268 RURAL DENMARK 



that in no part of this vast Empire is there a normal 

 birth-increase of the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants, save 

 among the Roman Catholics in Canada, and these, of 

 course, are French, not Anglo-Saxon. This means, 

 if the statement is true, or even approximates to the 

 truth, that the Empire also looks for population to the 

 rural districts of these little islands, since that which 

 comes to it from the lower social strata of our cities 

 is not welcomed and in some cases not admitted. 



Rather do I trust and believe that the efforts of 

 our Governments will in the future be devoted to the 

 lightening of the burdens upon agricultural land. If 

 such land should pass into more hands than hold it at 

 present, I am indeed sure that this will happen. Also 

 unless those burdens are lessened small-holdings can 

 scarcely prove successful. 



To return. If the truth could be known, it would 

 probably be found that during the same period of 

 time almost as large an area was incorporated in 

 residential estates as has been shed from them by 

 sales. Only, when some rich person buys up an 

 adjoining property or a few outlying farms that 

 interfere with his convenience, he does not advertise 

 the fact in the newspapers. 



The practice is very ancient. Said Isaiah 700 

 years before Christ : " Woe unto them that join house 

 to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, 

 that they may be placed alone in the midst of the 

 earth ! " What was the effect of the prophet's 

 anathema in Judaea is not recorded, but certainly 

 it has none in England, where field is still laid to 

 field without any evil results to the layer. Still, 

 except in the rare cases when it is bought as a 

 sound financial investment, we may sometimes be 



