It is at this juncture that Sir Rowland Biffen, the
greatest expert in the world on the wheat grain, repeats and emphasizes his conviction that the future lies with the wheat-farmer. He has always argued that the climate of England, which allows a long period of growth—it may be ten months— enables us to grow heavier crops than most other people. He himself, by his own proper hand and brain, has bred the best quality grain we have, and he is now paying equal attention to high yielding grains. He regards a yield of five quarters to the acre as easily achieved, and thinks this should pay well. Theory and practice seem to be at logger- heads. Did a yield of five quarters pay last year or did it not ? Any farmer who keeps accounts ought to know. It is to be hoped that Sir Rowland Biffen, the optimist, is right. He certainly would be right if farmers got for their wheat as real a value as they did in the days of the country mill.
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