SIZE OF HOLDINGS 427 



most of the few days that remained before their winter's 

 sleep or death. On the crest of the ridge we found 

 barren heath clad in broom and heather with here and 

 there a slender birch, but to the depth of a field on 

 either side of the road the land had been reclaimed 

 and was being farmed high by small holders. The 

 soil is of the lightest character, pure sand full of 

 fragments of brown carstone, and the London manure 

 it needs has to be laboriously carted up the hill from 

 Sandy or Potten on either hand. 



The holdings ran up to 50 acres, but one of the 

 men with whom we talked considered that 20 acres 

 was about the most convenient size for a single man. 

 On the upland, rents were below 2os. an acre; but so 

 great was the demand for land that much larger offers 

 had recently been made for a holding that had fallen 

 vacant, and the sitting tenants expected to have to pay 

 more in future. Early potatoes are extensively grown, 

 and followed by carrots or turnips ; sprouts, onions, 

 marrows, and runner beans are the other crops ; of 

 course the small men do not grow any corn. Asparagus 

 is only grown on the heavier land lower down towards 

 Biggleswade, where the rents run much higher, even up 

 to 8 an acre. It was remarkable to find how well 

 the small men seemed to be doing on this extremely 

 poor land, which even a few years ago was as un- 

 promising-looking a heath as could be found. Their 

 takings were not large, perhaps, and they had to work 

 and live hard, but they were independent, and a man 

 of character could make headway. They had been 

 hard hit during the drought of last year, but 1912 

 had made amends on land that likes at least two 

 showers a week. Before we turned off the hill we 

 were interested to see the remains of the old coprolite 

 pits which used to supply the raw phosphate for the 

 28 



