190 IN THE GREEN LEAF 



like nails. In one of my rambles I had the 

 bad luck to jump on one of these split-up 

 stems j one of the snags cut through the side 

 of my stout boot, and pierced the side of my 

 foot. The result of this apparently slight 

 accident was to me serious, and for some 

 days I chafed under forced inactivity. Then, 

 as I was away from home, a stout, motherly 

 old dame took me in hand. She brought over 

 some " cooling-stuff " for me to drink, and a 

 quart of varjuice for wet cloth bandages to 

 be used- at once. That night I slept like a 

 top, and in the course of a week was about 

 again, without so much as a limp. 



Recently, right out in wild lands, I passed 

 some crab trees that had been loaded with 

 fruit, but had been gathered for varjuice. 



Some cottagers even now distil their own 

 garden herbs ; plots are set apart for growing 

 them. As to the wines they make, they are 

 not only wholesome, but medicinal. Those 

 who have had a bottle of real dandelion wine 

 given them, when it was needed, are not likely 

 to forget the benefit derived from it ; nor yet 

 the virtue in cowslip wine, amber-coloured and 

 beaded, a glassful of it scenting a room with 

 meadow odours. Pickets, and the large, dark, 



