THE FARMER'S TROUBLES.
THERE is a passage in Cobbett's Rural Rides in which ha describes the impressions made upon his mind at Norwich in the year 1821 by the agricultural distress of that day. "What a scene is here!" he exclaims. "A set of men, occupiers of the land ; producers of all that we eat, drink,,
wear ; a set of men industrious and careful by habit ; cool, thoughtful and sensible from the instructions of nature ; a set of men provident above all others and engaged in pursuits in their nature stable as the very earth they till ; to see a set of men like this plunged into anxiety, embarrassment and
jeopardy not to be described ; when the particular individuals before me were famed for their skill in this great and solid pursuit, and were blessed with soil and other circumstances. to make them prosperous and happy, to behold this sight. would have been more than sufficient to sink my heart within me. . . ." The situation to-day—whether from improved farming methods or from the absence of Protectionist duties—
is probably far less gloomy than it was on the day when Cobbett spoke—for it is from his own speech at a market dinner that the extract comes—but there is still sufficient anxiety, embarrassment and jeopardy among our farmers and labourers to make any serious contribution to the agri- cultural problem a matter of unusual interest. How is it, we ask, that leading English farmers, with the best of all markets at their door and with so many circumstances to make them prosperous and happy—are still constantly assuring us that if their industry is left to continue on an economic basis, nothing less than national disaster will ensue ?
In the foundations of agricultural economics, Mr. Venn- has not succeeded in providing any satisfactory answer to
this question. Perhaps he would say that it was never his aim to do so, and that in setting forth as he claims to have done "all sides of the controversial questions" that affect farmers, and pointing out "the many pitfalls that await
the impetuous user of statistics," he has given us as much- help as we can reasonably require to answer it for ourselves.
His book is based, so he tells us, on lectures given to third year and Diploma students at Cambridge, and so far as it is concerned in tracing out the history of various agricultural questions it is a very useful and instructive piece of work.
The two chapters, for instance, on the size of holdings, which expose with great skill the obvious fallacy that an increase of small holdings would lead to an increase of output, are an admirably clear examination of the question—though even here it may be doubted whether the author takes enough account of the problems of market gardening and fruit pro- duction. The two• chapters also on "British agriculture in peace and war" which contain a vindication of the ploughing policy of the Foods Production Department are written with the authority of first-hand knowledge. There are other chapters dealing with tithe, land tenure, forestry and the wheat supply, in all of which the author has done much to bring, as be says, within reasonable compass the origin and incidence of the economic problems that are involved.
And yet it must be confessed that this is in some ways a disappointing book. With all its learning and curious information, with its admirable maps and statistics, it never gets to the heart of the problem or gives us any real insight into the tendencies and developments of English farming.
It remains a series of essays rather than a connected narrative.
Take, for instance, the two chapters on markets and marketing. There is no subject more important, no subject more vital to the industry, no subject in which English farmers have more to learn. In the three Interim Reports of Lord Linlithgow's Committee which have recently appeared an immense amount of information has been collected which might well have been examined and sifted. But of all this Mr. Venn has nothing to say, and the contribution he makes is singularly weak. When you turn from the Reports of the Committee to the chapters on marketing in this book you are moving from the atmosphere of the farm to the atmosphere of a• lecture room. To say, for instance, on p. 268 that "foreign competition in all subsidiary branches of the industry is increasing, and it behoves the home producer to see that he leaves no stone unturned to improve his means of countering it," is no doubt perfectly true, but Mr. Venn nowhere tells us what are the stones that need turning. Or take the assertion made on p. 284 that "conditions in this country have never called for the provision of credit banks." If Mr. Venn had studied the recently published Report of the Committee on Agricultural Credit he could hardly have been so sweeping. Or again take the statement made on p. 191 that "any extension of the arable land of this country is unthinkable." At the present moment it may be improbable ; but why unthinkable ? The author can hardly be unaware that there is a considerable school of thought which believes that an increase in the growth of forage crops on arable, both for pigs and dairy cattle, is one of the most probable developments of our agriculture.
But if Mr. Venn surveys the field of English agriculture with a rather dull and narrow view, if he has failed to rise to the height of his argument, or to give us that touch of real experience which makes books like Prothero's English Farming such delightful reading it would be unjust not to recognize the merits of a sound and careful piece of work. Mr. Venn's book will be, no doubt, a valuable treatise to many generations of agricultural students. It is illustrated by twelve excellent photographs and many maps and diagrams.
Pamir MORRELL.
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