146 THE OUTDOOR GARDEN 



the machinery belonging to the mill was not in- 

 jured and so he was in less distress than many 

 of his unfortunate countrymen. His deep interest 

 in all connected with agriculture and horticulture 

 was very evident, and I could even see traces of 

 this in his small children, who, like all Belgians, 

 seemed to have a love for the land. I believe that 

 this hunger for all country pursuits is a character- 

 istic of the industrial, town population quite as 

 much as it is the life and soul of the rural one. 

 No doubt, in Belgium, this is encouraged by their 

 elaborate system of light railways, which enables 

 workmen who have occupations in towns to regain 

 at night their peaceful, cheap country cottages. 

 Our visitor seemed much struck with the many 

 uncultivated, waste spaces in England, and as he 

 gazed contemplatively at our long " whale-backed 

 downs " murmured, " What a land to cultivate ! " 

 Regardless of their feeding properties for sheep, he 

 wished to convert all of them into intensively 

 cultivated market-gardens. 



As the little boy and girl raced round the rose 

 pergola, returning breathlessly at intervals to ask 

 questions about the students' work and the names 

 of flowers, I was able to glean some information 

 about " les braves Beiges " and all they do for 

 market-gardening. To realise the wonderful pro- 

 ductiveness of this small country, it is necessary 

 to represent to oneself its size as compared with 

 that of England. It is rather less than two York- 

 shires put together, or, in other words, about one- 

 eighth of Great Britain. 



Belgium is able not only to provide her own 



