The very last rows of potatoes from a field of
over thirty acres were being put into clamps, which pretty well encircled the field. The crop was good, the quantity good ; but at present prices each acre would show a loss of at least £6. Last year losses were greater, not particularly on this farm, but in general. Even public institutions such as hospitals were buying new imported potatoes at £15 to £17 a ton, when good English potatoes were unsaleable at £1 or £2. Our farm- ing economists seem to be coming to the opinion that imports from Southern countries are quite killing the trade in early produce, though it is the early crop of fruit, vegetables and potatoes that has always been sold at the highest price. The hops on the farm were magnificent, as good as the best from Kent or Worcestershire, but hops, which are the most inten- sive of all farm crops, have been over-produced—not in England, but in Europe. Again, blackcurrants, quoted for years as the most stable of all crops in price, were this year a drug in the market.
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