They don't make countryside any more, and every year concrete consumes more of it.
Major challenges remain, not least in striking a balance between the needs of farmers and consumers for food, and making the countryside a better place for wildlife.
More serious conditions resulted in a migrant's return home to be looked after by family and to avoid the high medical and living costs in cities, which has the perverse effect of making the countryside export good health and re-import ill health [ 15].
Like step-dancing and dogging, swinging keeps alive traditions which make the countryside such an interesting place.
But it is not only farmers who make the countryside look nice and scenic as town-dwellers like it to.
"Unpaid, unsung, to a large extent uncomplaining, these women quietly and often with humour, made the countryside tick.
A pitiless rebel army makes the countryside too dangerous to farm, so peasants flee to the cities in search of food and safety.
Other benefits are more nebulous: native forests make the countryside prettier, says the Forestry Commission, and support a greater variety of wildlife.
Affluence in Malta brought more sophisticated weapons, more money to pay taxidermists, and more cars and better roads, which made the countryside more easily accessible to hunters.
When I was a child I wasn't sure what the AA was, but in large part the organisation made the countryside for me.
Having made the countryside commutable, it mercilessly peddled the idea that you could achieve the dream of healthy rural living without quitting your job.
