x PREFACE 



But in restoring the sister industries of Agri- 

 culture and Horticulture to the honoured positions 

 which they once held and should always maintain 

 if a country is to remain strong, it is advisable to 

 take, as a model of women's share in such work, 

 what has been so splendidly carried out in Canada. 

 It may be suggested that social conditions in the 

 mother country render it out of the question to 

 build up anything approaching the Canadian 

 Women's Institutes. Certainly, until recently, such 

 an attempt would have been fraught with difficulty, 

 but the war has altered much and is daily bringing 

 English life, that had unconsciously become over- 

 luxurious, unnecessarily complicated, impeded by 

 foolish, trivial conventionalities, back to the 

 simple, natural life that a young country like 

 Canada is accustomed to. It is easier, there, to 

 hold in mind that true sense of proportion which 

 in an old country is apt to be lost sight of. 



If each year more thoroughly trained, educated 

 men and women settle in groups, as they have 

 done at Pershore and in other districts, and have 

 orchards and market gardens ; if landowners take 

 a pride in making their land pay, instead of con- 

 sidering their supervision of work a mere pastime, 

 the life that we formerly led will be changed, and 

 conditions wider in outlook and healthier in every 

 way, like those that exist in Canada, will be sought 

 for in the mother country. 



One noticeable point about women's work in 

 Canada is the strong financial and other helpful 

 support that is given to it by the Government 

 of each Province. It is also encouraging to see 



