

in I'njiitnl \'u' I . i. a\uur has 



made to distinguish Ix-twccn cash profit*, on the 

 one band, and, on tin- other hand, such proportion 

 of the balance -h. .-t profits as nr<> largely due to 

 appreciation in tli value of ,t... k. or ili<> <-i|iu\a. 

 lent of such stock, w h . h \\.i- alioaih <iii tin- taini 

 upon the outbreak of war. 



Broadly speaknm. the capital in\cst,-d m each 

 farm has nearly doublet! itself at to-day's* valua- 

 tions, aa compared to prewar valuation-.. The 

 man who considered himself north l:t,iHKi in 1!U4 

 may consider himself worth about .VJ.~>o to<la\. 



The figures for capital in the talmlar state- 

 inent. whether for 1911 ur for 191s, should, in 

 most cases, be regarded as approximate, but not 

 absolutely accurate. 



It is my suggestion that such increase in capital 

 value should not be regarded as profit unless and 

 until it is realised by the fanner going out of 

 farming. 



For the purposes of Ihis Report and of tin- 

 tabular statement presented herewith, in most 

 cases only the rash profits, meaning the amount 

 of cash taken out of or put back into the farm. 

 have been considered in arriving at the return 

 of interest upon capital or of profit made per acre. 

 The increase in capital values is here to-day but 

 may be gone to-morrow, and 1 prefer to call it bv 

 t hi' plain and ugly name of " Inflation of Capital 

 Values," however such values may be based upon 

 the market price of the moment. 



1'rofi.tt. The cash profits have been good, especially 

 during the years 1916 and 191". At Christmas, 

 1917, was a period, lasting three or four weeks, 

 when little fortunes were, in some instances, made, 

 and, in most instances, farmers made, in that 

 brief period, a most abnormal, exceptional profit 

 in the fat stock market, which greatly influenced 

 the results of many of the 1917-18 accounts. 

 (Vide my Notes on Northumberland.) Discretion 

 has, therefore, been used, since the object is to 

 show fair average samples of farming costs and 

 results, in not putting forward the more extreme 

 1917 results. Instances are known where as much 

 aa 50 profit per beast was made. 

 Recovery of Past Lo$ses. In my previous Notes it has 

 been asserted that the best that any farmer has 

 done during the war has been to recover a good 

 part of the losses which he or his father before 

 him made in the late 70's, '80's, and '90's. It 

 has not been found possible to give proof of this 

 assertion in statement form. Corroboration of 

 the correctness of the view has been produced by 

 executors in connection with the winding-tip of 

 estates, details of which your investigator is not 

 at liberty to divulge. An instance is provided in 

 the case of a farmer who was a careful book- 

 keeper, and whoso books showed, when the estate 

 came to be wound up upon his decease, that 

 during the '80's and the '90's he steadily lost 

 ground, and he farmed then at a yearly loss. 

 When the farmer very recently died, it was seen 

 that by the time of his death he had exactly 

 recovered, since the war and immediately previous 

 to the war, the earlier losses, and his account was 

 just squared. This farmer had the reputation of 

 being an able farmer, and one wlio improved his 

 land according to modern scientific methods. 

 1'nxh Profit* i>ut bnrk intn ihr Fnrm*. Attention 

 should be drawn to the instances in which a largo 

 proportion of the profits made since the war have 

 )>eon put back into the farms in the form of 

 higher manuring. Improvement lias also been, in 

 naiiy instances, made in the quality of tin- live 

 took kept ami dealt with, and these latter im- 

 provements cannot be seen in the aeeouir 

 .< rinr r'niiniiK/ Mitlitnl? tif tl(, \tntli<in I'oniiln -. 

 Owing to the fact that it has in many insi 

 not been possible to ascertain with sufficient 

 accuracy to state for statistical purposes the 

 amount .f pie-war and post-war expenditure upon 

 manures, although the improvement is .sufficiently 

 obvious to those wl-o visit the fauns, it has not 

 been possible to ( nfirm statistically the 1111 

 doubted fart that the average farming methods 

 in the Northern Counties of England arte of a vcrx 

 much higher order than the average farming 

 methods of the Midlands, especially in regard to 

 the application of artificial manures. 



