1 MARCH 1940, Page 17

Wooding

Walking along a familiar village street on the day when coal fell short, you might have thought that the place was a timber-yard. Axe, saw, wedge and mallet were being ardently plied in every other cottage garden. Women and children, some with perambulators for trucks, went, as they say, " wood- ing," an old habit that has " fallen into desuetude," as an idle old don used to say of his neglected duties. There is enough else useless wood in the parish to keep the community warm for months. It is usually wasted, and one would like to see landowners give definite aid in making such wood available.