AMERICAN FARMING AND FARMERS.

Evening Star, Issue 5589, 5 February 1881, Page 4

AMERICAN FARMING AND FARMERS.

The following digest of parts of aspcch d, livered at a meeting of the Farmers' Club, held in Holborn, London, by Mr C. S. Read, cm of the Awistant-Commhsiocers of the Royal Agricultural Commission, will be interesting on account of the information it gives (f the competition and competitors we have to oontend with in supplying the English market with food. He went on to j spsftk •< the two ohief agricultural subjects—toe preduetioai of wheat and cf beef. There { was m fear of competition from Sjuth Anerica, m agrionltaristß there grew ootton and tobacco, and would not turn their attention to wheat and beef. The Ewttrn States, again, felt the competition almost as severely as Bagland, for there land had even gone oat of enltivation. It was from the wheatgrowing prairies that we had to look for competition. He had calculated the costs of freight, and adding these costs to tbe costs of raising corn, he maintained that wheat could not be brought into the Mersey under 40a the quarter, and even then, he oontended, the wheat that produced would bring on land exhaustioß in time, when there would be an inorea*e in the ooit of production. In fact, if we could get ovec the next twentj-fiva years he woald net fear much from American eompstitioo. With rapsct to beef, however, he thought there were serious prospects of o.tnpetition from the vast herds of the Far West, for there was no question but that the American growers- of beef would be aWe to land beef in England at 61 the lb. The only good-looking barley he had seen io America was the Californisn, and the American brewers preferred that bo the Ceoadiau barley, even though they had to pay upon it an import duty of l\c per bushel. From this fact the growers of barley here might take heart, and believe that the malt and barley would not be displaced from beer, as some had irjphesied, for the Americana were tho most ingenious peeple on the earth, and if they found it best to recur to malt and barley for beer the same thing wiuld no doubt have to be done here. Aa to the price of oheese, they would not see it so low as it was in 1579. The merits of American butter were very small at present; the Americans made a v*ry inferior ariiole, fcu; they would no doubt improve, and gend a better batter to Eaglaed With regard to baooa, he r*jo : ced to know that in England there wm a prejudice in favor of British bacon sofficient to support a difference of 2J per lb, and he hoped this wouli continue. Sammiag mp the question of the position of the British farmers, Mr Read laid the farnascs b*d not made progress in the last season. Like es many Micawbers, they were hoping that "something would turn np"; bat, unfortunately, he did not know what c«uld turn up. Trie British farmer eeald defy competition with all esuatxie* exeept America. He did not care for the eompetitors in Europe, for what with their ever whelming armieß, their wornout Mil, M»4 ta«ir debts, the British farmer had aotaiag te f aar from them ; but from the ißgoriwu and industrious people of the West a awiMta oompebition had to be met, and the questioa was how this oould best be di no. 'tfw Aawrieaos had some virtues which might be iauta'ied with sdvantage in this eoaatry. Far instance, everyone rose early in Aiaerie*, The traveller could get as good a breakfast there at five o'clock as he could get here at nine o'clock. Tee American farmer aaa his men were hi the fields locigt before the hour at which the Bt#u*h»aa gob up, and the American iMrohoat bad a half-day's work dose before tie merchant in tfois country tad arrived in his counting-house. Then ia Asneriua they had aa advantage in having no leiaired or idle class, education was ****** and cheaper than in England, thvy had a Government department wholly devoted *• agriculture, they gave great afcteafctaa to pedigree stock, their buaioees wan eeednefced upon the principle of weighjto£ saeir produce, and every farm had its tnrijaiafl wtt"H""* for live and dead stock ; they aLw gave little time to sport and much mors to reading. They lived, too, without BKuaj •< these surroundings which were rcgaicUd heru as " home comforts." In regaxd la the future of tbe American nation be eob<ecß»d that he deemed it likely to beceibe tbe greatest on the face of the earta,