents. (7) How 

 does the bramble creep along a hedge ? How does it 

 make its way to other hedges ? 



Briar. From what part of the stem do the prickles 

 proceed ? Do they contain any wood or any vessels ? 

 Are the prickles of the bramble of the same structure as 

 those of briar ? Point out the difference in structure 



