Will make a hedge to last for ever"--

an elder stake being commonly said to last in the ground longer than an
iron bar of the same size.[1]

A person who is always on the alert to make use of opportunities, and
never allows a good thing to escape his grasp, is said to "have a ready
mouth for a ripe cherry." The rich beauty, too, of the cherry, which
causes it to be gathered, has had this moral application attached
to it:--

"A woman and a cherry are painted for their own harm."

Speaking of cherries, it may be mentioned that the awkwardness of eating
them on account of their stones, has given rise to sundry proverbs, as
the following:--

"Eat peas with the king, and cherries with the beggar,"

and:--

"Those that eat cherries with great persons shall have their eyes
squirted out with the stones."

A man who makes a great show without a corresponding practice is said to
be like "fig-tree fuel, much smoke and little fire," and another
adage says:--

"Peel a fig for your friend, and a peach for your enemy."