1912-1913-] Heather and other Allied Plants. 23 



meet their fate at the hands of the sportsman. The favourite 

 bird of the sportsman is the grouse. While it is natural that 

 mountain birds should feed on various mountain plants, it is 

 proved that the staple food of the grouse is the young shoots, 

 flowers, and seed-heads of Galluna vulgaris. It is this feeding 

 on the heather which give the grouse their much-prized flavour 

 when cooked. Naturally, no one could have a keener eye to 

 the picturesque than the Highlander himself, as he does not 

 consider he is dressed for " a gathering of the clans " without 

 having a sprig of heather aloft in his bonnet. 



Finally, when Galluna vulgaris has served its day and 

 generation (old heather being useless for any purpose), and 

 a young crop of ling is wanted, the hills are set on fire, when 

 the old crop is reduced to ashes, and science teaches us the 

 ashes contain the fertilising elements for the nourishment of 

 the future crop. 



The great gift of a " natural flower-garden " is indeed a 

 priceless blessing to man. He cannot ascend the mountains 

 without gaining fresh inspiration in theory as well as in 

 practice, and may well meditate on the fact that he is viewing 

 the heath-clad hills in their primitive condition — a thousand 

 years, more or less, making little difference. When the artist 

 paints his landscape, it is meant to be viewed from one side 

 only. Nature presents no such half-measures ; she displays 

 her beauties all around, even to the live carpet under foot. 



In further proof of the accommodating nature of heather, I 

 propose to give you the life-history of one plant, grown in a 

 window in the dwelling-house of a friend in " Auld Beekie." 

 In the grower's own words, he says : " Nine years ago (1903) 

 a rhododendron was repotted in peaty soil from the West 

 Highlands. In the following spring a tiny seedling plant of 

 heather made its appearance. I gave the little stranger a 

 hearty welcome, as I was interested to see how it would 

 behave so far away from its native heath, and in a dwelling- 

 house in the heart of the city. It grew and prospered so well 

 that the idea occurred to me to try an experiment, and prove 

 the ' survival of the fittest,' so I left the heather in the same 

 pot with the rhododendron, which was two feet high when the 

 baby Highlander came into this mysterious world. It is now 



