“The Isle of Axholme is one of the few places I have visited in England which may be called, at any rate in my opinion, truly prosperous in an agricultural sense, the low price of produce notwithstanding, chiefly because of its assiduous cultivation of the potato.”[12]

Axholme may be described as a district of allotments, cultivated, and in great part owned, by a working peasantry. The “assiduous cultivation of the potato” is rather an indication of the real strength of Axholme agriculture, than a true explanation of it. At the time of Arthur Young’s visit, the isle was noted for the cultivation of flax and hemp; and this continued to be a feature of the local agriculture till about thirty or forty years ago, when the “assiduous cultivation of the potato” succeeded it. Now, as Mr. Rider Haggard notices, experiments are carried on with celery. The small holders, I was assured on all sides, cultivate the land much more thoroughly than large farmers do their farms, and the very look of the crops confirmed this eloquently, even to my unskilled observation. Mr. Rider Haggard quotes a local expert, Mr. William Standring, as saying, “Wheat crops in the isle averaged seven quarters (56 bushels) an acre, the oats nine or ten quarters, the clover hay, which grew luxuriantly, two or three tons an acre, and the roots were splendid.” He continues, “That Mr. William Standring did not exaggerate the capacities of the isle, I can testify, as the crops I saw there were wonderfully fine throughout, particularly the potatoes, which are perhaps its mainstay.”[13]

The secret of the agricultural success of Axholme is clearly la carrière ouverte aux talens, which is secured to agricultural labourers by the open fields. The spirited and successful cultivation of varying crops follows naturally.

How the upward ladder is used, was well explained by a Mr. John Standring, himself a holder of ten acres, before the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Small Holdings in 1889.

It is first to be noticed, however, that the general level of wage is exceptionally high for a purely agricultural district at a considerable distance from any considerable town. The customary wage, I was informed in 1903, was 3s. per day. Mr. Rider Haggard, in 1901, found it “2s. 9d. a day for day men, 18s. a week for horsemen, and 16s. a week, with cottage, for garth-men. Men living in the house with foremen and owners receive about £24 per annum and food, and horsemen £30 per annum and food.”

But when the labourer who has been living in marries and takes a cottage, he also takes up a holding in the fields. He begins with one “land,” then takes a second, a third, and so on. The following table, showing the way in which land is held in the parish of Epworth, was submitted to the Select Committee[14] by Mr. J. Standring:—

Of holdingsover200acresthere are 2 occupiers.
″″100″and under200, there are12occupiers.
″″50″″100″14″
″″20″″50″31″
″″10″″20″40″
″″2″″10″115″
″″½″″2″80″