104 THE PRACTICAL SIDE OF 



and the skill of the grower. Large numbers 

 of working men, however, are severely 

 handicapped, sometimes by their want of 

 knowledge of the system of cultivation of 

 the most lucrative crops, and sometimes by 

 the character of the soil and the climate in 

 which they live. Where a field slopes from 

 north to south it obtains a much larger share 

 of sunshine than one which is flat or sloping 

 in any other direction, while a field which 

 slopes from south to north — and such fields 

 are quite common in hilly districts — obtains 

 scarcely any sunshine at all, with the result 

 that the crops are later and less abundant. 

 The heat of the sun, too, is absorbed much 

 more freely upon dark soils than upon those 

 which are light in colour; hence, the moist 

 black soils which prevail in some countries 

 are more productive. 



Again, no matter what the type of culti- 

 vation is intended to be followed, it is 

 important for the successful working of a 

 Small Holding that it should be well watered. 

 Water is imperative for stock, and should be 

 found in every grass field at all seasons of 

 the year. However good other conditions 

 may be, and however tempting the land 

 and the situation, it would be foolish of a man 



