THE NEW YEAR WIND 313 



Some of the effects of this favouritism of the west wind 

 are obvious enough. Any one may see them from the 

 window of an express train. That green is the national 

 colour of Ireland is thus due to the west wind. Under 

 the gift of perpetual rain the lush meadows are so rich, 

 where the land permits, that they will fatten a bullock to 

 the acre, a thing unheard of east of Rugby. In the wet 

 districts grass and stock take the place of crops. The 

 people are born with the gift for tending and indeed for 

 selling animals ; and the small farmer can use the labour 



'THE STONES OF THE BANKS ARE ENCRUSTED' 



of his wife and the smallest of his children in looking after 

 them. Like Ireland are the beautiful little grass valleys 

 that curl with the rippling streams about the western fringe 

 of South Wales. As you leave your express train for a 

 closer view you find the print of the rain-bearing wind on 

 everything. The stones of the banks are encrusted with 

 moss, just as in the Lakes every broken twig of birch carries 

 a burden of mushroom or fungus growth. The grass begins 

 to sprout when spring is very young, even in January, and 

 in the late summer the folk are cutting an aftermath. The 

 cornfields are never free from rank weeds ; and heavy 

 lichens and mosses cling to the healthy trees. Only to the 

 trees is the wind unkind. They often crowd together for 



