The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-12-13 00:00:00

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AGRICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS.

THIS is a time of the year in which the
peopli! of the towns are brought prominently
*ice to' face with the grertt importance at-
tached to the cultivation of the soit. The
Show of the Smithfield Club in London at-
tracts to the capital agrieulturists from all
parts of the kingdom; but the Smithfield
exhibition is only one out of many. The
show at Birmingham does duty for the Mid-
lands ; but in every shire there are local ex-
hibitions, displaying the excellence of the
products of the different districts. These
Christmas shows, both in London and the
provinces, bear the strongest possible testi-
mony to the antiquity and importance of the ,
agricultural profession. So far as its age is
concerned, there is no other occupation
which can at all approach it. It is older
than the architecture of gigantic docks, of
mighty men-of-war that sail the seas, of
cathedral towers, and of vast and spreading
towns. The keeper of sheep and the tiller
of the soil are mentioned in the earliest
history of the Bible, which from beginning
to end bears testimony to the very consider-
able weight attached by sacred writers to the
cultivation of the land. The calling of the
husbandman and the growth of the vine
formed the subjects of some of the most
beautiful illustrations in the Parables, and
in the Book of Revelations, quite as much
as in Genises, the testimony borne to the
prominence attached to agricultural opera-
tions is constant and overwhelming.
The agricultural exhibitions are held this
year under somewhat depressing circum-
stances. It has been a bad season for the
farmers, A winter of exceptional severity
was followed by a cold ungenial spring and
a wet summer. The autumn was not so bad
as the three preceding seasons; but winter
has come early upon us, and it promises to
be as sharp as that of last year. Many a
farmer, during the past twelve months,
finding it difficult if not impossible to make
an adequate return for his capital, has sought
relief m emigration, hoping to discover in
the virgin soil of Australia, or amid the
wide-spreading western states of America,
that reward for his labours which he has
been unable to obtain in the land of his
fathers. He sees it is not so easy in the
face of adverse seasons to pay the rent, which
political economists tell us is that share of
wealth which is claimed by the owners of
the soil ; and at the same time to stand the
cost of artificial manure and of continually
improving agricultural implements rende.red
necessary by the comparative exhaustion of
ground which has been under cultivation
for centuries. Land is cheap enough across
the ocean ; it requires neither phosphates
nor guanos to induce it to bring forth an
abundant harvest. In England, of course,
the rent of land is regulated by custom, and
also to a great extent by competition. The
regulation of rent by competition naturally
implies that, under certain conditions the
landlord will let his land to the farmer who
offers him the best price for it. When rents
are determined in this way, there is virtually
a bargain between landlord and tenant just
as there is between the buyer and seller of
any ordinary commodity. Still, if the
farmer cannot pay it and at the same time
secure an adequate return for the capital
which he invests, and for the labour and
time which he devotes to his work, it is not
unnatural that he should look elsewhere for
that which he has clearly a right to expect
as the fruit of his industry.
The farmer, however, may rest assured
that better times must come round again,
for the commodities in which he deals are
those which cannot possibly be done with-
out. The people must have bread, meat,
and vegetables ; and they can get these
necessaries nowhere but from the soil. In
fact, the laud supplies us with not only fo
but clothing, to say nothing of luxuries.
The animal, mineral, and vegetable king-
doms all depend upon the land; we could
not live upon air and water, and these are
not the days in which manna descends
miraculously from heaven- for the susten-
ance of wandering multitudes. It is solely
upon the land that the vast population of
the globe depends for its food; and as food
is indispensable to the maintenance of life,
the productiveness of the land is all-essential
to the existence of man. Therefore let the
agriculturist go forward and take courage;
the cloud which has loomed over his pro.
fession will pass away; and leave him the
most considerable factor in calculating the
happiness of the great human family.