COUNTRY LIFE
SUCCESSIVE journeys that any . Englishman_ may envy have been made in his vacations by Mr. J. A. *eta, the Dean of St. Catherine's College, Cambridgp...He,peregrinated a great Tian; of the coast of England. and Wales, and communicated his experiences to the Geographical Society. A pamphlet with an admirable map has been published, and is likely to be of no little use to the Councillor the Preservation of Rural. England and the planners in general: The one section not yet surveyed lies between Southampton Water and the mouth of the Thames. In comment on. this admirable survey (published by. the .Royal Geographical Society) a wise remark has been made. 'The Coast is precious not only for its strictly scenic beauties. A special example is the long stretch of sand dune between Liverpool and Southport. It is chiefly famous fordta.golf links ; but the crowds who enjoy the sands (hard enough for motor-cars to career about) vastly exceed the number of golfers. As holiday playing fields such sands are of more value even than the Lakes or other phases of our scenery. Any " development "—horrid word—of our coast, since it interferes with access, should be prohibited, except in the organisation of existing townships, and there it should be jealously guarded- The coast is by far the greatest of National Parks. It would, of
course, be ideal if here and there it could back up on a deep park, as say, between St. Bees Head and Morecambe Bay or from Strumpet Head to Milford Haven. In such places such housing estates as back Flam- borough Head would be lamentable indeed.
The " Ribbald Cuckoo " It.' is welcome news--appreciated, I believe, among ornithologists in the 'United States ai well as in this country—that Mr. Chance has assembled and revised his. discovery of The Cuckoo's Secret. No bird— .not even Mr. Lack's robins—has been so scientifically studied in The wild ; and most students of birds—though game will violently disagree— will support the right of the newer volume :to the rather' Pioncl'and dogmatic title, The Truth About the Cuckoo. A Study 'of the cowbird, which has many similar habits, has helped to conlirm Mr. Cliaike's fmdings. A more or less new pointl—to me at any rate--is the denial that the cuckoo, this " ribbald bird," is polyandrous. V'e all have the im- pression that the male cuckoos seem to be much more 'common than the females.' How seldom her rather pretty bubbling note is heard, while the male dissyllable deserves the constant epithet belonging. to iteration. But I have often wondered .whether any of the innumerable writers who have accused the cuckoo of polyandry laave themselves had any evidence whatever. Mr. Chance's season for denying the accusation is the local fidelity of the female Cuckoo. She certainly does not wander in pursuit of paramours, and there' is small evidence that they trespass freely outside their precincts.
Neglected Food One of our prisoners of war (a doctor who did some notable service in a prison camp in Germany) has come hothe with a desire to persuade English people to enjoy the natural harvest of mushrooms .•(which- inci- dentally are in premature quantity at the moment). After all, the number of poisonous mushrooms is very small and of edible Mushrooms very large. More than this, the poisonous sorts are in general rather rare and some of the most usefully edible very common. At the head 9f these I would put the champignon. Unlike many mushrooms which are wont to perish almost as quickly as they grow, this universal mushroom must be dried (not dessicated) and will last almost as long as you please.. The French peasants, who are expert in flavourings, string them up and -hang them in festoons from their kitchen roofs. There was a certain enthusiast who— like Edison when he saw the waste of the power of the tides grew sentimentally sad at the sight of great fat snails crawling about uncollected by his cooks. Not many of us are of his school; but at a time when all Europe is wailing about the shortage of food, it must occur to any countryman that most of the natural 'harvests are foolishly neglected.
In My Garden
Last spring year I sowed a few annuals and one biennial—Shirley poppies, cornflower and Sweet Williams. Not a seed, so far Its I amid see, germinated. Today each patch is bright with their flowers. the cause of this delay is perhaps explained in the best passage I have ever read on that fifth Solomonic wonder, the way of a seed in the ground. It appears in Mr, Mansfield's latest book (Of Cabbages and Kings, C011init 12s. 6d.). His account of the conditions which help this and that seed to germinate is new and suggestive. He makes it clear that stalenesi is seed often delays germination for a year. It may be that even lOng
residence in. a waistcoat pocket may*assist germination! - •
W. BEACH THOMAS.
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