THE FAERY YEAR 



sun and air have full play. There is no surer sign 

 of the craving of most plant life for sun and air 

 than the way the primroses blossom thick among 

 the young underwood shoots weeks before they 

 appear in the high wood of four to twelve or 

 fifteen years' growth. In the highest wood they 

 are scarcely out till May ; among the one-year-old 

 shoots, which is practically open ground in early 

 spring, they made a brilliant show in very sunny 

 exposures before March was out. The wind cuts 

 hard in such spots before the young underwood 

 shoots have a leaf and there is no undergrowth of 

 wood grasses, but the flowers are not hurt by its 

 cold if they have sun and free air. 



The Champion Hurdler 



What is the highest number of wattle hurdles a 

 skilful woodman can make in a day ? Until lately, 

 I never heard of a man making over a dozen, and 

 only of one who had reached this total. He was 

 the quickest hurdler I ever watched in the wood, 

 and would work a very long day at times from 

 dawn to dusk. But nice critics of the art of hurd- 

 ling were inclined to think he was a little too quick 

 for perfect finish. Another woodman, who has 

 worked on the same estate all his life, now claims 

 the record. He can recall a day on which he made 

 sixteen hurdles. Of course, all his rods were cut, 

 split, and stacked up ready for use. He would 



