21 JANUARY 1944, Page 14

COUNTRY ' LIFE

GOOD easy prophets ask us to believe, as some urban politicians ask ti! to wish, that the great country houses will soon be dead as Dodo, Another point of view may be read in the will of Sir Francis Fremantle who inherited a great country house, known as the Bedwell Estate,. " earned by the industry and enterprise" of his forefathers. In the testament leaving them to his son, in the hope that he would live there, occur these words: " Whereas England depends for the welfare of all sections and for her share in the world's work in no small degree on th wise and sympathetic co-operation in her country life of a resident landed gentry, I do hereby devise these estates to others in confidence that they will so use and enjoy their rights and fulfil their duties as to carry out the general intentions of those by whom they have been bequeathed, is my hope . . . that they will live at Bedwell in simple manner, be hos pitable, generous and helpful to friends and neighbours . . and will devote their lives and the possessions entrusted to them to the good of the whole community in Church and State." The whole will is worth recording by historians and digesting by modern critics.

The Nettle Virtues The white-washing of the nettle, once regarded merely as a perniciou. weed, as a type of evil, has now won the imprimatur even of Kew them turned as usual to the light, the stalks from the back of the stern of the nettle is pure cellulose it is particularly suitable for making the best paper, and it is thought that the woodier part may be useful in the manufacture of artificial silk. Nettle leaves when dried are an admirable cattle food, and as such greedily picked out from mixed hay, and one of the latest authorities on the substitution of compost for animal manure puts the stinging nettle at the head of the weeds best for fertilising. Well admirers of butterflies have long since welcomed the nettle as the host plant of the most splendid of autumnal butterflies; and the butterflies seem to be right. The Russians I believe have found a species of dandelion that has a root very rich in rubber. War makes many of us weed-minded An Intelligent Plant A plant of nasturtium (Golden Glow) standing on a window-sill has recently put out a large number of small leaves on long stalks. All of them turned as usual to the light, the stalks from the back of the stern growing a little longer than the others so that all the leaves found their place in the sun. One day the pot was reversed. The hour was one o'clock. At four the same afternoon all these young leaves had re-oriented themselves and were facing south-west as before. It was quite difficult to believe that the leaves did not share in what Francis Darwin calla " The intelligence of plants." The mechanical explanations of this phe. nomena are hardly explanation enough for such sudden and complete adaptation. Incidentally few pot plants give more satisfaction than these nasturtiums, both in flower. and leaf.

A Ferreted Fox A queer incident has surprised a Kentish sportsman. He was ferreting rabbits in a considerable warren when from the further edge a large dog fox bolted and presently the ferret appeared on his trail. The fox, to judge by the size of the earth from which he emerged, seemed to Ix living permanently in the warren, where rabbits still flourished Without 4 regard to his presence. That is itself a curious example of " the greamest of juxtaposition." It is more curious that a ferret should succeed in bolting a fox. I have seen a large spaniel jump back in momentary terror from the penetrating squeak of a weasel ; but one would have expected a fox, an animal compact of unruffled courage, to make shop work of a ferret. If the cub-hunters could substitute ferret for terrier; how simple their most difficult job would become!

In the Garden The Government and other critics advise private gardeners against growing many -potatoes. Such advice is not wise in all circum- stances. Where labour is short and the garden large no other crop cleans the land or gives such good results with less trouble; and numbers of gardener-less gardens are being eaten out by weeds. On the subject of potatoes it seems that clamps made of baled straw, stuffed in between with loose straw, have been quite successful without the use of any earth, and earthing over a clamp takes a deal of labour. At a time of yea!

when berries are most useful for house decoration, I find no bush more useful—and it makes an excellent hedge—then the common Cotoneaster Simonsii. It holds the berries much longer than other species or varieties

W. BEACH THOMAS.

Postage on this issue : Inland and Overseas, id.