_Father._ Shall we take a walk, my son?
_Boy._ Yes, sir, where shall we go?
_Father._ Let us go by the farm yard into the fields.
_Boy._ See! a horse and a cow stand by the fence in the yard. Now we
are in the field. Is it full of nettles?
_Father._ No, not so, it is hemp.
_Boy._ What is that for, papa?
_Father._ To make cloth of; the stalk has a tough peel on it, and that
peel is what they make thread of. The thread they weave, and make
strong cloth.
_Boy._ I want to know all the trees: pray what leaf is this?
_Father._ That is an oak; that bush is May; we call it too
White-thorn; it blooms late in May; its fruit are called Haws; so we
call it Haw-thorn. The birds eat the fruit. That is Black-thorn; that
blooms soon in Spring; it has a white bloom, and has then few or no
leaves. The fruit is a sloe. They are like a small blue plum; but so
sour that you can not eat them.
_Boy._ What is this?
_Father._ Wild rose; its fruit are Hips; they are kept, and we take
them for coughs. That is broom; it has a bloom like a pea in shape, but
it is yellow.
_Boy._ There is a bush of it in bloom.
_Father._ No: that is Furze, such as you see on heaths. Feel this;
Broom does not prick like this.
_Boy._ I will keep a leaf of each to show to James.
_Father._ You may put them in a book, and write what I have told you.
_Boy._ I will get all sorts of plants; and I will mark by each the
name, the place, the bloom, the time when it blows, and the use which
is made of it.
[Illustration: Decoration]