One considerable farm is worked by the farmer and exactly
one man. His crops, which include a good deal of wheat and much clover, are passably good; but the saving in labour means that the worst land consists of thorns and briars, and the best grows the finest coltsfoot you ever saw ; and the stubbles are gay with annual weeds ; bindweed beautifies, if that is the word, every other clover plant and there is no break in the carpet of buttercup. By the enjoyment of low rents and the reduction of labour the farmers " make a do of it," and indeed grow good wheat, beans and clover. It is surprising, or would once have been surprising, to find that distinctly more labour is used to the one hundred acres on the grass farm than the arable. Large coveys of partridges flew between clover and stubble ; the cackle of wild pheasants was heard from the small woods and spinneys, that help to make the district a hunt_ man's paradise ; but neither sport nor husbandry succeed in giving value to the land or arresting the continuous loss of population. Why ? That we shall same day see the return of rural vitality is a conviction, but the only argument for it is blind faith. Such country, so placed, must possess value.
* * *
Previous page
