"BUT FOR THE LAND" 77 



forge for the breezy upland farms. Yet there 

 are still women who make nails as a side 

 industry, relying on the land for the basic 

 needs of life. I saw one at work, a sturdy, 

 swarthy, broad -hipped, short woman, the 

 mother of a large young family. She left 

 iier forge at midday to work on her husband's 

 allotment. 



The extremely interesting part of the re- 

 colonisation of the farmlands of Belbroughton 

 is the entire absence of philanthropic aid. 

 There has been no bolstering up of land 

 schemes formulated by townsmen for country- 

 men ; no M.P. exploiting the movement to 

 nurse a constituency ; no Lady Bountiful to 

 sap democratic initiative. The Belbroughton 

 Parish Council, which have gone from success 

 to success in leasing farms, are composed 

 almost entirely of working men. In its 

 jurisdiction over the land it reminds me 

 forcibly of Ireland with its credit banks, 

 where every one knows the affairs of his 

 neighbour. No man, for instance, is allowed 

 to grow a patch of grass in the midst of arable 

 land which has to be kept clean for the 

 growth of corn, vegetables, and fruit. 



The same men who at one time went into 



