BARBERRIES. 103 
Rushes are sometimes manufactured into a slight 
kind of baskets. In the.vicinity of Farnham, in Surrey, 
they are cut about Midsummer, and dried in the same 
manner as hay. After this they are formed into a kind 
of rick, and sheltered till the succeeding spring. They 
are then usefully employed, for bands or ties, in fasten- 
ing hop-binds to the poles. In a fresh state they are 
sometimes made into brooms or besoms for black- 
smiths, and other artisans working in metals. 
115. BARBERRIES are a beautiful red and oblong- 
shaped fruit,, produced, in small bunches, by a shrub (Berber- 
ris vulgaris) which grows wild in many parts of England. 
This shrub has somewhat oval, serrated, and pointed leaves; 
thorns grozcing three together upon the branches ; and pendent 
clusters of yellow flowers. 
So great is the acidity of this beautiful fruit that 
even birds refuse to eat it- In this respect it nearly 
approaches the tamarind. When boiled with sugar, 
however, it makes an agreeable preserve, rob, or jelly, 
according to the different modes of preparing it. Bar- 
berries are also used as a dry sweetmeat, and in sugar- 
plums or comfits ; are pickled with vinegar, and are 
used for the garnishing of dishes. They are likewise 
well calculated to allay heat and thirst in persons afflicted 
with fevers. The bark of this barberry shrub is said to 
have been administered with effect in cases of jaundice, 
and in some other complaints ; and the inner bark, 
with the assistance of alum, dyes linen a fine yellow 
colour. The roots, but particularly their bark, are 
employed, in Poland, in the dyeing of leather. 
A very singular circumstance has been stated respect- 
ing the barberry shrub ; that corn, sown near it, proves 
abortive, the ears being in general destitute of grain; 
and that this influence is sometimes extended to a dis- 
tance of three or four hundred yards across afield. A 
similar opinion, on this subject, prevails in France, as 
well as in England, but there is reason to suppose it is 
without foundation. 
