COUNTRY LIFE
IN the way of village organisation I was much struck by an experience republished from the hunable journal of the West Sussex Village Produce Association_ The member wrote, "When we came to Sussex two years ago and were faced with a wilderness of weeds and couch grass, the only solution was mechanical help. For ten shillings a ploughing contractor ploughed a piece of land that would have taken a good two years of part-time digging to clear. He did it in fifteen minutes ; and it is now a soft-fruit garden, a potato patch with a bit of it growing corn for our chickens. . . . This year we are keeping a pig and have decided to plant 2 cwt. of potatoes to help to feed it, as well as our poultry and ourselves. A local contractor with a Fergusson tractor charged 5s. to ridge the ground and did it in ten minutes. . . . If a machine could he booked to do several gardens in one village at a time it would save hours of back-breaking digging." It would also immensely increase the amount of produce. The principle would apply also to allotments and small- holdings, even to small farms, which in this way could compete with big farms and not sacrifice their invaluable family character.
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