THE WILLOW. 



307 



2 2d, and others have observed them yet earlier. The value 

 of Willow-bushes near hives can scarcely be overstated, for 

 this is just the season when the combs are likely to be 

 exhausted, and there are as yet few other flowers in bloom 

 capable of affording a considerable supply. 



Before the discovery of sugar, honey was far more 

 valuable than it is at present, and it appears from Virgil 

 that, in his time, Willows were commonly planted in 

 apiaries, for the special purpose of affording nourishment 

 to the bees at this critical season. 



Owing perhaps to the association 

 of the Willow with the Palm in 

 the passage quoted from Leviticus, 

 blossoms of Willow, under the name 

 of " Palms," are in some parts of 

 Great Britain worn on the day 

 which commemorates our blessed 

 Lord's triumphal entry into Jeru- 

 salem. At Lanark, according to 

 ancient usage, the boys of the 

 Grammar-school parade the streets 

 on the day before, carrying a 

 Willow-tree in blossom ornamented 

 with daffodils and other spring 

 flowers. A writer in the "Every- 

 day Book " says : " It is still cus- 

 tomary with men and boys to go a- 

 palming in London early on Palm 

 Sunday morning ; that is, by gather- willow. 



ing branches of the Willow, with 



their gray, shining, velvet-looking buds, from those trees in 

 the vicinity of the metropolis : they come home with slips 

 in their hats, and sticking in the breast button-holes of their 

 coats, and a sprig in the mouth, bearing the Palm-branches 

 in their hands. This usage remains among the ignorant 

 from poor neighbourhoods : and there is still to be found a 

 basket-woman or two at Covent Garden, and in the chief 



