CHAPTER VII. 



POOR MOORLAND HOLDINGS AND THE 

 ENGLISH SQUIRE. 



We have been observing small holders at 

 work on the fat fenlands of Lincolnshire, in 

 the fertile vale of Evesham, and on the rich 

 belts of land in Norfolk. It is true that we 

 have seen men working prosperously on the 

 poor, hilly slopes of Catshill, Fairfield, and 

 Belbroughton, but there is actually a corner of 

 England where labourers are earning a living 

 by the sweat of their brow on land so poor 

 that the owner described it to me as "too 

 poor for farmers to cultivate." This estate 

 is to be found in that corner of Dorsetshire 

 that lies on the verge of the New Forest. 

 The name of the village is Verwood. 



Here we come to an estate which, as far 

 as land tenure is concerned, is worked under a 



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