MISTLETOE 299 



critical moment by the return of those tiresome 

 rooks ; each time he secures a fish he turns towards 

 the shore before swallowing it, just as a cautious 

 human angler would do instinctively before unhook- 

 ing a trout, so that if it fell it should be in shallow 

 water. 



xci 

 This morning (December 31st, 1896) we have 



been busy planting mistletoe berries on 



i rp, , .. . Mistletoe 



some young poplars. Though not indi- 

 genous to Scotland, having about the same northern 

 range as the nightingale, mistletoe grows very well 

 north of the Tweed if trouble be taken to sow it 

 rightly. All that is required, is to smear the viscid 

 berry on the under side of young branches (second 

 year shoots are best) of such trees as the plant 

 loves poplar, apple, hawthorn, lime or acacia, 

 without any incision or tying whatever. In a day 

 or two the glutinous juice will have dried up, bind- 

 ing the seed safely to the bark; and so it will 

 remain, till, some day next spring, you may notice, a 

 tiny green sprout, arching over and pressing its free 

 end into the smooth bark. In that it disappears, 

 and nothing more is seen for one, two, or even three 



