COUNTRY LIFE
Mosx of the old tags concerned with prognostics of the weather—such as the ill-influence of StSwithin, or the multitude of wild berries, or a circle round the moon, or inland flying birds—are now wholly dis- credited, largely through the conclusions of meteorological statisticians; but the oldest of these—it derives from the date of the book of Genesis— maintains its reputation for wisdom. Red sky in the morning remains the shepherd's warning. Now this winter we have seen many red skies at dawn; and they have been succeeded, sometimes by rain, but sometimes by peculiarly fine sunny days. It is held by some local observers that red skies are of two distinct species. If the red is concentrated in the east and seems to deepen eastwards the clay will be wet; if the red spreads rapidly westward till a good part of the sky is suffused, the day will be fine. The truth of this distinction has been convincingly corroborated this winter ; though it will probably be scorned by authority.
A Sea Fisherman The exigencies of war will, I fear, make it rather difficult for his hosts to provide our most distinguished guest from South Africa with the pastime that he chiefly enjoys. Most of us know Colonel Reitz as the author of Commando, the very best example of simple narrative in modern literature. He is also known to some as an ardent sea fisherman. For this sport he was well equipped and in zeal for it left an excellent luncheon half finished when I met him some years ago; and the following tale was told of a previous trip. He fished and fished and fished and caught nothing, until at the very end a singularly hideous and disagreeable fish was hauled into the boat. Colonel Reitz held it up, and pointing out with supreme disgust, ejaculated the name of one of his chief political opponents. I do not think we have any sea fish, except perhaps the dog-fish, quite so aggressively ugly as some of those off the Cape; and the fish there are surpassed by the green and purple shoals that be- siege the ships at Ascension Island. They are said to be so poisonous that they do harm even as manure.
A Punctual Dog
A fine golden retriever of my acquaintance is in the habit of tapping at the door of his master's bedroom in the early morning. The room for the moment is a sick room, and the nurse noticing the dog's punctuality took particular care to test it. For the first four mornings of the trial, which still proceeds, the dog came to the door at 7.22 a.m. precisely. Some of the stupidest animals have as singularly accurate a sense of time. A shepherd whom I knew experimented with a flock of sheep, into whose pen he deposited a supply of roots at a punctual hour in the afternoon. If he was a minute or two late every sheep was on its feet; if he was the least bit too early every sheep was lying down. The " voice of the stomach " seems to be as accurate as the voice of affection.
A Songless Bird ?
Is any animal anywhere quite silent? I have seen it stated in several places (in connexion with a talk about the rare outburst of song among many species of bird) that the long-tailed tit is the sole songless bird. Now one of the prettiest sights I know is the dancing up and down of a family of this minute bird. They almost resemble a company of winter gnats jigging under the lea of a hedge. Unless my memory is very much at fault, this dainty dance is accompanied in early autumn by a sibilant but merry twitter, not altogether unlike in quality to the notes of the golden-crested wren. The utter silence of this as is, I hold, as libellous as the frequent assertion that hen birds are noteless. Some at any rate have soft, if not highly varied voices—an excellent thing in the sex.
In the Garden It would be a wise step among gardeners to order seeds early. Most of us, it is to be hoped, grew our own seed of such vegetables as beans and leeks ; but it is impossible for the amateurs to grow cabbage seed. One or two rogues, even in the neighbouring gardens, may quite spoil the characters. At the moment all green stuff is in abundance and should be eaten in preference to stored vegetables, or, say, leeks, parsnip and celery and celeriac (which last has grown admirably, and how good it is!). One evidence of this is that growers are selling Brussels sprouts at about half the maximum price set by Government The pre- vailing theory that a Government maximum becomes at once also a minimum has been completely falsified. Much open weather, involving the development of what farmers call " winter pride," emphasises the duty
of protection, for what is precious is tender. W. BEacx THOMAS.
Postageon thu issue : Inland and Overseas, id
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