244 PROBLEMS OF VILLAGE LIFE 



Let nobody, therefore, underrate the diffi- 

 culties which confront the efforts of those who 

 seek to secure the nation's land for the nation's 

 use. We have seen the power of resistance 

 which can be offered by the vested interests 

 of the Drink Trade ; these are as nothing to 

 the fight which will be put up by the land- 

 owners of the country when the inevitable 

 conflict comes to pass. 



One thing is certain. In any great scheme 

 of land acquisition by the State a large expen- 

 diture would be required not merely for actual 

 purchase but for improvement. There would 

 have to be a general " cleaning up " of our 

 farm land, and just as the Scottish landowners 

 of the eighteenth century followed the best 

 contemporary methods of Dutch agriculturists 

 England might be well advised to enlist the 

 help of Continental experts in the task of 

 making British agriculture what it ought to be. 

 The Danish farmer who, with an inferior soil 

 and climate, is to-day producing more bushels 

 of wheat per acre than ourselves, stands 

 amazed at the careless and slipshod methods 

 employed in many agricultural districts. 1 



In Denmark there are Government officials called 

 Konsulente," who not only bring to the farmer's know- 

 ledge the best and latest scientific methods, but assist 

 him to utilize these in practice 



