WHAT IS WRONG WITH BRITISH AGRICULTURE y ,. • 470 the
Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—With experience reaching back to disastrons 1879, several things wrong with agriculture seem-to me to be over- looked. With money value thirteen-twentieths of pre-War times, wages are distinctly higher, while the work done in return-is very much less=and any attempt to get the same work as in pre-War times leads to trouble in several directions: Cows are milked at unequal intervals, resulting'in loss of milk and higher prices. Mechanical elevators can make heaps—but not properly constructed stacks—which evidently require too much exertion. The result is enormous loss, especially where there is careless thatching.
Swedes are spiked instead of hand-pulled. They and man- golds are often filled into carts with a fork, suffering-possibly 10 per cent. damage. Horses used to be fed one and a-half or two hours before being taken to work. Half-an-hour often has to suffice now. A man and a pair used to plough an acre a day on stiff land. Three-quarters would be nearer the average now. Illustrations might be increased. Few farmers can afford to pay higher wages, but what inducement is there for them to try if the result is likely to be a distinct drop in the quantity and quality of the woik-dotie in return ?7-I am,
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