194 A FARMER'S YEAR 



question that some traders hold it to matter little if the British 

 public be deceived, and the British farmer defrauded by the sale 

 as his j)roduce of goods which he never grew, so long as the end 

 of all trade — a heavy dividend — is satisfactorily achieved. 



I heard a good story to-day about the Radical candidate. It 

 is said that at one of his meetings a farmer in the audience, pro- 

 ducing a swede out of one pocket and a mangold wurzel from the 

 other, offered them to the candidate, and asked him politely to 

 give them a. name, whereon he gave the wrong name. Although 

 it was told circumstantially enough, I do not believe this story, 

 first, because it is an old one, which, if far more harmless, is used 

 against the Radical from a distance in very much the same way 

 that the famous * nine bob a week ' fiction is used against the local 

 Conservative ; and secondly, because I doubt any farmer having 

 the courage to try the experiment, since, if his would-be victim by 

 good luck or good judgment should give the right answer, it 

 would be long before that practical joker heard the last of his jest. 

 The tale, however, is interesting, because in a humorous form it 

 raises the entire question as to what sort of man best represents a 

 county division. The obvious answer appears to be — one who 

 lives in the country and is acquainted with its pursuits. But this 

 is by no means the view taken by many constituencies, who seem 

 to think that the less their member knows of them and they know 

 of him, the better. 



In the first case the defendant pleaded "Guilty," and said a mistake was 

 made. Mr. Ricketts said the article contained 84 per cent, of fat other than 

 butter. Mr. Rose remarked that the small fines hitherto imjjosed had not had 

 the effect of stopping the practice, and it was quite time to increase them. He 

 fined the defendant 8/. with 2^s. costs.' 



'ENGLISH MEAT! 



' At Guildhall, yesterday, the English Farmers' Association (Limited), who 

 professed to supply the public direct with English meat of the finest quality, 

 so as " to save the consumer the large profits made by butchers," were fined, 

 including costs, 44/. 4J". on two charges of selling New Zealand or Australian 

 mutton as Welsh. It was stated that no English farmers were connected with 

 the defendant association.' 



