r heal without having to
be mixed up into a compound, with other articles added to help the
effect. Self-heal was used both inwardly and outwardly; a decoction made
from the plant was swallowed as a remedy, and it was applied to wounds
and sores. Even now, in Cheshire, Yorkshire, and some other parts of
England, the plant is said to heal wounds, and relieve sore throats,
though it is seldom called by the old name. Cheshire folk know it as
Carpenter; it is not clear why the name of Sickle-flower is also given
to it, unless it be that reapers use the plant for a wound made by a
sickle; a very similar name is Hook-heal. Some people in the West of
England call the plant the Fly-flower, though it has no particular
likeness to a flower, nor does it draw flies or insects more than other
plants. Yet another name is Irish; about Belfast it is known as 'Pinch
and Heal.' The Dutch and Germans seem formerly to have called it Brunell
or Prunel, which is nearly the same as the botanical name, _prunella_;
both Dutch and Germans, as well as the French, in old books, rank it
amongst the sovereign remedies for complaints.

APPLES OR THISTLES?

Every year, at Eynsford, in Kent, an 'Arbor Day' is kept, when a number
of trees are planted in different parts of that pretty village.

'Arbor,' of course, is the Latin word for 'tree.' There are not many
places in England which have an annual 'Tree Day.' It is an American
institution. An American settler in Nebraska, feeling sorry to see so
few trees there, suggested that on a certain day of each year the
children should devote themselves to tree-planting. This idea was acted
upon, and the youngsters of Nebraska doubtless enjoyed the fun. The
scheme succeeded so well that it was taken up by other States, and
introduced later on into Australia, and others of our Colonies.

[Illustration: "'Here is a nice little bit of work for you, my lad.'"]

The pleasant custom of 'Arbor Day' was begun in Eynsford in 1897, and
was initiated by Mr. C. D. Till, a local landowner. In that year the
farmers and cottagers planted many apple-trees, and the children set a
row of trees on a bank in front of their school.

The reliefs of Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking were commemorated by
the planting of special trees in the village street, and in 1902 thirty
trees were planted in memory of Queen Victoria.

[Illustration: "'It is only the masterful calf.'"]

But on the first 'Arbor Day' which was kept