English Agricultural Advantages.

Southland Times, Issue 9164, 13 March 1886, Page 4

English Agricultural Advantages.

. «. In elosinsr an article on the prospects of farming in England, a correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette says :'— Notwithstanding the difficulties with which British agriculture is at present surrounded, I cannot close without passing in review the several permanent advantages, which, as a country, we possess. n(1.) Notwithstanding the fitf ulness of our climate for arable and pastoral suits combined—corn, roots, "and gTass— it is equal if not superior to any in the world, - (2.) Although much of the land of the king dom is poor or of medium quality and difficult to till, as a whole it is highly productive, as is shown by the high average yield as compared with other countries, - . . (3.) Ah abundance of .labour of a -more sVilfulkind is available at a much less cost than is within the reach of farmers of America, or most other of our competing countries— lndia excepted, r- (4.) With probably the exception of Belgium, we have greater facilities for carriage by railway than any other country. (5.> Our breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses are rte best and most profitable in the .world. All other countries resort to us for -"blood wherewith to improve and renovate their own stock. (6.) No other country possesses a clasß equal either in capital or skill to the tenantfarmer* of England and Scotland. C7i) In no other country is" there, as in tßis, "a demand af home, not only for all that "' the land will produce, but more than it is capable of yielding. .Having thus summarised our advantages, I •- would remark that! have often heard people enlarge upon the advantages possessed by the American cultivator, and who have appeared to forget that neither wheat nor any other crop is produced by magic. " Whexever ■wheat is grown, the same processes have to be gone through— ploughing, sowing, harlowing, rblljiig, cutting, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, sacking, and conveying to market. Of course, each and all of these operations cost money, and I do not know one of them which can be performed at a cheaper, if at so chear/ a rate, in America as in England. So again in respect of a bullock or sheep ; neither can be brought to maiket' in America except by the consumption of an equal amount of food required by similar animals in England. Both subjects, wheat'growing and cattle-raising, resolve themselves mainly into the questions of what is the total relative cost to the farmers of the land upon which they are raised, and what is the relative security of the English farmer and his American rival ?—Agricuitttral Gazette. .