The Glass Age
Horticulture and husbandry are different pursuits ; but cultivation under glass begins to impinge on to open field. The value of the crops grown under glass in the Lea Valley is said to exceed the total value of the products of the fields of the whole country. Very small holders are making salient successes in very different places. Cornwall, South Lincolnshire and Lancashire are especially distinguished— glasshouses multiply amazingly round about Lancashire towns, as in the Preston neighbourhood ; and most have been built by poor men who have made themselves expert in the growing of vegetables, fruit and flowers. On this subject almost every county council has a long list of approved men waiting—mostly in vain—for a small holding ; and vacant farms are snapped up at once. In general the small holders are doing better ; but how many men of higher education wish to face the life of a family farmer ? Even for the humblest farm a modicum of capital, say, 210 an acre, is necessary.
Previous page
