23rd July 1942

Thursday
A trying, tiresome day.  Fearful inquest this morning on the shortcomings of the office.  This was the reason for Capt. Folkard's visit to Writtle yesterday.  He was very pleasant about the whole affair, which must have been most distasteful to him.

Worked late tonight, typing out a private report for Major Round about Joanna, to be forwarded to the Minister of Agriculture.

Evening paper placards tonight said “New Call-up Proclamation” and “Tremendous Call-up Ahead – Bevan” which made me feel most depressed.  Drove out to Lawford by 8.30, and had a lovely supper.  

The other day a man was horse-raking at Dedham Hall when the rake ran over a bomb left after a Home Guard practice.  It exploded, the horse bolted, and the man was badly hurt.

Driving out tonight I noticed that the corn was beginning to yellow.  Most of the crops round Ardleigh look very well.  Children were playing near the Land Settlement, two little boys dancing together like kittens.

Bought 2lbs of cherries in Colchester at 1/6 a lb.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Catherine

Almost as a follow on from my previous post (about the monopoly of millers), when Rudsdale refers to corn he would be using the word as a collective noun for wheat, barley, oats, rye and possibly maize. Most likely though he would have meant wheat.

The USA use of corn for maize has with the advent of television become more common in this country.

My late father was a corn merchant; most such companies also milled (usually wheat) and sold animal feed. The buying and selling of grain is a fluctuating market with no fixed price in the same way as currencies and precious metals, but dependant on quality and weather etc. to get the best price. To this end my father was also a qualified crop inspector, who would inspect grain crops in the field before harvesting to asses what kind of price would be offered to the grower.

So Rudsdale, was not just observing a seasonal change but foreseeing that the crop may get a good price!

Regards

Mike Dennis

E J Rudsdale said...

Many thanks for your comments, Mike - I'm grateful for your expertise. I feel that Rudsdale was observing the wheat crop in this extract and it is helpful to realise that his observations had wider implications for obtaining the best price for the crop and for planning the harvest.

Over the last few days I've noticed that the wheat fields around where I live are also starting to yellow and it is Rudsdale's observations of nature that make me more aware of these changes than I would have been before! CP

Anonymous said...

Catherine

I forgot to add, the cherries would have cost the equivalent of £2.95 a lb today!

Mike