Those who reap advantage from another man's labour are said to "put
their sickle into another man's corn," and the various surroundings of
royalty, however insignificant they may be, are generally better, says
the proverb, than the best thing of the subjects:--

"The king's chaff is better than other people's corn."

Among the proverbs relating to grass may be mentioned the popular one,
"He does not let the grass grow under his feet;" another old version of
which is, "No grass grows on his heel." Another well-known adage
reminds us that:--

"The higher the hill the lower the grass."

And equally familiar is the following:--

"While the grass groweth the seely horse starveth."

In connection with hops, the proverb runs that "hops make or break;" and
no hop-grower, writes,

Mr. Hazlitt,[3] "will have much difficulty in appreciating this
proverbial dictum. An estate has been lost or won in the course of a
single season; but the hop is an expensive plant to rear, and a bad
year may spoil the entire crop."

Actions which produce different results to what are
expected are thus spoken of:--

"You set saffron and there came up wolfsbane."