SCOTCH SETTLERS IN ESSEX 321 



(1) That the consumption of meat, vegetables, 

 and fruit in England was not likely to undergo 

 any great expansion ; and (2) that, if it did, the 

 conditions of the English soil would not allow 

 of these articles being produced in adequate 

 quantities. Dr. Levy disposes of each of these 

 fears. On the one point he adduces figures 

 indicating the really enormous growth in the 

 consumption of butter, cheese, eggs, poultry, 

 apples, pears, plums, etc., in Great Britain of late 

 years ; on the other he tells how lands in various 

 parts of the country which had previously been 

 regarded as fit for corn-growing only have, by 

 dint of individual energy and application, been 

 adapted to the new conditions, and are pro- 

 ducing excellent results. He is especially warm 

 in his praise of the success achieved by Scotch 

 settlers in some of the most unpromising districts 

 of Essex and other Eastern counties. Such 

 success, he remarks, shows " how personal 

 capacity, combined with hard work, can sur- 

 mount natural difficulties," and he adds that 

 " the Scotch farmer possesses a power of adapt- 

 ability which the English farmer either has not 

 got or has had to acquire." Whatever the 

 nationality of the farmer, however, provided lie 

 hus fought bravely the difficulties presented by 

 Nature, either by adopting new methods or 



