JULY 



A. Meadow Table &quot;Butterflies from America A. Summer 



Harvest The Moth s Hour Perfect Parents The Swallow s 



Brood A Hillside Cottage Railway Flowers 



I. 



HE thoughtful farmer had mowed a grass field 

 eady being grazed, with the idea that thus the 

 grazing thereafter would be closer and more 

 uniform. He sets great store by his Redpoll cattle ; and 

 indeed they deserve the commendation I once heard 

 showered on their hornless heads by Belgian peasants 

 in the half rebuilt square at Ypres, where our generous 

 farmers held a show of stock presented to the Flemish 

 peasantry. But the cattle are another story. Smaller 

 creatures are in question. 



What grass and flower heads were cut on the paddock 

 next the farmhouse were left lying on the surface. Day 

 in, day out, both with naked and advantaged eyes, some 

 of us have been staring, in the W. H. Davies vein, at this 

 green plain ; and have wondered not a little at the in 

 habitants, which have been much multiplied and changed 

 by the mild mowing. Some insects and some birds have 

 surprisingly rejoiced in the slight change, if a few others 

 continue to praise the times that are past. 



The bee population has grown at least as largely as 

 the moth s has dwindled. White clover, the bees* 

 favourite flower (as it should be also in the eyes of the 

 grazier), has opened and rejoices almost with the zest of 

 a daisy in the lawn-like conditions. A good deal of red 



165 



