SELBORNIANA. 
175 
SELBORNIANA. 
Our Society (p. 155). A discussion on the subject of Selhornian work 
abroad, such as Mr. Daubeny suggests, would be of great interest. For discus- 
sion on a given sul)ject, unfortunately, our annual meeting provides but little 
opportunity. Possibly a large number of those who attend would prefer the 
speech-making still further curtailed. Speaking personally, I think a meeting 
of the whole Society once a quarter, purely for the discussion of Sellrornian sub- 
jects, would be extremely useful and profitable, if only members would attend in 
sufficient numbers to warrant the expense. So far as present experience goes, 
several meetings have been most scantily attended. I feel thoroughly sympathetic 
with Mr. Daubeny in the high ideal he has formed for the Society, and much of 
what he suggests could be carried out if only members would take an individual 
part in pressing forward the interests of the Society by obtaining new members, 
and by this means increasing its income. The sinews of war must be provided 
before war can be carried on. 
In regard to similar work abroad there is a society in Switzerland for the pro- 
tection of plants. Anticipating our “ bird sanctuaries,” the Canadians have set 
aside an area containing 1,300 square miles of land and 166 square miles of water, 
near Lake Nipissing, for the protection and natural increase of birds and animals — 
a truly Selbornian work. It was announced a short time ago that the Germans 
were doing a similar thing in the Cameroons, and, perhaps, the Selbornian 
Society would be doing a good work if it were to endeavour to influence the 
Rhodesians to spare a tract in their country and place it under protection before 
any great harm were done to the fauna and flora of the country. 
E. A. Martin. 
The Preservation of Fortune Green. — About a mile or so to the west 
of Hampstead Heath lies a small green, on the lower slope of where the Northern 
Heights sink down into the great western plain of the county of Middlesex. 
Barely two acres in extent, bordered on three sides by shops and artisans’ 
dwellings, and on the other by the Parish Cemetery, Fortune Green has itself 
little of the picturesque save two elm trees up in one corner, which alone cast any 
grateful shade on a hot summer’s day. There are numbers of London squares 
that po.ssess far more intrinsic beauty than this little plot of open space. That 
otherwise exhaustive store of local history, the Records of Hampstead, can throw 
but little light on its origin, nor is there any statement or conjecture in that 
volume as to how it came by its curious name. But certain it is that for a long 
time past a ceaseless struggle has been carried on to preserve it from being built 
over, that has till lately met with but meagre success. If any wonder at the 
strenuous endeavours of local inhabitants to maintain the green in its present con- 
dition, let them visit the neighbourhood. They will find plenty of old gardens, 
groves and park land left, but on this western side of the great parish of St. John, 
Hampstead, far away from the glorious stretch of the Heath and Parliament Hill 
Fields, there is an absolute dearth of common land. The value of the ground, 
already enormous, increases yearly ; to say the least, money invested in it is a far 
safer speculation than many a West Australian or South African gold mine. For 
some reason, possibly on account of the distance from Hampstead Heath, the 
whole area seems likely to be covered with small suburban villas, of the usual 
hideous type— yellow brick, slate roofs, and bay windows, and badly built withal, 
to judge by similar productions in the district, that came under the writer’s per- 
.sonal observation while being constructed, some years ago. It seems hard to 
believe that the very large sum of ;^8,ooo is required by the owner, the lord of 
the manor, before this trifling area can be made public property. But its preser- 
vation will undoubtedly prevent the neighbourhood from becoming a network of 
sordid and gloomy little streets, and we cannot but congratulate the Hampstead 
Vestry in their public-spirited determination to vote ;r^3,ooo towards its purchase. 
It is earnestly to be hoped that other public enterprise, and private as well, will 
combine to preserve intact what has been a humble, but none the less real, 
recreation ground as long as the oldest inhabitants of the parish can remember. 
Archibald Clarke. 
