INTRODUCTION ii 



The Duke of Devonshire, in another speech during 

 the same year, spoke of stock-breeding as " the very- 

 sheet-anchor of British agriculture." Here we have 

 the utterances of three Cabinet Ministers delivered 

 before and received with enthusiasm by agricultural 

 audiences. Yet the annual statistics prove that stock- 

 breeding is on the decrease. 



In 1897 the diminution of farm livestock in com- 

 parison with 1896 was: horses, 21,275; cattle, 5,769; 

 sheep, 309,882; pigs, 484,954; grand total, 821,880. 

 In 1897 there were 75,000 acres more than in 1896 

 under tillage for corn crops and a diminution of 

 163,000 acres in pasture. I trust that I have not 

 been tedious in quoting these figures, which apply 

 to England alone ; but they are of importance to my 

 argument.* They prove that there has been an 

 increase in the class of small farmers, who farm from 

 two to five hundred acres of arable land. These men 

 can seldom afford to hunt, and derive very few of the 

 direct advantages to which I have alluded. In regard 

 to the indirect advantages, they would smile at me if 

 I were to point out to them that the welfare of 

 agriculture means the prosperity of the individual 

 farmer, and they have told me that all that hunting 

 men do for them is to trample down their fences and 

 to ride over their growing crops. We may deplore 

 the fact, but it is impossible to blame these men, who 

 have more than they can do to make both ends meet, 



* The figures returned by the Agricultural Annual for 1900, pub- 

 lished since this was written, further prove my argument. 



