INTRODUCTION. vii 



country by the fact that the land, as a great 

 abstraction above all temporary interests, is 

 loved, and one might almost say worshipped, by 

 those who live by it. The service of the land 

 seems to engender a personal devotion, especially 

 among those whose roots in the soil go far into 

 the centuries. Among the agricultural labourers 

 this passion for the land is often most marked. 

 In a recent book 1 containing interviews with a 

 number of agricultural labourers it is remarked : — 



" Again and again one is struck by the intimate 

 feeling of the labourer towards the soil. 



They ought to look after the land. Ain't 

 she the mother of us all ? ' said one man." 



And from the farmer's point of view an old 

 friend of mine, who has occupied the same farm 

 for over half a century, voices the same affection : — 



" Born and bred on the land, the land has 

 always called me. I hear the call now, although 

 it reaches me too often within walls and not in 

 the open field. 



" Love of the land makes me ask the readers 

 of this little book 2 to stick to the land, because 

 Mother Earth is kind to all her children, whose 

 zeal is according to knowledge." 



Where the land is cultivated by men inspired 

 by this devotion it is in no danger of unfair treat- 

 ment. 



1 "How the Labourer Lives," by B. Seebohm Rowntree and 

 May Kendall, 191 3. 



2 " Story of a Staffordshire Farm," by T. Carrington Smith, 

 1913- 



