THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Mornings. Nelson, Thursday, January 17, 1895. AGRICULTURE IN ENGLAND.

Colonist, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8148, 17 January 1895, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily — Mornings. Nelson, Thursday, January 17, 1895. AGRICULTURE IN ENGLAND.

Froyi an agricultural point o! view, tbe depreciation in prices is having a depressing effect in England, but as we have before pointed out, the consequence id not an an unmixed evil in the Old Oouutry. Nevertheless, come of the figures recently published serve to show that material losses bave taken pi .cc. For instance, the report of a Committee of the Norfolk Cbamber of Agriculture se'.e forth tbat the fall in tbe valae of the corn crop of Norfolk in 1894. as compared w.th 1874, approximates to three millions sterling. It is Btated, too, that thsr. has been no equivalent increase in profits from stock grazing, sbeep bre-ding, or dairying to meet the loss in oorn growing, inasmuoh as competition h s been very se.ere. Indeed, it is shown that both

as regards tha namber of sheep and of oattle there has been a decrease daring l tho period cf twenty years in ihe \ County mentioned, f_r in 1874 Norfo k ! possessed 762,000 sheep, but in 189.: i only 519,000, and ag to the oattle tbe ] number fell bjtween the years men- ; tioned by two thousand to 126 000. ; Thu_ lhe loss in oattle acd Bheep is J set down at -.384,500, tin average ] value of the sheep being placed at 803, ' aud of oattl . d6lO. Undir these oon- . ditions it is not surprising to r-ad i th%t "rents have declined 25 to 35 per cent on th. best laud*, ad 40 to j GO per cent on the medium land., ' whilst for some of the poor, he .vy ' lands no rent is obtainable. According to evidenoa given before the Ro^al i Commission on ..grioultare by the ! Chairman aud Seoretary of the Derbyshire Dairy Farmers' Association, ; evidenoe that ia extremely interesting, : it would seem that while some classes had 6uff red, the condition of agricultural laborers had materi .llj improved daring th> laet iwentyfive years, »<nd that vu-y few were nnemp'oyed Wages h d risen from 18s or 14s a week to 18s. The rural depopulation during Iho pas'; 20 years, it wa. said, had been from five to ten per cent, and that while the spending power of the owner and ocoupier had very muoh decreased, that of the laborers had increased 20 per cent In the County referred to iha rural depopulation is cirtainly not more thun night reasonably be expected from the inoreasimg use of l.bor saving ap- , p iasces. How.ver, the ex^erienc3B v of Derbyshire are cot ihoae of every conn y, for in Lincolnshire it wonld s.em that the waces of agricultural laborers have ial.eu from 18i to 123. Jadgiug from a resolution pa.sed by the Council of the L_ioo ; n shire Agricultural Society some nr ntns back thing, must be in a bad state in that oonoty, or elo9 the membeis cf the Oooncil take a mQre gloomy view than their neighbors, for tbey urged '• that agricultural land should be freed from taxation, except for purely lccal requirements, and that, to raise the necessary funds for ihis without pacing any burden upon other interest i, a registration fee of 2 j per cent ail valorem 0:_ all importa'ions to the Uuitod Kingdom ba advocated, and a hither fi-e of 2^ per cent upon all such thirg.. as are iv competition with Bri i.h m.mufucturers and producers in oar markets." As to the valuo of land it may ba stated that farms in Essex have recently sold for l.ss than £10 an cere, and tbe owner oi' e.tatea iv Berkshire, . xfordshire, ani Cambridgeshire, com^ pri-iog 8000 acrss, recently stattd that his net inoome in tie shape of rent represented less than two p&r on bis outlay, and the ren s ranged from 28 . to 80s an acre, inclusive of rates, roads, and fenoee. Then a Monmouthshire farmer declared that the laborers were bet.er off than the imall farmers. The differences ex a ing between one county aud another are very noticeable, and bo ia the faot that prices vary most materi illy ; thus, at the beginning of November wheat .old at 27s per qua.tsr at Penrith, and aa low as 15s Gd at Sandwich. But it bas to be remembered that, although some of the English farmei s and farm laborers have suffered, tbe consumers generally have piofited, as was shown by one witness before the Royal Commission, who said that the price of beef had depreciated sinoe 1888 by from 2d to 3d a pound, mutton abont ld, cheese 20s to 30s a cwt., and butter 4d to 6d per lb. Thus the balk of the people have gained considerably from the foreign and oolonial competition. But the information we have gathered 1 from late papers has a b aring npon New Zealand agrioulturikt.. It is evident tbat if low rents aad light local taxation are requisite iv England in order to meet outside competi'ion, New Zealanders who are handicapped by freights must, in order to find a market in Britain, have a etill more [ favorable basi3 of operations. Climate and soil may give advantages to co'onist?, bnt there is a risk as regards seasons, which, considering the disadvantages in r.spect to distance, haß to be oarefuily considered. It is plain that land will not stand fanciful prioes or usurious rates of intere t. As i regards lhe estimated value of land, it has been asserted that tbis has dropped to bed rock level, aud we trabt that it has, and that the level will admit of profits, for unless calculations may ba ba6ed on a solid bottom disasters may be looked for. Admitting, however, that a solid foundation has bern found on which to ba.e calculations, it is apparent that a period of prosper, y is before the Oolony, acd providing that prevailing prices continue moderate, the great bulk of English consumers will still derive substantial advat-tv^e.