The Bramble 



and so are no hindrance to the plant pushing through 

 the hedge, but which are of the utmost assistance 

 in preventing it sUpping back. Anyone who has 

 tried to draw a Bramble shoot out of the hedge 

 knows the difficulty of the task. Sometimes the 

 long whip-like shoots arch over and touch the ground 

 again, whereupon they send out roots and start new 

 plants at that point. The older part dies, the 

 apex left grows upwards and new branches arise. 

 A strange cure once advocated for rheumatism was 

 to find one of these arches and then crawl under it. 

 One's pains were supposed to be left behind ! These 

 shoots were formerly used to bind down the sod 

 on newly made graves, so Jeremy Taylor reminds 

 us, " The summer gives green turf and Brambles 

 to bind upon our graves." For bee-hives and hay- 

 ricks they were equally serviceable. 



The leaves of the Bramble are remarkable for 

 the gorgeousness of the colouring that they carry in 

 autumn days, their glowing reds being some of the 



most beautiful we see. Hence is the plant's Latin 



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