COUNTRY LIFE
Too many partridges perhaps were killed on the last or penultimate day of the open season. These fond and faithful birds—the most perfect both as spouses and parents—paired in the middle of January ; and after they pair they become easy victims. It goes against the grain to shoot them. Our seasoas differ so greatly in England in their exits and entrances that no fixed date can be quite suitable, either for the beginning or the end. Sportsmen, therefore, should regulate their activities by equity rather than the strict letter of the law. Among other birds that paired early are the rooks, which perhaps mate for life, like the ravens; but with a gregarious bird the point is hard to determine. Many accounts have been given of premature appearances among the hiber. nators, including bats, hedgehogs, butterflies, bumble bees and queen wasps. Happily, the insects found an unusual supply of flowers, at any late in gardens. A surprising sight in one garden is an open crocus coming through a tuft of freely flowering lungwort. Nearby two gueldert and one prunus (subhertella autumnalis) are in full and fragrant blossom Warrior Dogs
The value of dogs in war is being more widely understood throughout the fighting Services, not least by the Air Force. The War Office has two considerable training schools ; but the Air Force, through the Ministry of Aircraft Production, has to issue a public appeal, and,it boasts a more catholic taste. Collies, airedales, alsatians, or their crossbreds, bull terriers and certain classes of mastiffs are all welcomed. Now there seems to me to be some confusion in thought, as witnessed by this list If dogs are wanted as watch-dogs to give the alarm (which St. Loe Strachey used to say was the function of the journalist), the noisy dog is more useful than the fierce dog ; and among the noisiest are terriers of most breeds, except airedales. These terriers, on the other hand, are among the best of police dogs, because they are quiet and have very acute ears. The best dog for carrying messages should be the Westmorland sheep-dog (perhaps of that curious breed which often has eyes of different colour). It would be wise (as I think that experienced authority Mr. Croxton Smith once pointed out in the Field) if a central breeding, as well as training, centre were established on behalf of the fighting Services, so that any unit could indent for just the sort of dog that its needs suggested. Since good dogs vastly excel man in the senses of smell and hearing, one dog may be the equivalent of several men in any night work ; and for carrying messages they are much less conspicuous and more rapid.
Village Food
It is welcome news and a great tribute to our women organisers that well over a thousand Village Produce Associations are now in being. No considerable village should be without one. They vary a little, as they ought to, but their chief aims are: (r) Collective buying of seeds, seed potatoes, lime, fertilisers, replacements of livestock, insecticides, rations for livestock, plants, fruit bushes, &c. (2) Lectures, demonstrations and films. organisation of storage, local distribution and marketing of produce. (3) Co-operative cultivation and seed raising. (4) Collection and disposal of wild foods for men and other animals. One charm of this scheme is that it restores the old English way, when each locality was in large measure self-supporting. May we hope that it will help to restore the local mills that have so rapidly fallen into disuse? The Hon. Organiser, V.P.A., Little Gaddesden, Hens, is one address at which advice may be sought.
In the Garden
An eager amateur gardener asked me during January what seeds she could start sowing. Without a greenhouse or a warm frame it is best to substitute digging for sowing, except perhaps for a few broad beans; and the satisfactory continuance of nearly 'all the cabbagy tribe makes extreme earliness less than usually advisable. D!g, weed, manure and spray so completely that the first appearance of March dust may be fully utilised. The need to weed thoroughly is the greater as that most pernicious of weeds, the grass Poa annua, as well as groundsel, is already flowering and seeding freely. Rhubarb, now in bud and leaf, may need more than usual protection with straw, leaves or bracken or pots. In ordering seeds it is worth while having scme thousand headed Kale, as it is the best frost-resister ; and among the rather rarer vegetables I find poultry greedily eat the bulbs of the relic Kohl Rabi, if they are slightly crushed. Cooking is unnecessary. In the flower garden it is best to gather the flower buds of Iris Stylosa, now blooming freely, some while Postage on this issue : Inland and Overseas, Id.
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