Litchfield enquirer., 1879-10-30

VIII De aQ uuuSudlly ldTSo ueuClenCy LulS year, one that will exceed hundred millions Liver Jool and Lo adon Corn Exc ,ges are quoted at { ? 9s. a quarter (that is, elght bushels), or about what good wheat would bring in former years with a full crop. En- glish grain merchants, as we'll as intelligent farmers, assert that this is solely owing to American competition and American wheat. Indeed the English farmer traces all his pres- ent and prospective troubles to this source alone. On the whole, there is no doubt that the farmers in England. Scotland, and Ireland are in an unenviable position, without much hope of relief even by the the thorough inves- tigation of the royal commission recently ap- pointed by Parliament to examine the present agricultural distress.
 No commission, no matter from what source it may sprinr, or with what power it may be clothed can alter the conditions or disadvant- ages under which English farmers have to labor, nor is it possible for them to compete in growing wheat with American farmers. It is well-known fact that English farmers, ex- cept in rare instances, do not own the farm land they cultivate, and under the existing state of things, they are far better off than if they were sole proprietors and held fee sim pie. The value of farming land in England is not based on what it is capable of producing; AG owner and his family social position ex- tremely difficult to attain by any other means The English landlord, while generous and liberal in many ways with his tenants. is very arbitrary in his articles of agreement, and Cooking at these from an American farmers stand-point) the English farmer is handicapped from the start for the purpose of protecting the owners interests. The conditions embodied in these leases are about as follows:
 1st. The farmer must have $1OO for. every acre he hires, as working capital.
 2d. He must keep one-third of the whole number of acres in permanent pasture and meadow during occupancy.
 4d. He must not devia'e from the four course rotation of crops specified in the lease.
 The annual rent for good farming land in England is from eight to nine dollars an acre, and to this may be added poor rates and road taxes, making the actual rent in round num- bers not less than ten dollars an acre, which has to be paid punctually, rain or shine. In former times, before the days. of American competition, the frugal English farmer expect ed to make, and did make, from six to eight per cent. on his capital, invested either in grain-growing or in raising beef; while there has been no time for the last quarter of g cen tury when the land owner has realized more than two per cent. from his investment; this
 
 farming land on account of it's social valuation and there are plenty of buyers at these high rates Those not familiar with the existing condition of things in England naturally sup pose that relief would soon follow if farmers owned the land they till but the truth is, it would make matters worse instead of better, and they now prefer to lease the farms from year to year, instead of for the long terms formerly in vogue among the most intelligent English farmers. A long lease means better security to the landlord, for it binds the farm CT to remain, and carry cut tine conci io >t his contract, no matter whether he is making or loosing money. In computing the outlay of the English farmer, the rent of land labor, manures use of implements, etc., etc., the best English agricultural authorities firmly as- sert that the farmers of England, under the most favorable auspices, cannot grow wheat with any profit for less than $1.50 bushel, and the margin of profit at this figure is com paratively small.
 Tile series of bad seasons, which have to a large extent brought about the present distress ed condition of English agricultural industries, arc not the only obstacle in the way of the present generation of English farmers compet, ing, even on equal footing with their Ameri- can cousins. The annual rent paid by the English farmer would purchase much more
 
 West. Moreover, most of the labor with us being done by improved machinery, the cost of production is much less, enabling the grow CT to land sound wheat on the docks of Liver pool at $1 12 bushel, at a handsome profit both to the farmer and the merchant. Again, on account of the heavy rents for the land, and the many other incidental expenses beef raised on English farms cannot be sold at any profit to the farmer for lessthan sixteen cents apound On the contrary the American cat e-raiser- of the Southwest pays a trifle for his ranch, and is under no extra expense for winterlng his stock, so that beef raised in this way can be put in the English markets for ten or twelve cents pound, with liberal profit to the owner and the shipper Unless the signs are greatly at fault, where there is one person now engaged in raising beef for foreign shipments, there will be ten times as many five years hence. American cheese has al. ready forced hundredsof English farmers from cheese making to raising milk for the London and other large markets. and the business is now so crowded that the price of fresh milk is third less than it was before American cheese became so popular among English con- sumers.
 In travelling among ll-to-do English farm CTS the past summer, was surprised to note tEe lack of economy and the amount of land that is wasted on hundreds of farms by those wide ditch' 8 and struggling and unkept hedges which are used as boundaries of small and ir- regular shaped fields. the latter, owing to the shape, calling for much extra labor in cultivat- ing them. Another very noticeable feature is the large, heavy and cumbersome character of the farm implements American manufactur- CTS of farm tools shape them in such way as to do the work with the least physical labor The English manufacturcr, on the other hand, has pride in making everything substantial, heavy and solid, without any regard to the weight or strength needed. Why, there i: more wood and iron in an English farm cart than would make two American carts and yet with their superb roads they load theirs no heavier than we do ours. An English manure fork is of the same size and pattern 1t was half century ago-a square. rough tine shoulder ed hear the point-cau,ng for the greatest amount of force in loading or unloading. The American fork is a round polished tine, taper ing gradually from the point to the base, and calling for the least power. The weight of an English blow is at least three times that of ours and it's length about twice, and yet it takes neither wider nor deeper furrow-slices than our best blows. In fact, one pair of horses attached to one of our best pattern blows will do from third to half more work in the same number of hours than an English farmer with his long, unwieldy pattern that is out of all proportion, both in length and weight, to the work it is intended for The same is true of the English harrows, cultiva- tors and all the implements found in con- mon use for turning or cultivating the soil The ordinary wooden mandrake is clumsy, heavy thing, having from third to half more wood than is actually necessary. In many instances, in going through England, have counted eight and ten hands gathering hay into windrows with these hand -rakes, an operation very seldom, if ever seen now in the United States. In many of these agricultural districts which 1 visited, farmers cultivating from forty to hundred acres of land still con tinue to cut their grain crops with the reaping hook and cradle. The English cradle has a scythe blade of ordinary size and length, with two short wooden fingers. The man cutting with this cradle throws the cut grain around against the uncut standing grain Another man follows the cradler, equipped with a piece of stick about three feet in length with an iron hook on the end of it, and gathers the cut grain into sheafs and places them on the StnbhIn hafOrQ fhp I1o