ing which is valuable and precious. A further
similar phrase is "Laid up in lavender," in allusion to the
old-fashioned custom of scenting newly-washed linen with this fragrant
plant. Thus Shenstone says:--

"Lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom
Shall be, erewhile, in arid bundles bound,

To lurk amidst the labours of her loom,
And crown her kerchiefs clean with micklc rare perfume."

According to Gerarde, the Spartans were in the habit of eating cress
with their bread, from a popular notion very generally held among the
ancients, that those who ate it became noted for their wit and decision
of character. Hence the old proverb:--

"Eat cress to learn more wit."

Of fruit proverbs we are told that,

"If you would enjoy the fruit, pluck not the flower."

And again:--

"When all fruit fails, welcome haws."

And "If you would have fruit, you must carry the leaf to the grave;"
which Ray explains, "You must transplant your trees just about the fall
of the leaf," and then there is the much-quoted rhyme:--

"Fruit out of season,
Sorrow out of reason."

Respecting the vine, it is said:--

"Make the vine poor, and it will make you rich,"

That is, prune off its branches; and another adage is to this effect:
"Short boughs, long vintage." The constant blooming of the gorse has
given rise to a popular Northamptonshire proverb:--

"When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season."

The health-giving properties of various plants have long been in the
highest repute, and have given rise to numerous well-known proverbs,
which are still heard in many a home. Thus old Gerarde, describing the
virtues of the mallow, tells us:--

"If that of health you have any special care,
Use French mallows, that to the body wholesome are."

Then there is the time-honoured adage which says that:--

"He that would live for aye
Must eat sage in May."

And Aubrey has bequeathed us the following piece of advice:--

"Eat leeks in Lide, and ramsines in May,
And all the year after physicians may play."

There are many sayings of this kind still current among our
country-folk, some of which no doubt contain good advice; and of the
plaintain, which from time immemorial has been used as a vulnerary,
it is said:--

"Plantain ribbed, that heals the reaper's wounds."

In Herefordshire there is a popular rhyme associated with the aul
(_Alnus glutinosus_):--

"When the bud of the aul is as big