Abstract
WHEN an author buys a farm and sets about working it for profit, what more natural than that he should proceed to record the ups and downs of his first year‘s operations for publication. Mr. Genders, released from the R.A.F. after the War, purchased Holly Gate Farm. It was an upland Derbyshire holding of about 78 acres with an ancient but substantial homestead and buildings in a very poor state of repair. In any circumstances a new start in a farm is an anxious business, but the year 1946-47 was a nightmare for any farmer, experienced or otherwise, for one of the wettest harvests 011 record was followed by a very severe winter. In this book we follow the day-today struggle of the author and his two men to make good in the face of great difficulties. A few useful sidelines, such as mushroom growing and dog breeding, made a useful contribution to the enterprise. The story ends on a note of quiet optimism. The account is written in a conversational, almost gossipy style, and will commend itself to the genera public rather than to the body of farmers, who will already be familiar with much of the technical information, and will also have experienced all the hazards, hitches and satisfactions there recorded.
I Bought a Farm
By Roy Genders. Pp. 112 + 8 plates. (Worcester: Littlebury and Co., Ltd., n.d.) 10s. 6d. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
I Bought a Farm. Nature 162, 8 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162008b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162008b0