DORSET AND HERTs.
This tribute is immediately prompted by two recent experienceS, one with the Hertfordshire Institute of Agri- culture, known as " Oaklands," near St. Albans, the other with a like- institution in Dorset; which recently staged much the most lovely exhibit of rural Pioduction=especially in poultry—that 'is contained in the records of agricultural shows. In Dorset it is possible to trace the rapid growth of production directly to the energy and ingenious and, more- over, most witty propaganda of the organizers of the CountY Council Farm Institute. It is largely due to them, or to him, that the poultry within the county has trebled, or thereabout, with three' or four years. All sorts of new and strange technical secrets are becoming common property : for instance, host cocks' may be distinguished from hens as soon as they come out of the egg, in a' number of crosses. The small man has perhaps learnt more than the bigger farmer from the County Councils, but then he knew less and he is not less important in the aggregate. Nevertheless, the whole subject of agri- culture is covered, extensive grass as well as intensive hens, and all land' workers benefit, knowledge spreads, and such knowledge in the long run will restore prosperity to British agriculture.
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