THE PRIVET— continued. 
Tusser, in his “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry” (1573), has the 
name under the forms Prie , Prim, Primwort, and Privy ; and Gerard uses Primprint, 
which is the French Prime printemps , first spring. The name, like Primrose, 
undoubtedly came originally from the Italian Primaverola , though it has been 
gravely suggested that it originated in 
“ one of its chief uses being for the formation of hedges in ornamental gardens, owing to its bearing clipping or being kept 
in prim order without injury.” 
Of this use of the shrub Parkinson writes that it is 
u wrought and cut into many formes of men, horses, birdes, &c. as the workeman list supported at the first with timber, poles, 
and the like, but afterwards growing strong of it selfe, sufficient to hold it in the forme it is made into." 
The Privet flowers in June and July ; and on a hot day at that season alongside 
tall hedgerows on a chalky soil we have often found the perfume of its masses of 
blossom quite overpowering. The flowers are visited by a variety of bees, butterflies, 
flies, and beetles, so that cross-pollination must, no doubt, often take place. It is 
curious to notice how in the flickering light amidst the green shade of its branches 
the large, green, purple-streaked caterpillar of the Privet Hawk-moth is often 
effectively concealed ; and an outlook should be kept on tree trunks in the neigh- 
bourhood of the shrub for the large and beautiful moth itself, with grey fluffy wings 
and a body banded with bright rose-colour and black. 
The flowers fade to a rusty brown, and are followed in August and September 
by the polished spherical berries, which ripen from an olive-green to a true black, 
though filled with purplish juice. These berries are not eaten by birds until almost 
every other kind of hedgerow fruit has disappeared, so that they often form a 
conspicuous feature on the bushes when the leaves may have fallen. In mild 
winters, however, or in sheltered situations, the Privet may retain its leaves until 
those of the next year’s crop are unfolding ; and this — as is the general rule — is more 
frequently the case on clipped bushes. Being tolerant of the drip from other trees, 
Privet is useful for undergrowth in shrubberies or game-preserves ; whilst being also 
fairly proof against smoke it is naturally in request in town gardens. 
In a wild state, in England, the Lowlands of Scotland, and the south of Ireland, 
it is most abundant on calcareous soil ; but is by no means confined to it. 
The berries have been used in dyeing pink and green, and, it is said, in 
colouring port wine ; and a bland oil, used in cooking, is expressed from them in 
Germany. The young twigs, dried and powdered, have been used in tanning in 
Belgium and Siberia. 
