AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION. 115 



no ground for reasonable hope, under present 

 conditions, that we can make any new con- 

 quests in the field of manufacture. But Eng- 

 lish fields can produce far more, employ far 

 more, if they have a sure local market for their 

 products. 



I can recall when investigating the unem- 

 ployed problem in England visiting Covent 

 Garden early one morning. There collect many 

 of the casuals who seek to make a living by 

 selling things in the streets — flowers, fruit, 

 vegetables, matches, toys. They buy some poor 

 stuff at the market, and sell it, rather on the 

 plea of their misery than of its value, for this 

 street vending is often a mask for mere begging. 

 It ascends from that, by many grades, into legi- 

 timate small commerce. One " unemployed " 

 I noticed reading a page from Country Life, 

 displayed in a window, and describing one 

 of those beautiful country houses which are 

 the most gracious feature of England. He 

 seemed to have come to the market, like many 

 others there, in the hope of picking up some 

 food rather than of getting work, though there 

 were casual jobs going as well as opportunities 



