WHAT IS WRONG WITH BRITISH AGRICULTURE ?
[To the Editor Of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—I hope , and believe that the correspondence on the question " What is wrong with British Agriculture ? " will do good, and Mr. Boving should be congratulated on giving it a good " send off." Only two points in his articles I wish to refer to (1) In his first article he stated an undeniable fact—that dairy produce, bacon,' and eggs on the import of which we spend 2150,000,000 could all be produced at home. Of course they could. The ordinary reader at once draws the inference from this true statement that the British farmer must be an idiot. I think, however, that he should be told that, so long as the foreigner has the free Use of our markets he will continue to send his surplus produce so long as he finds our markets give him the best return in money. He does not send these things to oblige us, and I have no hesitation in saying that it ten per cent. reduction in the price of these commodities would only serve to reduce the amount imported. Before this reduction -in price was reached, a good many of our small producers (of eggs especially) would have given up produetion. . (2) Mr. Boving thinks that we want object lessons in every county to be given by Dutch and Danish farmers, who will show how to produce the fruits of the soil. I venture to assert that there are, in the best farmed districts in Scotland and England, farmers who are now producing better results in extensive cultivation than can be shown in any country in the world. Mr. Boving may say that he referred to small farms and intensive cultivation. He will, however, admit that the formation of a number of small farms out of the existing large ones is a very expensive process. I could point to some small holdings of about thirty acres taken from a larger farm, and fitted- with dwelling-house and buildings by a county council. To obtain from these a moderate interest on money expended rents had to be charged nearly three times as large as the rent of the large farm from which the land was taken. The result is that of these present tenants one is a successful grocer who wanted a "spare-time recreation, another is a haulier who keeps a good many horses, another is a builder. I do not think that it was for " such as these that the small farms were intended: I .fear that what I have written only draws attention to the fact that the question propounded is not so simple as it might
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