118 THE FERTILITY OF THE SOIL [CH. 



bad seasons, is therefore a useful stand-by for these 

 people, and receives respectful consideration at their 

 hands. 



Considerable areas of sand, however, still lie waste 

 in the agricultural sense. But they are not neces- 

 sarily unproductive from other points of view. Some 

 of the most delightful scenery in our country is to be 

 found on the sands; even the most ardent reformer 

 would hardly wish to root up the New Forest, the 

 Bournemouth pine woods, the Wareham and Dor- 

 chester heaths, and substitute fields of turnips and 

 sheep. Elsewhere, also, golf links have proved 

 extremely remunerative. Considerable tracts of sand 

 are given up to game. And there lies one of the 

 difficulties of the situation. For game sometimes 

 plays a very large part in the economy of the 

 countryside, and may dominate pretty completely 

 the movements both of man and of beast. There 

 are parts of East Suffolk where the cottagers' cats 

 have to live chained up like yard dogs in order to 

 be safe from the gamekeepers' guns, while extensive 

 damage is often done to the crops by birds, hares and 

 rabbits. And so it happens that the man who under- 

 takes to reclaim derelict sand and bring it into culti- 

 vation has not only to overcome the natural difficulties 

 of the problem, but also to come to terms with the 

 game preservers. 



Lastly, the sand dunes are now beginning to 



