POOR MOORLAND HOLDINGS. 125 



the fact that the tillers of the soil do not put 

 all their eggs in one basket. Unlike the 

 tramp in the Adventures of Harry Richmond^ 

 they do not believe in a life which "on one 

 day you lay on your back and the skies rained 

 apples, while there were other days when you 

 wore your fingers down to the first joint to 

 catch a flea." It is a case of simple living, 

 it is true, but a simple living which is equable 

 and free from want. Their little orchards are 

 sometimes full of apples, but they will accept 

 this golden shower as coming by the grace of 

 God, and give thanks for it at the Ebenezer 

 Chapel. They do not lie under a tree to wait 

 for the golden globes to fall into their open 

 mouths. Underneath the boughs may be 

 beehives, and whilst bees are storing honey, 

 the man would be out in the field harvesting 

 his oats, hoeing his roots, or driving his cart 

 to market with his cauliflowers and carrots, 

 his eggs and his butter. 



On one holding I picked an apple from a 

 tree which was planted a hundred years ago. 

 It was planted in the filled - in hole from 

 which the grandfather of the present 

 occupier dug the clay for building the mud 

 cottage. The present tenant, who has now 



