BURDEROP 



presented themselves at Burderop. A i,ooo-acre 

 farm, 400 of which were heavy arable, and a dairy 

 of 100 cows, was a proposition which at least was 

 a little strange after such a long experience on 

 the light and sheep lands of Wanborough Plain. 



Agricultural prices began falling like butter 

 before the sun, but what of course actually hap- 

 pened was one's trading account did not show signs 

 of bad management, but it was the horrible loss of 

 capital which struck terror into one, and I must 

 admit that my courage was never so severely shaken 

 as each Michaelmas, when accounts were cast, the 

 figures never seemed to plumb bottom. 



I am not suggesting that my own case was 

 singular by any means. Those were very difficult 

 years which followed the War, and there is little 

 doubt this was happening throughout the farming 

 world. When those times of stress arrive, and 

 they do in most people's lives, one should take 

 stock of one's philosophy of life and if possible 

 slip in a compensating gear, or in other words one 

 must change the wave-length. I am not quite 

 sure that I was ready to do this sort of thing : 

 business had too much engrossed my life up to 

 this period. 



Recreation under ordinary circumstances one 

 should never fail to carry on ; it does put a spring 

 into your life which is most invigorating and it 

 gives the mind relief from its toils and allows it 

 to regain a new balance. It is very important 

 to those who have business of any kind, large or 

 small, that this lesson should be well applied early 



49 



