2 PERMANENT AND TEMPORARY PASTURES 



intervening years, 1895, 189G, 1901-2-3 and 1904, this propor- 

 tion was exceeded.^ 



When wet summers followed each other in close succes- 

 sion, the opinion was freely expressed that farmers were suffering 

 principally from the excessive rainfall, and that immediately 

 hot summers returned those who had hastily laid down their 

 land would be equally hasty in ploughing it up again. But 

 in the South of England we have had hot seasons, accom- 

 panied with drought sufficient to turn pastures brown and 

 to prevent the growth ot much aftermath, yet no one thinks 

 of ploughing the sod. On the contrary, it is considered more 

 than ever fortunate for both landlord and tenant that such 

 land remains free from the increasingly heavy outgoings for 

 labour which, with low prices for produce, render arable land 

 unprofitable. 



jMany causes have combined to bring about the conversion 

 of arable into meadow and pasture. Chief among these in- 

 fluences have been the low price of corn, the reduced capital 

 of agriculturists, and the increased cost of labour — and these 

 conditions still prevail. 



However reluctant we may be to accept the situation as 

 permanent, the fact is indisputable that foreign wheat can at 

 present be profitably delivered in British ports for a smaller 

 sum than the actual cost of gi'owing and harvesting the crop 

 in this country. Formerly the sale of corn was regarded as 

 the means of setting farmers' finances straight for the year. 

 Now the corn rotation is looked upon as more or less a 

 necessary evil, and as involving the most unremunerative 

 outlay of the whole course. 



The diminished capital in the hands of many farmers 

 renders it impossible for them so to till then- land as to secure 

 the largest possible produce. The only way of ensuring 

 economy in working their holdings is to lay down a con- 

 siderable proportion of the land to grass. 



1 The lowest record was in 1904, when the area sown was 1,375,188 acres. 



