5 JULY 1946, Page 14

COUNTRY LIFE KENT is in the throes of fruit-picking, and

the first of the two annual invasions is on. What is so remarkable about the gypsies (or pseudo- gypsies, for there appear to 'be few pure Romany -folk on the road in England today) is their time-instinct. They know exactly the day the fruit is ready. 'As soon as the Early Rivers cherry trees are coming to the blush one sees the caravans moving along the lanes, leisurely and as raggle-taggle as ever, to turn off into the orchards in bivouac. Hoarse

cries rise night and mornin m the men and boys as they settle into the six-weeks' process of bird ing.