28 THE GREAT WAR 



" cottager's cow." It costs little to buy and it 

 is inexpensive to keep. A goat will, on an 

 average, yield about two quarts of milk a day 

 for some months after kidding. The milk is very 

 valuable and sells at high prices, especially for 

 the use of children and invalids. The small 

 peasant proprietors in Continental countries, 

 almost without exception, keep herds of goats. 

 Belgium has more goats than sheep. A Society 

 of ladies in England has been formed to en- 

 courage goat-keeping. The members of this 

 Society would do an immense amount of good 

 if they could have colonies of peasant pro- 

 prietors to instruct and train in the interesting 

 work of goat-keeping. 



Again, there is the growing of sugar beet, for 

 which our climate and soil are most suitable. 

 The total value of sugar, raw and refined (ex- 

 cluding cane sugar), imported annually into the 

 United Kingdom from Continental countries is 

 not far short of 20 millions sterling. 1 



Under the tenancy system, the average English 



1 For particulars of sugar-beet growing in England, the 

 profit realized by it, the labour required for its cultivation, 

 the value of its by-products for fodder, etc., see " Coloniza- 

 tion of Rural Britain," Chapter XXII. 



