A GARDEN DIARY 159 
MarcH 29, 1900 
Wie would believe in being seriously tor- 
mented by a plague of oaks? Such 
nevertheless has been our lot for the last few 
weeks. As plagues go they are certainly better 
than locusts, not to speak of others that we 
read of in the Bible. For all that we find 
them quite troublesome enough. Although so 
young that they were only dropped from the 
parent bough last autumn, they already cling 
to the ground with all the tenacity of their 
ancestors; the most exasperated pull causing 
considerable fatigue to the puller, but producing 
no effect whatever upon the youthful athlete. 
Many of them are in the engaging condition of 
being still attached to their natal acorn, which, 
acting as a sort of grappling iron, effectually 
hinders their being drawn up, even through the 
soft soil of our flower-borders. Last year was 
a most bountiful one for acorns, and every sty 
in the neighbourhood revelled in plenty. Since 
