COUNTRY LiFE
WE have almost reached a spring month—" the month that blooms the whins," the month whose winds are taken with beauty—without passing through winter. In the south-west the trees have " suffered from insomnia "—they have not slept nor been hardened off and have pro- duced untimely buds ; and, oddly enough, some parts of Scotland have been nearly as precocious. Among all the many examples of extreme earliness that have reached me by observation or by letter, one may have real scientific interest: the red admiral butterfly that appeared in early February. In spite of the old Greek maxim that nature does nothing in vain, a number of naturalists have pointed out the apparent vanity of the immigration of some species of butterfly, including the red admiral, into this island. Their avoiding action serves no obvious purpose in perpetuating the race. We keep such butterflies only by virtue of the immigrants themselves. Now this red admiral must have successfully hibernated like any sulphur or tortoise-shell ; but it is to be feared that it can hardly survive to be the parent of a brood.
A Chain of Sanctuaries The glorious hillside of rhododendrons on a part of the beautiful estates given by Sir Richard Acland to the National Trust suggests that the Trust should have claim on the services of a whole-time horti- cultural expert. The moment the Oxford Trust came into possession of one hillside a forester began experimenting with willows and other trees ; and using the land for research as well, perhaps, as adding to its beauty, if not to its freedom. There is scarcely a country house in England that does not make some interesting contribution to our botani- cal wealth. Little Kews are scattered broadcast ; and a number of them are included in the too,000 acres that have been bestowed on the National Trust or bought by it out of its always slender funds. A great opportunity would be lost if the individual policy, common to country- house owners, of maintaining and increasing such wealth were to lapse. The Trust is poor—very poor in relation to the scope and value of work—and in need of endowment. Many of its properties—not includ- ing, of course, this very precious gift in Somerset—do not pay ; and it has to think twice before accepting some gifts whit].) it would treasure. At the best, it has to be very chary of spending money on improvements, much more on research of any sort. Amid so many promises of fantastic expenditure on such schemes as land nationalisation or what amounts to the urbanisation of the country, a modest contribution to the beauty el the country, through the so-called National Trust, is worth consideration. These well-scattered Trust properties may become a chain of invaluable sanctuaries for bird, plant and insect, worth a deal more than the grandiose national parks on which so much vague, even ignorant, talk is expended.
Women as Soldiers I would not dare so much as to hint that women can be better soldiers than men ; but they are beyond question tidier in some regards. Sir James Grigg said that their greatest triumph was seen in their taking over of searchlight stations. A good many of these are set in lonely and muddy fields ; but since the women were installed these patchwork deserts has begun to blossom like the rose. The paths grow neat and tidy ; and besides the potager proper, where vegetables are being grown success- fully, small cottage-like flower gardens embrace the Army huts. The Army welfare organisations will provide vegetable seeds, but not in most cases flower seeds ; and the many kind neighbours who visit these scattered companies of a dozen or so young women would be well justi- fied, in spite of the outcry against flower cultivation, in providing a few packets of seed of bright but easily cultivated annuals—say, marigold, shirley poppy and sweet peas. The girls would also greatly appreciate the gift of fallen timber and leave to go " wooding."
In the Garden Last week an acre or so of young lettuces was planted out on one of our country farms ; and this is an act of gardening sometimes post- poned to too late a date. It is, I think, often wisest for gardeners, short of protection of some sort of glass, or, indeed, short of labour, to buy seedling plants (as to buy day-old chicks), and these can usually be pro- cured cheaply. The leanest time of the year for vegetables is not winter, but late spring or early summer ; and lettuces planted now will best fill the gap, at any rate in the supply of a necessary vitamin. It may be a useful reminder that young nettles—an excellent Torm of spinach—are already on offer. The younger the better dietically and for the cook's hands. We must economise on ,flowers, and for garden display an occa- sional clump of sweet peas is much more beautiful than the usual hedge The small but deep hole necessary is sparing both of labour and manure.
W. BEACH THOMAS.
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