270 RURAL DENMARK 



theory and in practice, whose name I do not mention 

 as I have not asked his leave to do so, told me only 

 the other day, after a recent journey through Canada, 

 that in his judgment a hard-working young man of 

 ability with any capital at all had a better chance of 

 success as a farmer at home than in that country. 

 Also he said that his life here would be less laborious 

 and more agreeable. 



Why, then, are these young men so frequently 

 shipped to colonies to pursue the profession they 

 have chosen, that of cultivating the land? 



In most instances, I believe, for the reason that I 

 have given above, that it would not be thought "quite 

 the thing" that they should come down to the status of 

 the ordinary tenant farmer. Abroad they may do what 

 they like without loss of caste, even serve as yard- 

 boy to some uneducated Boer or tend a bar. But in 

 England it is different. Yet if they were furnished 

 with a really scientific agricultural education such as 

 lies within the grasp of any Dane at a most moderate 

 cost, I agree with my friend that notwithstanding all 

 the disadvantages to which I have alluded, those of 

 them who can command any capital would have 

 on the whole a better chance in certain districts of 

 England, and especially in those where fruit is grown, 

 than they can expect to find in distant parts of the 

 earth, far away from all their friends and associations. 

 Especially would this be so if they could buy and sell 

 co-operatively. 



There is one fear, however, which doubtless has 

 its weight with parents and guardians. Abroad they 

 must work or come to grief. At home, where things 

 can more or less be left to subordinates, the work is 

 not an immediate necessity. 



