When the cuckoo comes to the bare thorn

Among the farming proverbs Dr Forster collected and Hone printed in May was one that read the season from the cuckoo. If she came while the thorn was still bare, you should sell your cow and buy corn, but if she came when the thorn was in full leaf, sell your corn and buy sheep. Another told the farmer that when the sloe tree was as white as a sheet he should sow his barley, wet or dry.