Farmers around us are growing large amounts of rape again this year. Not only do they get a hefty EC subsidy, but we get to look at acres of a not very pretty yellow landscape. In a couple of weeks or so, the pollen will come and with it—so some people believe—a spate of respiratory illness, coinciding in all probability with the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, when our local hospitals and healthcare systems will be least able to cope.