- COUNTRY LIFE
NOT only those exiled in Italy should have a longing to be " in England now." The spring is unusually early only, I think, in regard to those happy beings who insist on being in England in April, the migrant birds. The majority of them came before their due date. Near me martins already have nests and the nightingale was in full song on the night of April 16th. The Same day the willow warblers were here, there and everywhere, accompanied by a few blackcaps. Swallows and cuckoos were about on Good Friday. A friend in Berkshire saw cuckoo and wryneck or " cuckoo's mate " on Easter Monday. All the dates I have given are a good deal later than examples recorded in Southern, and indeed Western, England by those who may be called almost professional observers, delighting in new phenological appearances. Some say—and my experience confirms the impression—that the wryneck has become a very rare bird. It is certainly much rarer in Hertfordshire where it used to nest in three gardens known to me ; and its laugh was a usual accompaniment to spring. It happens that I found it common especially in Berkshire, not least in the neighbourhood of Cookham Common. News of its return is most welcome.
Wealth of Blossom
A more obvious attribute of this April is the wealth of blossom, for it has happened that the apples have trodden much more closely than usual on the heels of the plums and pears. All three have singularly abundant flowers or flower buds, following in the wake of a number of the catkin-bearers. Among trees that stand out in exceptional salience in the general view are the sycamores. The abundance of blossom is extraordinary, and for the first time within my recollection the bees are almost as busy and noisy in the sycamores as they will be in the limes come June. A rival in profusion of blossom is the hornbeam, which is all catkin, promising autumnal finches a great feast.
Eggs and Chickweed
A welcome tribute to the English clime comes from the poultry. They were a little slow in starting, but the production of eggs at the moment is immense. My own Rhode Island pullets have each been laying pretty well an egg a day apiece for the last fortnight. Their favourite food seems to be chickweed, with over-grown Brussels sprouts as a near rival. It must be confessed that owing to the absence of real gardeners there is vastly more chickweed than all the poultry in my parish could consume. However, the back- yarders do their best.
A Faithful Oak
At a rectory near Taunton grows a fine upstanding oak known locally as the Travelling Oak. The following is its odd Odyssey. It sprang from an acorn in a North Essex garden. At three years of age it was removed to Denford in Northants, and two years later to Wharton in the same shire. Two years later it was taken to Bucknell in Oxfordshire, and three years later to Broadwidger in Devon. Seven years later, again it accompanied its fond owner to Whaplode in Lincolnshire, and again seven years later it found its final niche at Brompton Ralph in Somerset. It has often been alleged—and with truth—that the oak is a difficult tree to transplant even as a youngster, for its tap root grows straight downwards to a great depth. The truth, well known to nurserymen, is that a tree or bush once or twice transplanted can be safely transplanted many times. This oak gives a rare example. I have a Louise Bonne pear that has known three gardens and bore last year a very heavy crop, but the oak stands unrivalled.
In the Garden Which of the less usual vegetables shall we grow? I have just sown sweet corn and kohl rabi. A neighbour is never without salsifY (though it is not a favourite with cooks) and mange-tout peas. And this neighbour, who is an excellent gardener, has been taking special note of the length of time some seeds take to germinate. He finds (as one should expect) those sown earliest are the slowest. In 0:15 case onion seed took nine weeks to show its spikes, plenty of time for despair to set in. Owing perhaps to drought, birds, especial! Y sparrows, have been very severe on unprotected seedlings. Plen'y of black cotton is a good general rule for seedlings as for gooseberry
Postage on this issue : Inland and Overseas, Id.
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