3 MARCH 1928, Page 14

In Oxfordshire I was advised to drive along a road

where I should see farms -left utterly derelict, already returning to thorns• and briars, almost alongside a farm on which a small fortune had been spent, and cultivation was intense. The contrast - is there . in very startling juxtaposition ; and the two farms are worth a pilgrimage by any student or politician. On the intensive farm very elaborate accounts have been kept and checked every quarter, or oftener, by a chartered accoun- tant. The results of the last year's experience are now being made up. It is hoped . that they will prove the economic possibility of making the desert blossom like the rose ; and more will be heard of the experiment. It is certain that the outstanding need of British farming is capital.