54 A NEW AGRICULTURAL POLICY 



the Downs, such as that at Lavington (which 

 is railed in by a fence painted black and white, 

 as a tribute, no doubt, by the owner to his 

 famous whisky), were allowed also to remain 

 undisturbed. 



A few weeks after my visit to West Sussex, 

 at a time when every cottager was exhorted 

 to grow vegetables, and every town dweller 

 to grow mustard and cress in his window- 

 boxes, I received an S.O.S. message from an 

 old naval officer who resided close to the gates 

 of Lord Pirrie's magnificent park at Witley, 

 in Surrey. "The men want allotments," this 

 message ran; "but I cannot get them. Can 

 you help ? " 



My friend had, with characteristic bulldog 

 pertinacity, appealed to the Food Production 

 Department ; to the County Agricultural Com- 

 mittee ; he had bearded the officials at the 

 Board of Agriculture ; he had even button- 

 holed his friend, Lord Rhondda, the Food 

 Controller, after lunch at the Reform Club. 

 His lordship urged him to "stick to his guns," 

 for he had a strong case. But though he held 

 on tight, not a rod of land would Lord Pirrie 

 cede inside his spacious park. 



The village of Brook lies in a sleepy hollow 

 on the edge of the great park. On the hill 

 dominating it stands the agent's house, placed, 

 no doubt, so that from this coign of vantage 

 the wants of the villagers should immediately 



