JUNE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14072, 17 June 1911, Page 2

JUNE.

Br Canterucry.

(SPKCTAIXT WRITTEN FOB "THE TBESS.") A reversed climate forbids ono to speak of a New Zealand June as ''a time of roses," "lorely Juno," or anything fascinating liko that; ifc 13 midwinter, unlovely Juno, or just very plain June. And to people who. live in the country ail through the year, the most consoling fact about the month is that it consists only of thirty days. When the lamps must bo lighted beforo 5 o'clock, and you realise that half a dozen hours of long-evening lie dead or dull ahead, or when in certain circumstances ono has to breakfast by cahdle-liftlit. and perhaps previously to ieel round a paddock in the dark for tho necessary early morning cow, and the advent of the truly shortest day is greeted tvith rejoicing. For weeks one has listened to tho make-tho-best-ot-it remark. "It will soon bo the 21st now," and tried to feel comforted thereby; then ::t last it arrives, and with a distinct sense of relic-f you carefully refrain from looking at the calendar for several days, lest tho gain in moments of light should seem unworthy of note. Both in and out of doors June is ono of the least pleasant months, but hero wo are chiefly concerned with outdoor ■findings; and, first, 'ive often find a cutting southerly wind, which is doing its best to remove the remaining leaves from tho weeping willows. That Bounds as though they were crying about being undressed, and one might imagine they would more easily feel tho cold, but each year these willows contrive to retain their leaves a little longer. Now they fall in June, and begin to como again in August, so possibly we may yet see the sorrowful "willows decently clad all through the year. Especially in contrast with bare trees, gorse is tho most cheering object in tho country at vinter time. The mass of yellow blossom takes away half the gloomy effect • produced by tho overnight, frosty night appearance of tho rest. From tho point of beauty, gorso needs no artificial care. The moro neglected a fence, tho more beautiful the surroundings of rain-soaked fields: io everybody except our farmer, who vows lie must cut it or let tho contract so to do. Then will the ploughed field look desolate to its length until tho spring. Unless a long distnnco must bo traversed, walking is distinctly preferable to driving at this season, but both means of progression have their disadvantages. It is not enjoyable to drive homo in raw, damp cold at the end of a dull afternoon, even after the pleasures of a fast hockey match, or a hare-shoot, which are two forms of winter amusement particularly invented for purposes of exercise- and warmth. On tbo other hand, I should say undeu tho other foot, are Juno mud and general sloppiness? Apparently tho only way out of the difficulty is to travel j by * motor, or to ride, not forgetting to ride out to a hunt whenever that is possible. In this matter of hunting it certainly seems a pity that we have not more, oven if not in tho shape of riding over a country. Fobt-becgles could do no harm, and surely whon they have been found so popular in other places, they would liave plenty of supporters in Canterbury. As it is now, wo rarely indeed hoar one of the mast fascinating and cheery country .sounds, which, without doubt, is-tho music of a pack in full cry.. . If often disliked for other. reasons, June is not a bad month for collecting scraps of natural history. English birds naturally follow their old custom of coniing nearer to human habitations in winter, and tho moment is opportune for observation of their ways. "In hardest weather, survivors of native feathered races sometimes forsake their refuge in the bush,'and the more common silrcr-eyes swarm into gardens closo to a house. All-are .more evidently occupied thnn a t'other times, by a search for tho wherewithal to sustain, tho inner bird, and our is ifc enemies—thesparrows forget to chirn and fight so much as usual. Of all the rest, tfio birds that suffer most during •H'intor are the goldfinches, which aro seemingly decimated by evei'3 , .fall of snow. However, there aro Junes and Junes, and to do it justice tho present month has tried so far to atone for some of its fellows. It has only civen us a singlo downpour and flood,, as a sort of reminder that its family tradition is not quito forgotten. Washed-out'fords were a natural consequence; so niso was a store-onrt stuck in a scour-hole in the river, with its contents washing down on the way to sea, and tho two men in charge' of tho outfit struggling de.s : peratoly with the water for possession of a huge, unwieklly bundle of orchard trees. '-Let the thing go, or it will drown you yet," shouted another wayfarer, but the powers that be, ruled otherwise. "Man," was the., gasping reply. "I'd like to fine., but they belong* to the Colonel, and wo darena'." Then I understood at Inst the meaning of tho old savins, "a name to conjure, with." and in the end two V sa ' r dreokifc" men carried their work of rescue successfully through.