Hopeful Farmers Such hopefulness has been made articulate at a
number of the better agricultural shows. There was a moment when the seed merchants, and indeed some of the makers of machinery, threatened to give up their established patronage. They said that the shows had become peep-shows for unagricultural folk, and that they no longer met farmer clients. The threat was indeed carried out by a good many tradesmen. They have now returned. You see again at this season a satis- factory number of vertical sheaves of oats, barley and wheat and representatiOn of clovers, foddercrops and grasses. The machinery has increased immensely, and is of all sorts. In Kent, as in Hereford, great numbers of children are brought to, the shows and " the Young Farmers " exhibit their own stock and many compete in the art of judging. Whether the large and general increase in the number of goats means that the cottagers are finding out the value of " the poor man's cow " I do not know ; but the English goat has in- creased out of recognition of the quality of milk production. Local crafts make a better and better display, especially in the West, though perhaps the blacksmith craftsmen are best in Kent, Hampshire and Hertfordshire.
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