Sentence:  Anstruther laughed good-naturedly. “[...] I shall take out half a dozen intelligent maistries from our Press and get them to give our villagers instruction when they begin work and when they are in the <WSD>fields</WSD>.” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (wide, open space used to grow crops or to hold farm animals) A wide, open space that is usually used to grow crops or to hold farm animals.