Ron Jeffries’ letter (11 May) about using tights to stake a cherry tree reminds me that in my youth we were advised to throw old nylon stockings into our tree, weighted with a stone, to prevent birds stealing all the cherries. “The starlings will think they are snakes,” the local sage assured us. After the birds ate every cherry, the stockings and tights remained in the tree for years, causing much local amusement and embarrassment for my mother, especially in the bare branches of the winter.
Adam Liddell
Bournemouth
• Old tights have another use on cherry trees: when the cherries start to ripen, pull old tights over the branches to effectively keep pigeons from gorging on the ripening fruit.
Richard Ives
Kettlestone, Norfolk
• If Emmanuel Macron had wanted the French people to “stay alert”, he would have used the phrase “restez alertes”, not “restez prudents”; the latter translates as “be careful”, which makes much more sense in relation to an invisible virus (Johnson giving no clear direction on lockdown exit, says Starmer, 11 May).
Veronica Leonard
Caterham, Surrey
• You report me (11 May) as saying that Boris Johnson’s broadcast to the nation on Sunday was a “dog’s dinner” in communication terms. Please may I apologise, through your letters page, for that insult to pet food manufacturers?
Chris Whitehouse
Managing director, The Whitehouse Consultancy Ltd
• After five weeks of inactivity in lockdown, the need for a comfortable bra to wear when exercising will extend to far more than just the female half of the adult population (Letters, 10 May).
Ian Grieve
Steyning, West Sussex
