130 Stocking Land. 



3. How far unproductiveness is connected with the climate, 

 aspect, and elevation of the land in question. 



4. That a soil is barren simply because there is too little of 

 it, or 



5. That it is unproductive simply because a thin surface soil 

 rests on a stiff clay-subsoil of great depth. 



6. What is the relative productiveness of different soils. 

 There are other matters in connection with this subject on 



Avhich soil-analyses cannot possibly j^ive any information. It is 

 well to bear in mind that some matters affecting the fertility of 

 land can be most positively decided by analysis, and others not; 

 for if this is neglected the agriculturist will not reap the practical 

 benefit which the chemical examination of soils is well calculated 

 to confer in most cases. 



12, Sdlishury Square, 



London, E.C, Jan. 18G5. 



IX. — On Stocking Land. By the Rev. J. L. Breeeton. 



jNIy deae Me. Feeee, — 



In complying with your request that I would send you 

 some account of my farm, I must ask you to make allowance for 

 the unprofessional character of my statement. It is, however, to 

 the best of my knowledge, correct ; and the valuations have been 

 revised and approved by men of experience and repute as prac- 

 tical farmers. Though I do not profess to be an adept in the 

 art of farming, I have for some years followed it as a pursuit of 

 much interest ; and if I have not realised a profit equivalent to 

 the cost and trouble bestowed, I think I have learnt some of the 

 conditions under which farming in England may be hopefully 

 carried on, as not only a pleasant but a remunerative occupation. 

 An opinion seems now to be rapidly spreading through England, 

 that the plants which the farmer grows will not yield him so much 

 profit as the animals he feeds. Whilst free trade and cheapened 

 transport have greatly affected the value of corn, animal produc- 

 tions — such as fresh meat, milk, butter, and wool — command a 

 sale that justifies the use of even the more costly grain in pro- 

 viding them. The moist climate of North Devon had led me 

 for some years to anticipate this opinion, and to think that my 

 neighbours were wrong in making corn the principal object of 

 their industrious efforts ; a gradual impoverishment of them- 

 selves and their land seemed to me too probable a result from 



