Allotment gardens have a very active history ; and pro-
duced a marvellous sum of food during the War. They have been limited chiefly by lack of leisure. The country suffers today from excess of leisure. The use of leisure is and will be a more and more vital theme. The best ways of filling leisure for dearly all people is the exercise of a craft ; and of the crafts the garden craft is the best and the only one which has a general appeal. The organization now in being by which seeds and tools are supplied has the effective simplicity which we associate with the work of the Friends, and the Government contributes a considerable sum, and individual contributions have come almost unasked. It is
the moment for a rapid advance. A sum of £.5,000 has been specially set aside, most wisely, for research work, partIr into the best means of enlarging the garden into a holding, if and where it may be needed. The garden may become not only a source of individual and therefore natural wealth, but a place of recreation for the family. The incredibly low
price of land, even of land highly cultivated and on the edge of crowded towns, gives a peculiar opportunity ; and there is much suitable land, as is now being proved near Aldershot, which is wholly waste and easily reclaimed. We have the chance, such as even the school does not offer, of giving the rural bias that our lopsided civilization requires.
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