THE WALK CONTINUED. 41 



I found some lads there at work on the 

 excellent school gardens, m the cultivation 

 of which the village schoolmaster takes an 

 immense pride. I saw a rod of land on which 

 cauliflowers, beetroots, carrots and other 

 vegetables were being grown, from which 

 plot the boy had sold 7s. worth of vegetables, 

 besides supplying his mother's table with 

 quite a quantity. That is to say, he was 

 making his patch of land produce at least 

 £56 to the acre. On the same field, or the 

 field adjoining, I saw a crop of thistles, among 

 which a mangold plant could only be seen 

 here and there. And this belonged to a farm 

 of over 2000 acres rented by the War Oflice 

 at 2s. 6d. an acre ! 



Now surely it would be better for the 

 landowner, for the labourer individually, and 

 for the nation collectively, to have a large 

 field like this cut up and cultivated to produce 

 more national wealth, and save lads from 

 migrating to the towns, as well as land from 

 becoming derelict. 



A direct result of a backward land policy is, 

 so the schoolmaster informed me, that the 

 more intelligent boys, seeing no remunerative 

 outlet for work, are steadily leaving the land 



