82 CHRISTMAS 



morning hours and handed to the cook in time for 

 the midday meal. 



Year by year the interests of the townsman 

 have become further removed from any direct 

 contact with the toiler on the land. He has sought 

 the help of intermediaries to bring fresh eggs and 

 vegetables to his door. When once he awakens 

 to all that our English land can give to those who 

 wish for it, then it will be found that there are 

 growers in large numbers in each suburb who will 

 welcome direct business transactions with him. 



I always know when Christmas is near at hand, 

 because of the large brown-paper parcels that lie 

 half-opened on the floor of the Captain's office. 

 As I look through the window, I see two khaki- 

 clad students busily occupied in addressing white 

 envelopes to all our customers. From the brown- 

 paper parcels they then take the calendars, all 

 neatly tied with College ribbon, and having a 

 picture of the garden beneath, and one of these is 

 put into each envelope. An hour or so later the 

 student who is on postman duty speeds upon her 

 bicycle to dispatch them. It is not, however, 

 only the letters that go from the College that give 

 work and teach orderliness and method. Others 

 are delivered at the office door by the one-armed 

 postman and contain orders for special flowers or 

 vegetables, required either as gifts or to provide 

 for the entertainment of a family party. Then, 

 too, little neatly-written, unstamped notes are 

 placed upon my desk. These contain messages of 

 thanks for past months spent at work in the 

 garden, and often the writers express a hope that 



