19 OCTOBER 1951, Page 13

In the Garden Before the blackbirds got to work, a

September gale more than deci- mated my fruit crop. An " act of God " ? Not so: the shelter-belts and wind-screens have all been cut down of recent years, and the rapacious folly of industrial man fosters and accentuates the occasional violence of nature. It is an enigma to know when to pick this abnormally late year, season of mists but certainly not of mellow fruitfulness. I believe in letting well alone until both early and late varieties begin to drop, regardless of the directions in the books, and risking further gales. Even October flowers are sparser than usual, and a profusion of leafage glitters

in the receding rays of the liberated sun. H. J. MAssmomsi.