574 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



plantations, it is only necessary to dig the ground, sow the seeds at the ave- 

 rage rate of one or two to a square foot, and, when the plants come up, to 

 keep them clear of weeds for the first year 



The use of furze in a dead state is chiefly as fuel for bakers' ovens, for 

 brick, tile, and lime kilns, and for lighting fires. In Scotland, it is sometimes 

 used in kilns for drying oats. In England, a common use of it is to weave 

 into the sides of hovels for sheltering cattle, to prevent them from rubbing 

 against them. In gardens, the points of the shoots are chopped into pieces 

 of about an inch in length, and dropped into ijie drills in which peas are sown 

 before the seeds are covered ; and, the earth being drawn over them, and trod 

 down, they are found effectually to resist the attacks of mice and small birds. 

 In France, the chopped branches are mixed with cow dung, and the mixture 

 afterwards formed into bricks, which are dried in the sun, and used as fuel. 

 The seeds, if they could be procured in sufficient quantity, would, if ground 

 into flour, form a nutritive food both for cattle and swine : they retain their 

 vital property for several years. In Britany, large heaps are formed of alter- 

 nate layers of turf and dried furze branches ; and the whole being set fire to, 

 the ashes are preserved as manure. In many parts of both France and 

 England, the ashes of dry furze branches are used as a lye for washing linen ; 

 and for this purpose the ashes are made into balls, and sold by the country 

 people in the markets. 



Poetical and legendary Allusions. The beauty of the common furze, or 

 gorse, when in blossom, and the circumstance of its growing wild in England, 

 has induced most of our English descriptive poets to allude to it in their 

 writings. Cowper says : 



" The common overgrown with fern, and rough 

 With prickly gorse, that, shapeless and deform'd, 

 And dangerous to the touch, has yet its bloom, 

 And decks itself with ornaments of gold, 

 Yields no unpleasing ramble." 



And Hurdis observes : 



" And what more noble than the vernal furze, 

 With golden baskets hung ? Approach it not, 

 For every blossom has a troop of swords 

 Drawn to defend it." 



The linnet is said to be very fond of nestling in furze bushes ; a circum- 

 stance which has been noticed by Thomson in his Seasons: 

 " Nor are the linnets, o'er the flowering furze 

 Pour'd out profusely, silent." 



Many other instances might, be given of poetical notices of this shrub and 

 L 7 . nana. Indeed, the rich golden hue of the blossoms of the latter contrasts 

 so beautifully with the bright purple blossoms of the heath, which is generally 

 found near it, and in flower at the same season ; and both give such a richness 

 to the wild scenery in which they usually grow, that it is not surprising to 

 find them attracting the attention of all the British poets who have written 

 on rural themes. 



Propagation and Culture. A pound of seeds, which, in London, costs from 

 8rf. to Is., will sow an acre broad-cast, or a drill of a mile in length as a hedge. 

 No culture is required for broad-cast crops, except keeping the plants clear of 

 weeds for the first year or two ; but hedges require to have the weeds taken 

 out every year ; and where they are to be clipped, that operation should be 

 performed once a year. The double-flowered and the fastigiate varieties are 

 propagated by cuttings : the latter, when wanted for agricultural purposes, 

 may be bedded in, like box, in a sandy soil rather moist, in the beginning of 

 September; and by the following spring they will be fit to transplant. In 

 Caernarvonshire, cuttings are formed of the points of the shoots of the present 

 year's wood, about 3 in. long ; they are bedded in sandy garden soil, in 

 August; transplanted into the field, in rows 18 in. apart, and at 1 ft. distance 

 in the row, in March; and mown for the first time in the September following. 

 The produce even of the first year is found to be of more value than a crop 

 of clover; and the quantity of forage increases with the strength of the plants 



