RURAL COUNCILLORS. 107 



made £80 or £90 instead of the £70 he received 

 from a dealer. Six years ago this same site 

 was producing only £5 worth of food towards 

 the national larder when it was farmed in the 

 ordinary way. Indeed, on the other side of 

 the hedge may be seen to-day land farmed 

 by the capitalist -farmer producing barely 

 more than this amount, whilst on the allotment 

 side of the hedge the illiterate labourer is 

 producing fourteen times as much. 



The land here is of a clayey loam, and the 

 allotment holder was wise enough in the first 

 instance to plant the Bos Koop variety of the 

 black-currant, which is fairly free from the big 

 bud. He first planted potatoes between the 

 bushes, but now, of course, the bushes are big 

 enough to meet and prevent intercultivation. 

 This exceedingly industrious and intelligent 

 gardener wants more land, but he cannot get 

 it. It is the usual story : the parish council 

 here are dominated by the farmers, who seem 

 to resent this labourer working independently 

 of them. 



Being a good craftsman he takes on piece- 

 work, such as thatching and cutting rushes on 

 the Broads. Nothing would induce him to 

 return to the life of a farm drudge. One of 



