IT SURPRISES me that the game croquet is becoming less popular in England. It is one of the few out-of-door activities in which one can use low cunning fairly, as well as having an enjoyable time without exhausting oneself (or at least one pair has an enjoyable time even if the opposition has not).

When Mr. Richardson introduced the game to the School it became very popular among a small group of boys who were scorned and called old women by the others who had not discovered the pleasure of croquet. Nevertheless the group of boys who played the game kept increasing rapidly.

Croquet requires skill, especially on our lawn where the deviation of the ball due to bumps and holes has to be taken into account, and is by no means time-wasting. In one afternoon the players will have plenty of exercise both physically, in walking to and fro across the lawn, and mentally, in devising plans to defeat the opponent, an invaluable lesson on oblique impact and plenty of enjoyment.

If indeed croquet was an old ladies' game, either old ladies are cunning by nature (thus keeping the men fromplaying) or they have a better idea how to enjoy a hot afternoon than their menfolk.

 A. M. GLASS