BRIEF PANACEAS.
It would be interesting, and of service, if the pick of our agriculturists would each put down in brief his or her own specific for farming. Mr. Strutt has done it through the mouth of Mr. Robertson Scott, who has recently produced the second number of his vivacious and thoughtful review (The Countryman. Idbury, Kingham, Oxford. 2s. 6d. quarterly). He condenses his view into a sentence. " Fix the price of wheat at 60s. and guarantee the price of cheese." The gist of the matter is that the two great departments of farming, corn-growing and dairying, need a standard price, safe from sudden slumps. These kill the producer and do the consumer no immediate good and some subsequent harm. Farmers do not need armour-plate protection, but they ask for a tin helmet against certain promiscuous shelling from a distance. Potato-growers would be content with regulation of imports during times of slump. Better marketing and more scientific utilization of surplus products would do the rest.
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