Country Life

• Limn. AND HEALTH.

In the general—and very angry—medical discussion on the curative effect of light rays (especially the ultra-violet) curiously little' has been said of their effect on beast and bird and plant. Experiments on these " vile bodies " are pro- ceeding fast and furiously in many countries. Some of our most lamous racehorses and best greyhounds are receiving regular doses. In the United States the belief—following

many trials is growing that cattle and poultry benefit greatly by light rays, artificially applied or admitted to stalls by Vita glass. Most birds, especially small tropical birds, and probably poultry benefit by the mere lengthening of the hours of light, apart from any question of particular rays. At the Zoo in Regent's Park; the lions, monkeys, and reptiles all enjoy what sun London affords through the medium of Vita glass. At the same time many beasts, birds, and reptiles are found to be so sensitive that even mild doses of certain rays may damage them and even kill them. They do not carry thick coats for • nothing. It is curious in observing the effect on plants that light rays in the strictest sense may not be necessary for the best effects. Semi-opaque materials which let through rays stopped by ordinary glees may be the most -influential on growth mai flower. Colour in flowers can be altered by screening them from sunshine at different times of day.

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'LAMMAS LAND SURVIVALS.

Some very quaint details in our rural history are contributed by a landowner who possesses what is oddly called the freehold of much Laminas Land in the Home Counties. It becomes open to the public from August 11th to " about April 1st," and during this period is crowded with stock. The Lord of each manor which abuts on the Lammas appoints a Pinder (em- pounder) whose duty it is to empound cattle and levy fines on people who transgress the Lammas rules—which rules were UlwaYs recited at the MaHoi Courts. The old custom theo- retically survives, but Pindars die and Pounds are broken down, and since the Lord of the Manor inust hold a -Cadet in order to *appoint a new "Pindar, the Pounds and the Finders both are like to disappear altogether. In one parish known to me there is some danger that the Lammas Land rights themselves may be forgotten, though they should be valuable

to the parish. * * * *

SEA FISHING.

When one sees the fantastic value set on any river fishing in Britain, it is curious that so few people attempt sea-fishing as a pastime. It can be very attractive. In bays of the Balearic Isles it is the local custom to carry in the fishing boat a broad tube, some two feet long and three or four inches in diameter, by means of which, thrust a little way into the water, you can spy to the very bottom of a deep sea and, as in the Pacific, seas watch the fish, often queer both in colour and shape, shoot across your narrow line of vision. The mere spectacle is a pleasure in itself and thanks to it fishing is seldom a vain quest. Of course, there is no parallel to the delicate and gentle art of dry-fly fishing on a chalk stream ; but the scene, the incidental sailing, the surprises that await you when the line is hauled in have great attractions ; and many of the fish, especially the red mullet, are extremely good food. There are small innkeepers who provide their guests from their own fishing. * *

BIRDS AND Morons.

A doctor of my acquaintance, who travels many miles by car at most hours and all seasons, has kept a rough tally of the casualties inflicted by his Juggernaut ; and finds that bird and beast grow progressiiely cleverer in avoiding disaster. There would seem to be some sort of inherited memory of this new danger. Birds are slower to avoid the car in very cold weather ; and springtime, when young birds chiefly gather to the smooth surface of the roads, is still the most dangerous period. But even in a cold spring few birds are killed on main roads from which the dust, so popular with sparrows and partridges, is banished by bituminous coatings. The list of mammal casualties is small ; but the doctor recently struck a grey squirrel, which suddenly shot across his bows. This Was the more curious as this species was thought to be extinct in that immediate neighbourhood, where game-preservers have been very active in its extermination. It is good news tLs.t—at least so far as my evidence- goes—the new electric cables, ruled across our most rural prospects, are so thick and obvious that all birds successfully avoid them. The telegraph wires are much more deadly.

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WHY RABBITS MULTIPLY.

. It is a surprising fact, but I think undoubted, that no animal in the British list is increasing more certainly than rabbits in the districts where trapping is a business. They have almost disappeared in some Midland parishes where 'there is no trapping, and are legion in South Devon, and indeed North. A retired colonel, who is also a sportsman and no sentimen- talist, writes of the lorry loads that go off daily from a single - small station in his neighbourhood. His view, corroborated by many other witnesses from other places, is that the traps help to multiply rabbits by killing off all their natural enemies ; and these include cats, dogs, and foxes, as well as stoats and weasels As an example of the promiscuity of the cruelty inflicted by the traps, he himself with a friend last season shot ,seven pheasants, of which two had no legs, four had one leg and only one had both. He concludes some remarkable evidence by saying that this " fiendish industry as practised in South Devon is destroying the peace of mind of all educated -people who live in rural districts."

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APPLES VERSUS WHEAT.

- One of our greatest specialists in fruit, Mr.' W. P. Seabrook, delivered recently • some downright assertions before the 'Farmers Club, which will astonish the general public, and, indeed, sOrile of the specialists. He said specifically that " In no country but England. is any money being made from apple-growing " ; and more generally that the only crops which paid well were " fruit, flowers, vegetables, perhaps hops, and certainly poultry." His. paper; giving actual figures of yield and profit, and another giving very remarkable profits on a woman's poultry farm are quoted in the current Estate Magazine. In the same number Lord Ernie is quoted to the effect that the farmer has been selling wheat at las. a quarter less than it cost to produce. It is actually and in fact coming to this, that anyone who can substitute any other crop for wheat is doing so. If Mr. Seabrook's plea for more cold storage of our fruit is adopted, and the new marketing of our eggs proceeds as well' as at present we shall certainly see a great and steady advance in fruit and poultry in this country. This is welcome ; but the question remains : Dare we surrender the wheat, and can the typical wheat areas (most of which do not grow good grass) discover alternative standard crops ?

* * * * To-monaow's FARMS.

• It is an old prophecy that England would one day become a succession of market gardens separated only by dairy farms. The prospect is not alluring ; and we may still nurse the hope that it is at least remote. Sugar beet, after a short surprising lapse, is returning to favour. Sheep have paid well ; and that always startling fact in statistics is still true, that: there are more sheep in Britain than in Queensland, or in all Europe, if Russia . and Hungary are excluded. We still breed the best stock in the world ; and our barley is as necessary to the brewer as our hops, which. are much the most intensive of all field crops. But wheat ? Our wheat yields more, is cleaner and sweeter than most foreign, but, thanks to the technique of modern baking, imported wheat is preferred chiefly because " foreign flour enables the baker to sell more water than English flour does " I * *

FROST AND DUCK, •

The continuing frosts still keep in and about London a fail number of the duck that were present in quite unprecedented numbers during February. No seaside place in Britain could compare; for example, with the open water at Walthamstow during the hard weather ; and a great proportion of the bird4 were not mallard but pochard, with a good many pintail.

W. BEACH TUOMAS.