23 NOVEMBER 1934, Page 30

"Knocking" England The truth is that we have " knocked"

(as Sam Slick said) our land, while more ardent spirits have boomed land in America and Australasia. That we have " knocked " our land to a nether absurdity has been proved, by Mr. Hosier, an agricultural reformer who bears comparison with Coke of Norfolk himself. The downland at Wexcombe has, I should say, trebled in value since he showed the world the right method of cultivating it, and enriching it. Incidentally, one invaluable attribute in his open-air system is the health of his stock. Tuberculosis, the cardinal malady of dairy cattle kept in confinement, has ceased to threaten ; and even his poultry, though they are eabined, do not suffer from the commoner

and worse ailments. * * * *