i6 



SUMMER 



' corkscrews ' daily, working from both ends, so that in the 

 sequel you have a double screw, from right to left on one 

 part, from left to right on the other, the two being joined by 

 a little untwisted bar. The contraction of the tendril has 

 pulled the shoot up half an inch or so. These spare springs 

 are holding the weak shoot in place on all sides and at all 

 angles, so that it is buoyed in complete safety. 



But it is only in a wind that you note the full perfection of 

 the tendrils. They have done more than pull the parent 



WHITE BRYONY 



shoot upwards and upwards. Their spiral form is more than 

 a contraction of the muscles. Though the wind becomes 

 a hurricane, and the bryony has grown in a place fully 

 exposed to it and has bridged wide spaces in the hedge, 

 it will weather the storm without suffering so much as a 

 strain. The tendrils are springs of such sensitive strength 

 that they temper the most blusterous attack on the plant. 

 It is a liberal education in mechanics to watch them give 

 and stretch and return to their first form ; and in spite 

 of their tender tissue ride out the gale in consummate 



ease. 



One of the pleasures of the season is to observe the 

 sheer speed of growth ; and as one watches one sees how 

 necessary an aid to the grappling devices is this faculty of 

 speed. The plant, as it were, rushes at its hills, and sur- 



