In the Garden One thing nobody in the country can
help noticing about our con- ' temporary civilisation ; not the fields but the roads that pass through them are of primary importance to it. It is vehicular, not agrarian ; the produce itself matters far less than its transport, and the further it 'travels the better. Consequently, the fields may be full of weeds and half-starved, but the roads will be in apple-pie order. Field labourers must be vastly outnumbered by roadmen. Well, at certain times the roadmen burn the bushes of the neglected hedges encroaching on the road-side but, never on the field-side. That is the time to sally forth when the coast is clear with a wheelbarrow, and before the 'winds disperse it collect the organic potash for the garden. There is nothing like this ' precious wood-ash for putting a bloom on the fruit and a glow on the flowers. Many gardens, large or small, possess orchards or shrubberies in grass. How, often are they reseeded, as they should be for the health of grass, fruit and shrubs ? Ilere is a good mixture for about a cluarter of an acre:-2 lbs. Meadow Fescue, 6 lbs. Perennial Rye Grass, 4 lb. Rough- stalked Meadow Grass, 14 lbs. Timothy Grps, 4 lb. Broad Red Clover, lb. Wild White Clover, 4 lb. Chicory, 4 lb. Sainfoin, 3 lb. Burnet, 3 lb. Yarrow. The last four items are of great value to explore the subsoil for minerals and the invaluable " trace " elements. H. J. MASSINGHAM.
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