VILLAGE Prremas.
The subject is almost as important in the villages as in the towns, which perhaps will chiefly be affected by the very intensive campaign now set afoot by the Playing Fields Asso- ciation. They have formed a branch in every county, with the four exceptions of Westmorland, Cumberland, Hereford and Huntingdon. Excellent maps are being prepared showing not only open spaces but the amount of open space devoted to games. The ideal set down is five acres of open space to every 1,000 acres, and of this five four should be open to games, among which—in this regard—golf is not reckoned. An excellent example of the practical activities of the Asso- ciation is to be studied in Leeds. Its most beautiful park—of some 700 acres—did not contain a single pitch of any sort. It is now to contain many, and the change is effected without any sort of fuss or expense. The grounds spring up direct from the seed of a new and intensive interest. The question ought to be taken in hand by every parish council. The youth in scores of villages have no sufficient space for play, however valueless the fields may be. The playgrounds of elementary schools are scandalously inadequate in both Church Schools and Council Schools. If the girls are playing the boys cannot, and if either play with a ball the school gardens crammed into the same confined area are ruined. One knows cases where landlords would readily give the ground, if anyone would take the little trouble of asking for it.
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