Golfing Patriots Invention and discovery are both stimulated by the
conditions of war ; and to some extent interserve the general good. Among the inventions are new light portable silos, light rafts, so to call them, for collecting grass mowings, and new additions to the electric fence. Among discoveries are the astonishingly rich quality of lawn mowing' for pig food, the amount of potash in bracken, and the beneficial influence of ploughed-in bracken on a potato crop. Nettles again are found to be a sign less of barrenness than of soil suitable for cultivation. It is curious to note that in all these regards useful contributions have come from the golf-clubs. The Research Station at Bingley Hall, Yorkshire, kept in being by the golf-clubs, has done real national work, in spite of the accusation against golfers that they fiddle while Rome is burning. A good many golf-courses are now used as sheep-runs ; and it is reckoned that the cost of fencing greens is reduced by some eighty per cent by the use of the electric fence, which is so light that it hardly interferes with the golfer, and the current can be cut off on Saturdays or if any important match is in progress. Incidentally, though this news does not come from the golfers, the fence has quaintly illustrated the mentality of certain animals. Pigs are the quickest in the uptake. After one touch they, do not approach the fence again, and one wire is sufficient. Other farm animals learn' only less quickly ; but just now and then an individual animal will decide that the shock is rather pleasant than alarming and come to the fence at intervals to enjoy his vibro-massage.' Doubtless the most important lesson (illustrated and emphasised by Mr. Dawson in the latest issue of his, now only annual, journal, published at St. Ives Research Station, Bingley, Yorks) is the impor- tance of short grass, cut by the mowing machine or scythe.
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