FARMING BY COLLECTIVE EFFORT 145 



body's stomach. Instead of seeking conces- 

 sions in Siberia or Mesopotamia, we should be 

 applying British capital to our wasted acres, 

 reclaiming the heath, the low-lying moor and 

 bog, the salt marsh, and the upland sheep walk, 

 of which we have lost from cultivation some 

 800,000 acres, since 1892. 



The demand for timber during the War has 

 left terrible gaps in our beautiful woods. Re- 

 afforestation is needed not only in these, but in 

 wide open spaces such as Exmoor and Ash- 

 down Forest, and on hills, such as the Cots- 

 wolds, where there is little water, planting 

 might be profitably carried out, as well as in 

 other parts of England where the altitude is 

 not greater than 1200 feet. Ever since the 

 creative elements of feudalism have languished 

 under an unpatriotic industrialism, private enter- 

 prise has entirely neglected forestry. Owners, 

 naturally enough, say they cannot plant for 

 posterity. That is obviously the duty of the 

 State. Let us therefore display some noble 

 patriotism and no longer defer the date of 

 planting. If our land was properly cultivated, 

 reclaimed, and reafforested, there would be no 

 unemployed person in our villages and far 

 fewer in our cities. Under nationalisation no 

 idler will be enriched, and yet the whole 

 community will become wealthier. 



And here let me say that many of our farm 

 workers are following a will-o'-the-wisp in their 

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