THE AGRICULTURE ACT 83 



might be unable to furnish nineteen trained 

 agriculturists. Are we to understand that only 

 truly rural minds will henceforth be eligible to 

 fill the chairmanship, the vice-chairmanship, 

 and the chairmanship of the Finance Com- 

 mittee, of that particular County Council? If 

 one could be sure that even County Councils 

 always observed the laws they administer, the 

 affirmative would be the only possible answer. 

 As a matter of fact, the enforcement of this 

 particular regulation has already brought the 

 Ministry into conflict with some of the County 

 Councils, and it is not always the agricultural 

 interest that has emerged successfully from the 

 contest. It would be interesting to examine 

 the agricultural credentials of some of the 

 members of the Committee on which I serve, 

 especially the claims to a seat of a war-time 

 knight, who at the first meeting tried to stultify 

 the work of the new organisation by describing 

 a county that has more agricultural land than 

 either Huntingdonshire or the County of 

 Holland in Lincolnshire as "non-agricultural." 

 Inasmuch as these Agricultural Committees 

 are Committees of County Councils, they 

 become subject to the financial control of the 

 County Council Finance Committee, although 

 very little of their cost is chargeable to County 

 Funds. The services administered by the 

 Agricultural Committees can be divided into 

 three groups financially. 



