COUNTRY LIFE
Preserving England
In spite of war the Council for the Preservation of Rural England has been busy, and partly because of war has in some sort enlarged its ideals. The beauty of England is largely man-made. It consists more in the fields and homesteads and hedges and pruned wood- lands than in the natural contour and wild surface. Farm and village and park are of its essence. Armed by this belief, tkk Council is paying more and more attention to the preservation of husbandry. It is working for more reclamation, for a better sort of afforestation, for purer rivers and, above all, for the salvation of good soil threatened both by the speculative builder and the bad or greedy farmer. When the war is over its contribution to plans for rural reconstruction will be seen to be of essential value to all country lovers. Decentralisation of industry, that is the removal of factories out of the bigger towns, is proceeding and will proceed at a pace. Perhaps only a wise extension of the Garden City idea can prevent this necessary movement proving disastrous to the country scene. I have lately seen inhabitants of the margin of a beautiful brook manuring their gardens with the shoals of fish, coarse as well as fine, destroyed by some poison needlessly injected into the water. One resident spoke of reserving the trout for the manuring of his roses! The dace went to the potato patch. Pure rivers, mixed woodlands, sternly controlled and thoughtfully planned building, and a national long-term scheme of reclamation—here are " the four- point flowers " which we must strive to cultivate.
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