14 MAY 1932, Page 12

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WESTERN FARMS.

On the whole the West of England has suffered much less from depression than Eastern acres ; but one writer in The Somerset Countryman refers to derelict farms here and there ; and it is doubtless true that all farmers except a few in very special lines of business have suffered to some degree. IL is the habit of many farmers to-day--and a very good habit— to get professional accountants to make up their year's accounts. The habit has grown owing to the obvious fact that only those who keep good accounts can face the Income Tax authorities with any assurance. One authority who has had access to such accounts, in what one would consider a fairly prosperous farming district in Western England, bears witness that 200 farmers, whose accounts were inspected consecutively, have shown no profit at all for two years.