COUNTRY LIFE Progressive Bees On' this subject, it is one
of the oldest sayings that one swallow does not make spring. So far as I remember, Aristotle quotes it from an author old in his time ; but we may take animals as' well as plants for as true a "signal of the year" as Coventry Patrnore's bulbs. Now the hive bees were coming to the hives with thighs well-laden with pollen as early as February 17th. The cult of bees grows. The above date was noted by a newly formed Beekeepers' Association in my district, which is, I think, characteristic. This association keeps its own headquarters' hives for observation purposes, though one of the best apiaries in England— at the Rothamsted Experimental Station—exists in the neighbourhood. Knowledge of the life of the bee has been promoted by nothing so much as the discovery of a material by which bees can be marked without injury or handicap. Each bee, it is now seen, rises in life, as from scavenger to nursemaid, and the precisibn of organisation in the com- munity has been brought into the open. Second in importance perhaps is the neat arrangement by which the hive weighs itself continuously, and it is astonishing how rapidly the weight varies in obedience to the weather.
Holiday Service
A meeting I should like to attend—but probably shall not—is to be held on March 31st at 3 p.m. at the Conference Hall, County Hall, Westminster Bridge. It will mark a real step forward in th work of thE Youth Service Volunteers,- of which I have written zealously before, and Mr. Bevin spoke zealously just a year ago in the House of Commons. About 70 per cent, of the youth who attend these camps (which, offei "service, friendship, travel and recreation ") come from factories ; and directors of factories begin to see that they are benefited not less than the farmers. It is amusing to note that some of the young factory workers taught the farmers to take more care of their tools. It shocked them to find saws blunt or spades unpolished!
Soldiers' Fondness for Birds The peculiar fondness of Englishmen for birds is strangely illustrated by the experience of our far-flung soldiers in this war. In the Syrian neighbourhood, for example, the one book of birds found to be of any use for identification was written by an English soldier stationed there- abouts in the last war. The migrant Englishman does not always preserve this zest. Both in Newfoundland and Western Australia, that paradise of flowers, I found it difficult to get information, printed or other, about either the local flora or fauna.
In -My Garden By far the busiest time in the garden has arrived, and the most important part of the work is the slowest, that is the making of a seed bed.. The earth must be very firm (especially for onions) and very fine, two attributes which do not of themselves "consent to a mutull relation." An old Scottish gardener, for whose skill and thoroughness I have no little admiration, considers the feet of the gardener to be the most important tool. He treads- and tramples the ground interminably before using the rake this way and that. His method pays good dividends. IT is a subject of great importance in the village whether the year is early (like Easter) or late ; and if you wish a decision on this important point, I hold that the best index is the bud of the horse chestnut. Bulbs are less dependent on weather than most centres of growth. Now on April 1st (which this year ;s Easter Sunday) the candelabra of the blossom stands upright above the opened fan of the leaves if the spring is precocious. On the other hand, if it is late, the buds of leaf or flower have not yet so much as burst from their sticky envelope. Some sug- gestive and beautiful photographs of this contrast were published in Mr. J. H. Willis's ingenious little book, Weatherwise, representing the years 1913, which was on of the very early years, and 1914, which. , was one of the -very late years. By the chestnut test, this spring belongs to the 1913 class. The buds were open and the leaves fully apart, like the petals of an opening flower, on March r7th, and the candelabra should be very visible, though not fully lit, by Easter Sunday. The light ground frosts that have prefaced our sunniest days have not risen as high as the tree buds. This doubtless is true only of one district, but it is a middle district
W. BEACH THOMAS.
Postage on this issue; Inland, id.; Overseas, rd.
Previous page
