If anyone of urban mind desires to admire our farmers
he should go to such a district as this. They have retreated only from untenable positions. Nowhere could you find finer crops than the wheat and beans on the more congenial fields : what could be held has been held. The yield will certainly amount to four quarters to the acre over a consid- erable acreage ; and such straw is rare. It is perhaps a not unimportant indication of the change in farming that Rivet's wheat is being grown more and more in the neigh- bourhood. It is, of course, rough in quality, but yields well and its " beard " makes it more or less sparrow-proof. As to price, since wheat for chicken food frequently fetches as much as wheat for flour what advantage is there in sowing the latest product of Sir Rowland BilTen's genius ? Its " strength " is doubtless of great theoretic worth, but as things are this quality does little to pad out the purse of English farmers—such is the local argument. * * * *
Previous page
