296 sloe. 



Cerasus, Lin. ; Cerasus avium, De Cand.,) is found in woods 

 and hedges flowering in May; and the Bird Cherry (Prunus 

 Padus, Lin. ; Cerasus Padus, De Cand.,) occurs in woods and 

 coppices, especially in the north of England. 



General Uses. — The Sloe is ornamental in shrubberies, as it flowers 

 earlier than most other plants : it makes excellent hedges and other fences, 

 but its roots are apt to spread wide and encroach upon the pastures. 

 The wood being hard and tough is used for turnery-ware, teeth of rakes, 

 and walking sticks. The bark stripped off in spring, boiled in ley, affords 

 a red dye ; it is also useful, according to Bechstein, to prevent rottenness 

 in cheese, and may be employed in tanning leather. The young leaves 

 form one of the most popular substitutes for the China teas ; but their as- 

 tringency being considerable, they are mixed with the leaves of ash, white- 

 thorn, elder, &c. * 



The fruit, gathered when fully ripe, and mellowed by the first frosts, is 

 made into a pleasant wine, especially if the stones are broken and the kernels 

 mixed with the juice ; it is also a useful addition to other wines, such as 

 currant, raisin, and elderberry. In a less advanced stage sloes are used by 

 fraudulent dealers to adulterate port wine, for which purpose they are well 

 adapted on account of the astringency, slight acidity, and deep red colour 

 they impart. The juice of the fruit makes a good marking-ink for linen or 

 woollen cloth, and if sulphate of iron (green vitriol) be added, it becomes 

 permanently black, affording it is said a writing-ink superior to that made 

 from galls, and an excellent dye for linens, &c. " The dried sloes dye linen 

 of a reddish colour, which, on repeated washings, changes to a durable light 

 blue." The leaves of the Blackthorn are eaten by horses, goats, and sheep, 

 and the bark is relished by hares, deer, and some other quadrupeds. Un- 

 pleasant effects are sometimes produced by the punctures of the thorns, 

 and Dr. Withering thinks, from some cases that have fallen under his 

 notice, that these spines secrete a poisonous matter, especially in autumn. 



Qualities. — The bark is inodorous, has a bitterish and styptic taste 

 which it imparts to water and spirit. The recent flowers have a pleasant 

 odour, and a slightly bitter taste, resembling that of bitter almonds. The 

 pulp of the fruit is inodorous, and has an acid austere flavour, very harsh 

 and ungrateful before it is mellowed by frosts ; the kernel has the pleasant 



* It appears from a parliamentary inquiry that four million pounds of 

 this spurious compound, under the name of " prepared British leaf," were 

 a few years since manufactured annually in this country, the greater part 

 of which was bought up by fraudulent dealers for the purpose of adulterat- 

 ing the foreign tea. The leaves are said to be prepared by first scalding or 

 boiling them in water, to which logwood is sometimes added, and then dry- 

 ing and rolling them together in the manner of the foreign tea ; the green 

 colour is imparted by Dutch pink or verditer. 



