The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1886-04-27 00:00:00

PROFESSOR WRIGHTSON ON THE
AGRICULTURAL OCTLOOK.

There woo a large attendanoe at tlw 'meting of the
P.Mley and tirnith 'Hutu Farmer. Club, held at
Itotley, to hes,r. an addrnuk by I.rofewmr %Yrwiden,
the head of the ;College of .tgrimilture, llownton, on
" TI. Agricultural Outlook and the immediate future
I,l.llri!ieh Farming." . . . . .

1.1,484401. Willi/IfTWIN Mid nil 111.164 the 'writ-fil-
-1 titre' outlook wad foggy, and the immediate future of
British farming wax rather a myntere at prenent, hut
still he had great tamfillence its th:. filters-, if not
prams' in the immediate future, i 4 Britinh 'cub
tore. lie believed very much in the Brainli farmer on
NMI of pereeverance, and him esperiesice of hini
showed lie itnclersteod hin bonito.... If he ilid it
always carry 'nut his views it wai, because bin
spirit wan willing but hbi capital wen weals. The
Dritinh climate was one .4 the hneet in the
werld f,r hailer and other meie rn whirh
ittock fed. It 4,11. not the bent climate for rens'.
hut It was 'Peel all round ohmage. The Itritinh
linsads if animaln were all excellent, allil that the nod
and the climate lied nomething to it.. with thin was
shown by the deterioration of the animala when taken
to other countrien. He looked tunm it an ahopefill
feature But foreign leayern had to come hack to thin
country for sire*. Although some farmer. had linen
ruined and °there had h-t money, he yet 110.1it.SIA
they would find 'kited' fanning and Britinh
lure keep it. Atop in the world. He hail none. fear
for the 'immediate future .1 latellorsln who held more
land than they could 114/1144", and for the interests .4
their occupying tenantry ; but he had no fear fer
landowners who had not nese land than they could
manage, or for any who could embark in agrienlture
unfetteied and with imtllcient capital. In ltwjlh the
!argent aniount nf corn was grown in England that
had been known furs vory lane period, the total arra
Icing 3,6143,357 atrea. In 1045 the acreage wee
3,4178.316, eh. wing a decline of wheat cultivation .4 one
third. Theta were in 1673 13.000,000 acres of per.
manent pasture. not mountain land or heath, biit
sat_ o.4_lBtvtiire Lust in 1.1 this had risen to
la„144.10 ACT 44. Tlli. showed there vire tendency
to grow lew wheat itnd increase the mu if permanent
paaturs. The ages of rout cropa had differed hut
little. There were fewer sheep in 1884 than in 1617,
for whilst we bad 20 millions in the lant-natned year
we had only 16 million. in 1864, in spite of theincreaw
if national wealth that had taken place. Is was true
that during that time we had gained 600,000 more
rattle, hut the decrease of sheep was a inoet rtriking
fact. The diminution .4 arable culture, the increase
of permanent panture, the derxesee of sheep,
and the decreue in values all helped to chow
toe mune of the decline of English farming. That
decline, too, appeared to be also doe to the ensrmoun
, intreaae of foreign competition. The value of the
imistrte of all live cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, mutton,
pork. eats, wheat, fruit, vegetable... Ice.. WM in 1801
£3skint4,o3o, whilst in 114e3 it cans, to 1:157,45,000.
In the fam of that they could hardly be 41191.1344c1
that the British farmer was being beaten in his own
market.. n 1811 three import. amounted to ills. 3'l.
per head of the popidation, and in lipa to 1.3 is.
per head. The prices of the beef and mutton had not
suffered so m u might have been expected, but
on wheat the e had been lalvissrsblr. tWm
impasible fir tie to compete with foreign eilofi rew ig
wheat enuring. The beef end mutton that lineal,
farmers produced was generally !superior, while there
ew no doubt at MI that or wheat wail inferior to
that trove abroad. The world was now very well
supplied with wheat, and, except in the caw of
war pante., be did not think they would ever see it In
a auk. The average price in England in 18e5
was Ms. 10.1. a quarter ; in 1873 it was hob. 6.1.;
in 1873 barley waa 40s. sd. and oats Ile. lid.
but now barley Wail 85.. and oats Irk There!
fore it wan not true, as was .4ten said, that
farmers had suffered oinly in the bad price
of wheat, though no doubt wheat had to bear a very
large share of the brunt. Ile referred to the decreesed
ji?ley ilrioften told illailt4.l4tyric4rig
*lame in British agriculture, but the decreased value
of milk wee a serious nutter. The very utmost the
London trade offered him was la. 3.1, per barn
gallon, and if Ise supplied milk at that price be
believed his would do wat a lose. Tbe prices of live
chick were simply ruinous. There were, however.
seendls affording NOW comfort. One of thew wan the
fall of rents, which had come none too wen. There
had, too, been a alight fall of wages. But farmers
could not expect much ;elle( in that way, for agricul.
(oral labourers' wages. like (Armen.' profit, were
nen. ten high. 'Meg throb tot 4 herr 4 fall in the
markot.value 'it fertiliaara, and e envy settaideralie
relief' wee Mao e,ded'by 'Win the 4144' id ft...IMR
stuff. Um, furt, a point a little in their fevour wan
the fall in tbe rttluse of lermstock, though tine was ',all an
ad vantage and half d isad vantage, ;sooty fasitters beim,
1114 Q Innwlert, so that what went iqui our locket w-nt
nut of the other. Pm remedying the lemon( onndition
of thiegs some relied on legislation, hot he had little
faith in making people rich in good by Act of Puha.
mans, Mr. Barclay, M.P., Mn'. Howard, M.P., and
others thought things could be met right by a readjust.
num% of the land laws, but he could -not see it. He
would rather farm ender a landlord of bread urn
than under a small owner. Referring to the proposal
for the fixture of what was called fair rent and freedom
clativia444 mid flif 'iv oi tenure, be Wow Ike 44 IPS
wish there was any onhinneolll the put of landlowle
to free cultivation, while bayou could have security
of tenure if he wanted it. Pre* sale of a tenant's
Interest in his holding would be an advantage. As to
Protection, be would be loth to commit himself to
Free Trade under rerun% circumstance., or to
declare against it
_publicly, but the jubilation
with whicli Ire* Trade was hailed some years
ago was being somewhat discounted. Other inkerlin.
nem being hit quite an hard all that of the egrimillorisk