294 Hedge Proverbs. 



some districts it is even rare, and it requires a con- 

 siderable searcli to find a group of tliese handsome 

 rushes. Water-hhes are equally absent from certain 

 districts. Elms do not seem to flourish near water ; 

 they do not reach any size, and a white, unhealthy- 

 looking sap exudes from the trunk. Water seems, 

 too, to check the growth of ash after it has reached 

 a moderate size. Does the May bloom, which is 

 almost proverbial for its sweetness, occasionalh' turn 

 sour, as it were, before a thunderstorm ? Bushes cov- 

 ered with this flower certainl}^ emit an unpleasant 

 smell, sometimes quite distinct from the usual odor 

 of the May. 



The hedge is so intensely English and so mixed 

 up in all popular ideas that it is no wonder it forms 

 the basis of many proverbs and sayings — such as, 

 ' The sun does not shine on both sides of the hedge 

 at once,' ' rough as a hedge,' the verb ' to hedge,' and 

 so on. Has any attempt ever been made to cultivate 

 the earth-nut, pig-nut, or ground-nut, as it is variously 

 called, which the ploughboys search for and dig up 

 with their clasp-knives ? It is found by the small 

 slender stalk it sends up, and insiguiflcant white 

 flower, and lies a few inches below the surface ; the 

 ploughboA's thiuk much of it, and it seems just pos- 

 sible that cultivation might improve it. 



Rare birds do not afford much information as a 

 rule — seen for a short time onlj-, it is difficult to dis- 

 cover much about them. I followed one of the rarer 

 woodpeckers one morning for a long time, but not- 

 withstanding all my care and trouble could not learn 

 much of its waj's. 



Even among cows there are some rudiments of 



