Over the Hedge
In the past he wag something of a recluse, and saw—unless he happened to hunt—little of what was going on on the land around his holding. Today it is easy, and, especially among the younger generation, natural for him to keep in touch with developments not only in his district but—through farming papers and, broadcasts—in the science and technique of agri- culture as a whole. Because he now has a car, he is mobile, and can go without trouble to shows and demonstrations. If he is a responsible sort of man, he has almost certainly done a tour of duty on the local district committee of his County AEC, and in the course of his thankless supervisory duties has learnt a lot about what can, and what should not, 'be done by farmers in his area. His heritage of skill and knowledge and experience is always being supplemented, often to a dis- concerting extent, by glimpses of new methods and new machines; and the policies of his rulers, fluctuating unpredict- ably from one price review to the next, recurrently cause his to fluctuate too. He wonders far more frequent" than he ever did before whether he ought not to go over from milk to beef, or vice versa; he is much readier to launch out into a new and promising side-line; he is more adaptable, but less sure of himself, than he used to be, when all most people saw of• him was a moody or an apoplectic face peering over a hedge. He produces fifty per cent. more than he did before the war; he draws, but dislikes and is not grateful for, the subsidies to which he is entitled; and al the moment, I suspect, he has rather less confidence in Sir Thomas Dugdale than he used to have in Mr. Tom Williams.
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