COUNTRY LIFE
Do we realise the populous state of our rivers? The other day on the Ouse (at a spot famous for battles by both Roman and Dane) a children's fishing competition was organised ; and though the eldest was not yet fourteen and some of the fishing was done with barbless hooks, large numbers of roach, perch and bleak were successfully landed ; and even the skilled organisers were a little surprised at the teeming population of the river. It is a rich river as well as a lovely. A delightful incident in this particular competition was the start of it: a large roach was landed by a small boy of the name of Walton. It fell to me in my extreme youth to fish over a spot or two prepared with ground bait in this same river ; and the shoals of perch that circled round my lure still make a vivid picture on the mind's eye, and I have some difficulty in believing that perch are not among the most desirable fish that appear on the table. A companion remembrance is a basket full of big bream caught by a night fisherman. Our perhaps too snobbish aristocracy of fishermen, who hold that only the dry-fly expert is among the elect, have helped to belittle overmuch the art and craft of coarse-fishing. Certainly the greatest artist I have ever seen was a certain water warden and ex-poacher engaged in the noosing of pike with a copper wire. Certainly in this war-time we do not half appreciate the supply of food hidden beneath the surface of our rivers and lakes, including the water reservoirs. It is to be hoped that the Huntingdon children's competition will have helped to disclose the buried wealth.
Merry England Half the charm, and virtue, of Merry England lay in its local charac- ters: each village was an almost self-sufficing unit, in its food supply and its craftsmanship. Today the local grower, say, of the cabbage tribe sends his goods to Covent Garden whence they are carried back after some delay and much expense to the neighbourhood of their birth, and at last when stale and therefore unwholesome and unpleasant distributed to the consumers. Even Mr. Massingham, the arch-priest and laudator of the temporis acti, will acknowledge the service now being done by Women's Institutes and Miss Talbot, in organising a
scheme for local distribution. May it succeed everywhere, as it already succeeds in many districts, and continue after the war. Excessive
centralisation is the direct threat to our island civilisation. For this reason it has been heartening to watch a watermill, old enough to be mentioned in the Domesday survey, revolving fruitfully again, if only for the grinding of the poultry ration.
Partridge Nests
A farmer and sportsman has been watching the various partridge nests on his acres ; and his generalisation is that the birds which nested on or by the grass did badly and those that took advantage of the arable fields did well. His record would seem to confirm the general belief: "the more intensive the farming the more numerous the partridges." He sees now the surprising contrast of barren pairs and exceptionally large coveys ; one of them consisting of 18 birds. Generally it is a bumper year for both the French and English varieties ; and they flourish in different places. It is an odd fact, further corroborated this year, that the hardier Frenchmen do much better in market garden country and on very heavy soils, for example near Biggleswade and on some Hunting- donshire clay lands.
In the Garden A few seeds were sent me in the manner of what was described as a c: new vegetable, Burpee's celtuce. They germinated well and are now growing well on their final site, and justifying their description. The P( plant begins its growth like a lettuce and the green leaves may be used re in salads. Now the stalk begins to elongate and broaden and should PI swell to 14 inch in diameter. It is tender, pale translucent green in 11( colour, succulent with a distinct flavour of celery. It is said to endure Si frost rather better than do most lettuces ; perhaps the slightly purplish tinge of the green leaves are (as in roses and oaks) some natural prom" In tion. The successful fruiting of the American "squash" in my garden T, adds to the belief that the Americans have even more to teach us than an the French or Dutch about variety in vegetables. It may be remembered that Ambassador Page that unforgettable friend of Britain, had only one complaint against us—the monotony of our winter vegetables and the menace of our cabbages. On the subject of cabbages turnips sown even as late as this will give a welcome change at the most monotonous tinle Their tops are preferred by many to their bulbs, by man as well, unfor- Postage on this issue : Inland and Overseas, Id.
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