LEAFLESS WOODS 189 



Nearly all cottages own a small press, for 

 their fruit crops are large in the outlying dis- 

 tricts ; so the crabs are simply ground up, 

 pressed, and the juice pure and simple is put 

 in stone bottles and kept ready for use. If 

 it is a case of sore throat, this is a gargle that 

 will cut its way through anything, as they 

 say, cleansing as it goes. Then if any part 

 is inflamed, a linen bandage lightly placed on, 

 saturated with "varjuice," will cure it, as I 

 know from experience. 



On the moors one day I met with a very 

 serious accident. When faggot wood is cut, 

 and young firs are thinned, a sloping knife- 

 like edge is left close to the ground ; and as 

 the wood is only about as thick as a man's 

 wrist, one blow of the axe cuts clean through. 

 Hard wood scrub gets cut as well, such as oak, 

 holly, and blackthorn ; these snags are really 

 dangerous to step on, concealed as they are 

 by the cover that springs up like magic all 

 around the stems. Many a valuable hunter 

 has been lamed for life when the fox has 

 crossed a stubbed moor, through bringing one 

 of his feet down on a "stam"; as the hard 

 wood-stems dry, some of them split up, and 

 there they are, out of sight, but sticking up 