1'liu. anil many other point* will be much inoic 

 uacertaiiuible in future, now that, owing to the 

 exigencies of the Income Tux Collector, most 

 farmers are learning to k uo books and 



to prepare balance sheets. 



Uutjm-t of Labour more liiti*>il<iiit tlmn the \\'aye. 

 As a means of meeting the present high costs of 

 farming. < \< i\ i. inner will support the thesis th.it 

 output is of more ini|xii tarn e thau wag.-. I have 

 MI to meet the farmer who complains of the 

 present wage, provided that the hours are not too 

 much meddled with. 



Oc'itime AUou-i / i/<". not /n < < ami-Hy iinjili/ thai 

 Overtime will In II Offe I imjxjrtaut to note 

 this fact, and the proof of it is found in what 

 is taking place in some districts at the present 

 time. 



The Bun/en of Overtime I'mj in H-unn Ilistrictt is very 

 great. In some counties it is quito unusual to have 

 more than a very few days of unbroken weather 

 in the hay and harvest seasons. The hardship 

 upon the farmers of having to pay oveitime rates 

 under such circumstances is obvious. As an ex- 

 ample, take the Cumberland farmer. His farm 

 is comparatively Miiall. Hi.s men live in his ho 

 and are, consequently, living at home. The men 

 have perhaps next to nothing to do in the middle 

 of the day owing to showers of rain and the hay 

 being in cocks. In the evening a fresh wind 

 blows and a bright sun shines. The farmer and 

 his men rush out and lead hay. The farmer i- 

 it a real hardship to have to pay overtime for an 

 hour or two's work in the evening when he has 

 deducted neither pay nor food for the compara- 

 tively idle time in the middle of the day. Hay 

 or corn got under such conditions is necessarily 

 a very expensive crop in a rainy county. 

 MMrUM of <>>ttiit in Ihi .YI/I-//MTII 1'oiiiit'n* utol 

 in tin- MiiUniiil <in,l Soiitlurn 1'outitir*. A glance 

 at the details of the examples already presented. 

 together with the notes anent them, taken from 

 various counties, shows the longer hours worked, 

 the superior skill of the worker, the greater con- 

 tentment of the worker, the higher pay of tin- 

 worker, the far greater output of the worker 

 especially noting the number of workers per hun- 

 dred acres in the Northern Counties as com 

 pared to the Midlands and South. The lower 

 military recruitment and the consequent less sub- 

 stituted labour and the presence of M TV able 

 women workers in Northumberland arc points to 

 be noted. 



Avay-Goingt (and System of 1'mjmrnt of Kent in thr 

 North). This system is of great importa,u. li 

 enables farmers to take and to work larger farms 

 than they could otherwise do with the capital at 

 their disposal. 



The custom in some Northern Districts of- 

 giving a running half-year for payment of rent 

 has the same effect. 



The system of allowing " a running half--. 

 for payment of rent that is to say. six months' 

 credit is usually given; thus a man enters his 

 farm at 12th May, and his first hall tA i- 



due at llth November, but, as a rule, is not coIln 

 ted till the following April or May. so that h.- 

 has a year's sale before being called on to pay 

 rent. 



The custom of " away-going crops." under 

 which the outgoing tenant puts in the crop and 

 the entering tenant takes it over at valuation, but 

 does not pay for it till it is realised, payim-m 

 being made in two instalments, the first in 

 January and the second in .Itinr succeeding entry. 

 Tin se i ustoins make the entry easier, as all a 

 man requires, in addition to his stock, are a few 

 hundreds to pay compensation claim, wages, and 

 other Hi outgoings, until he h.-gins to sell 



stock of crops to meet tin-in. On a breeding farm, 

 he probably begins to sell lambs in July, and his 

 wool eonies in about ill.- .same time. 



The svstem. as already stated, enables a man tn 

 take a farm with h-ss capital than he would other 

 u ise do. init ill many i asi-s. it i* to he feared, it, 

 induces him to 'take it with less capital than he 

 ought to have. as. if he ran scrape- a little stock 

 ether. In- trusts to selling something, or letting 

 his " fogs '' and turnips to pay his way for (In- 

 first year. Thus the \\stcm has both its advan- 

 tages* and disadvantages. 



