A Farmer's Lifeorder this book
George Sturt
Price £20.00 hardback

This is one of the last of George Sturt's studies of country life during the nineteenth century, and takes the form of a biography of his uncle and aunt. First published as a limited edition in 1922, it is a sequel to Sturt's biography of his grandfather, William Smith. Sturt's uncle, John Smith, inherited his father's farm, and the present book is a description of his farming life in Farnborough, Hampshire. It is based on conversations that Sturt had with his uncle and aunt, as well as extensive personal experience and observation of their lives. In addition to the biography, the book provides a context for Sturt to develop his writing on the English countryside, and covers a wide range of topics and personalities relating to the Hampshire/Surrey area.

From Chapter 10, "Two Harvesters":

"Along the road already described (Chapter 6), between the brambly ditches and under the hedgerow oaks, I made my way from the farm-house to the antiquated farm-yard about a furlong off. As the two places were on the same side of the road - the western side - it would have been a little shorter to cut across the intervening pasture and potato-field; but I liked the road better that August afternoon. From there, first the farm house and after it the older buildings, lay off in a haze of glowing weather; the road was statelier than the pasture and field would have looked; and especially it was well to enter the old farm-yard by way of the road. A hundred yards or so of narrow lane led to it - led, it seemed, into the heart of the afternoon - and to traverse that lane was to walk back into a quieter century.