THE URBAN EXODUS. 255 



other townees essay the country life, and helped 

 as the hired skilled labourer to repair the 

 mistakes made by the novices. 



Most of these back-to-the-landers made a 

 gallant attempt at poultry farming at the 

 start. It is curious to observe the close 

 affinity that somehow seems to exist between 

 the townsman-turned-farmer and the hen. Dis- 

 illusionment soon follows the undigested perusal 

 of poultry papers, and it was inevitable that 

 the pioneers of Cud worth working individually 

 should take up poultry farming and lose 

 money at it. 



The individualism engrained in the small 

 business man operated against agricultural 

 prosperity at Cudworth. Each small holder 

 attempted not only to produce individually, 

 but also to market individually, and even 

 to compete against one another in the small 

 local markets, with, of course, disastrous 

 results. The upkeep of a horse and trap on 

 holdings sometimes of not more than five 

 acres of poor grass-land, with only a small 

 patch for a garden, is distinctly uneconomic ; 

 and when that horse and cart has to be driven 

 sixteen miles by its owner to market, with 

 half a load taken in and none at all returning. 



