The Face of the Wilderness 295 



Few, indeed, of the old home uses of wild plants 

 have died out because of the scarcity of the raw 

 material ; they have perished under an urban 

 civilization. The osier is the only marshland plant 

 which still supports a fairly flourishing industry. 

 British baskets were famous even in Roman times, 

 and the word " basket " is itself of British origin, 

 and was adopted in one form or another by both 

 Roman and Saxon invaders. The industry which 

 first gained British craftsmen a foreign reputation 

 is by no means yet extinct ; but it relies no longer 

 on the wild willows of the marsh, but has adopted 

 improved varieties and a careful system of cultiva- 

 tion. Ropes are still twisted out of heather-stems 

 in the Hebrides ; and the broom plant has be- 

 queathed its name without change or disguise to 

 the implement which is now constructed of other 

 materials. Generations must have passed since 

 branches of the broom-plant went out of general 

 use for sweeping floors ; but rough brooms, con- 

 sisting of a few broom-sprays tied together with a 

 string, may still be seen now and then about cottages 

 in rural Wales. The memory of the old device has 

 not died out, even if its use is no longer regular. 

 Heather- brooms are less unfamiliar ; while the birch- 

 broom shows no sign of dying out of use in gardens. 

 The race and calling of the Surrey and Hampshire 

 broom- squires are not yet extinct, although they 

 are gradually vanishing as a distinct element in the 

 population of the moorland parishes. Carts laden 

 high with a parti-coloured load of fresh, white- 

 handled birch-brooms and new hay-rakes were 



