226 LAND REFORM 



manner, could be made a profitable one, and certainly 

 it is one capable of almost indefinite extension.^ 



The cultivation of tomatoes, which we import to 

 the value of above one million sterling per annum, is 

 also suitable for women. The same may also be said 

 with regard to the keeping and rearing of rabbits, the 

 annual imports of which are valued at more than three- 

 quarters of a million pounds.^ 



^ The average price of eggs throughout the year 1904 in tke whole of 

 Ireland was 6s. 7^d. per great hundred (120). "Agricultural Statistics,' 

 Ireland, Cd. 2598, 1905. 



' An experienced agriculturist writes : "In my opinion the idea of 

 work (by women) on the farm being degrading is a bit of foolish senti- 

 mentality. . . . There is a good deal of light work on an allotment, and 

 even a woman who has two or three children can often find an hour or 

 two for weeding or gathering crops and benefit her health by outdoor 

 exercise. ... I do not hesitate to say that the success of the small hold- 

 ing system will be to a great extent dependent upon the co-operation of 

 labourers' wives and families." (" A Study of Small Holdings," by W. E. 

 Bear.) In connection with this point an interesting incident happened 

 during the visit of the British Dairy Farmers' Association to France in 

 1903. On visiting a creamery in the Department of Eure, a woman was 

 seen working in an adjoining field with a harrow and a fine pair of horses. 

 I was asked by the farmers present, " Would you like to see English 

 women toiling on the land in this way?" I replied, "Let us make in- 

 quiries into the case." We found that the woman, a v.idow, was tilling 

 her own land (20 acres). The horses and implements were her own, as 

 well as the house she lived in. She was strong, healthy, and intelligent, 

 and evidently a good cultivator. We learnt from the manager of the 

 creamery that she was well-to-do, and had m.oney in the funds. I then 

 answered the farmers' question to the effect that I wished we had many 

 in England working on the land under these conditions, instead of toiling 

 for wages in factories and workshops ; to which most of the farmers 

 assented. These visits to other countries by practical men are the best 

 means of overcoming insular prejudices. An excursion of the same 

 Association was made in a previous year to Switzerland. During the 

 journey, peasant proprietary, "three acres and a cow," etc., were the 

 subjects of hostile criticism and much merriment. At the end of a week's 

 sojourn in the country a farmer, who farmed in England above iioo 

 acres, expressed to me his astonishment at what he had seen, and wound 

 up by saying, " I have come to the conclusion that I will never again 

 say a word against peasant proprietary." 



