Wild Flowers as They Grow 



do not consent to be cut out in one universal 



pattern. 



The Blackberry Bramble is found everywhere in 



our hedges — " as plentiful as blackberries " is a 



b5^word — but it is not quite so much nature-sown 



there as we are apt to think, for our forefathers used 



definitely to plant the Bramble in the hedges to fill 



up weak places. Thus an agricultural writer in 



Queen Elizabeth's reign urges farmers in preparing 



a hedge "to sow in the seed of the bramble and 



haw," and he further advises : 



To plot not full 



Ad Bramble and Hull, 



For set no bar 



Whilst month hath an R, 



which, being interpreted, declares that Bramble and 



holly may well be set in all the months of the year 



except May, June, July and August. 



The Bramble is specially fitted for a hedge plant. 



Its stems weave with great rapidity in and out of 



the branches of other growths ; they are thickly 



studded with hooked prickles which point backwards 



92 



