Use of Plant and Flower 229 



Even as a child delights 



To visit day by day the favorite plant 



His hand has sown, to mark its gradual growth, 



And watch all-anxious for the promised flower. 



Southey: Hymn to the Penates. 



SOIL BINDING. Along the sandy shore of the 

 Mediterranean, in one section of southern France, 

 the Iris is extensively grown to hold the sand and pre- 

 vent it from being blown back upon the cultivated 

 lands. This suggests its use to prevent or lessen the 

 washing of hill-sides. 



THATCHING. In countries where the Iris grows 

 in abundance, its broad leaves, sometimes called 

 " flags", are sometimes used by the peasantry to 

 thatch their cottages. 



And at the utmost point * * * stood there 

 The relics of a weed-inwoven cot, 

 Thatched with broad flags. 



Shelley: Marenghi. 



In the north of France, sometimes the ridge of the 

 thatched cottage is given a coating of clay the whole 

 width of the roof and Irises are planted in the clay. 

 Perhaps this is but an imitation of a similiar practice 

 in China and Japan. There another species of Iris, 

 I. tectorum ("tectum" being Latin for "roof of a 



