Belated Spring
All Britain is experiencing one of the latest springs known for many years. The boughs are bare, even the quicks no more than in bud. The wheats are as short as the grass and look parched, or almost withered on the sandy soils, and farmers spend half their time in "rolling the moisture up." Gardeners watch in vain for the appearance of the asparagus that they were eating freely at this time last year. There is little . blackthorn, though the "blackthorn winter "_ has been apparent enough. The ground-nesting birds will have little cover, from the eyes of marauding crows and rooks. The brave thrushes and blackbirds are building so conspicuously that you can birds-nest from a car ! The ponds and wells and runs are as low as at the top of the drought ; but when all is said, a late spring is always welcome to the farmer, and, above all, to the fruit farmer ; and prospects on the land are generally good, especially in the orchards, where the suns of last summer should assure an unusual wealth of blbssom. W. BEACH 7130MAS.
Previous page
