Urban Worker on the Land 



of slackness at the docks. Nothing is more 

 disastrous for a man in any walk of life than 

 a period of enforced idleness. When work 

 at the docks is at high pressure, the gardens 

 are maintained by the women and children. 

 The development of such dual occupation 

 should play a most important part in im- 

 proving the condition of the working man 

 in this country. No doubt some people will 

 say that there is not enough land to go 

 round, but such a statement shows how little 

 the question has been studied. What can 

 be done in Belgium, with its far greater 

 population to the square mile, can be done 

 in England. 



To return to the question of developing 

 opportunity for getting on the land, mea- 

 sures ought to be taken from the moment 

 the boys leave school. Farmers should 

 help by asking the school teacher to re- 

 commend boys for employment, and prefer- 

 ence should be given to those pupils who 

 have done best in the manual classes. This 

 is presupposing the introduction and de- 

 velopment of manual instruction in all our 

 elementary schools. Thus, from the outset, 



83 



