Look at the others growing with the heather; there is the heath, which is so like it that almost the same description applies to it. Then there is the cranberry, which lies close to the ground, and is somewhat protected by the other plants, and has more delicate stems, and larger, flatter leaves, which are also rolled in at the edges. The bilberry has certainly larger leaves than these others, but notice in the early autumn how soon and readily they drop off, and leave the thick, green, ridged stem to do their work. The moorland grasses also have protected leaves; generally they are narrow and pointed, and the whole leaf rolls over, so protecting the side on which are the transpiring pores (~see~ p. 102). ~All these plants have the appearance of protecting themselves from loss of water~; how is it? It may seem strange when you remember that it is from our moorlands that so much of our water supply comes, and also that the moors are common in the north, where there is a large rainfall. All the same, the plants on a moor do actually require to preserve their water, as they suffer from “drought conditions.” Stand on a high moor on a windy day, and you will soon feel how the force of the wind sweeps across it. Such a day is what laundresses call “fine drying weather,” and so do the plants. Then if you go on a bright sunny day in summer, you will soon feel how very hot the moorland can be, for there is no shade to be had anywhere, and the cool green glades of a wood offer a tempting change. The moorland plants suffer from this heat, and require to protect their transpiring pores from the glare, so that you will find all those that can do so, have rolled their leaves up tightly. Then notice the soil of the moors, how springy it is, and how black and “rich”; very often there are traces in it of the partly decomposed plants which form it. This is what is called a peaty soil, and may even be true peat. The decomposing plants in this soil give rise to an acid which is rather preservative, and at the same time it acts on the living plants and makes it difficult for them to draw in water by their root hairs. This kind of soil adds very greatly to the “drought conditions” of the moorland plants, for it makes it hard for them to use the water which surrounds them. All these things cause the moorland plants to be as sparing as possible of their water, and so they have the appearance of plants grown under dry conditions.