CHAPTER XIII 



THE ANCIENT SUSSEX GAME OF STOOLBALL 



As the middle of the year approaches and soon 

 the longest day and shortest night will be here, 

 there comes a hope that the wind will change. 

 Those who till the land are like seamen and avia- 

 tors, dependent upon kind or boisterous weather 

 moods, and so in all these professions weather-lore 

 has to be studied. The sunrise, mist hanging over 

 hills, the direction from which the wind blows, 

 cloud-shapes, the colour of sunsets, all have a 

 prophetic tale of guidance for the man or woman 

 who anxiously awaits opportunity for action. 

 Then, too, for gardeners, a proper condition of 

 ground, neither too dry nor too hard, not so wet 

 that each footmark treads in and injures fine tilth 

 and the good prospects of seeds forcing their way 

 through the earth, has to be remarked and quickly 

 decided upon. Good or indifferent crops may 

 result from such apparently trivial matters. 



For this reason, amongst many others, it is 

 helpful if those who wish to become gardeners have 

 lived in the country as children. With a wide 

 expanse of sky, not hemmed in by houses or inter- 

 fered with by smoke and fogs, they instinctively 

 acquire knowledge of weather and can foretell 

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