April 15, 1920] 



NATURE 



20: 



in tlie nodules in the clover-roots, and is unique 

 among the phenomena of the farm. 



Unfortunately, clover, unlike other crops, cannot be 

 grown frequently on the same land, and, consequently, 

 the farmer is unable to make as much use of it as 

 he would like. Investigators have for many years 

 been trying to increase the effectiveness of the clover 

 organism, but without result. Inoculation of the soil 

 with virulent strains has been tried, but it was un- 

 successful in this country, although results are claimed 

 in the United States. The problem has recently been 

 taken up at Rothamsted, and one reason found for the 

 previous failure. The organism has several stages 

 in its life-history, one of which is a period of rest; 

 some conditions favour a long rest, others a shorter 

 one, and Mr. H. G. Thornton is endeavouring to find 

 out how to increase the activity of the organism in 

 the soil and ensure that its work shall be done. 

 Attention is being devoted also to the causes of failure 

 of the crop. The clover crop furnishes some of the 

 most important problems in arable farming before us. 

 In the meantime, a working solution lies in growing 

 an admixture of grasses with the clover. This reduces 

 the risk of failure while considerably benefiting both 

 soil and farmer. 



.\ typical arable district is thus a busy region in 

 which both farmers and workers are kept constantly 

 occupied. The crops claim attention all through the 

 year, and particularly in summer, while in winter 

 tlje animals need attention. Four or more men can 

 be regularly employed per loo acres. An organised 

 village life has developed, having distinctive charac- 

 teristics of its own and presenting endless scope for the 

 intelligent social worker. 



Grass farming, on the other hand, stands out in 

 sharp contrast with all this. The grass farmer puts 

 his animals into the fields, and Nature does the rest; 

 when they are fat he sells them to the butcher. It 

 is essentially summer work; the winters are left 

 free. .As no man can long- remain idle, there has 

 been an extensive development of hunting and its 

 attendant occupation, horse-breeding, in the English 

 grass regions. While the grass farmer's life is not 

 all idyllic joy, it is, at any rate, free from much of 

 the worry and uncertainty of arable farming, and it 

 brings in sufficient money to ensure a modest com- 

 petence. One can quite understand the reluctance of 

 the farmer to quit this path of safetv. 



If one could accept the doctrine that a man could 

 do what he liked with his land, the grass farmer could 

 be left alone and reckoned among Virgil's too happy 

 husbandmen. But this doctrine is now somewhat 

 out of court, and the needs of the communitv have 

 also to be taken into account. From this point of 

 view grass husbandry, in spite of its safeness for the 

 individual farmer, is not so good for the communitv 

 as arable farming, since it is less productive per acre 

 of ground. This was realised before the war, and 

 was vividlv brought to the notice of farmers b'v Sir 

 Thomas Middleton, who drew uo the following 

 table :— " ^ 



Number of Persons who could be Supplied with Energy 

 for One Year from the Products of loo Acres of 

 Poor pasture converted into meat ... 2-4 



Medium pasture ditto ... 12-14 



Rich pasture ditto ... 25-50 



Arable land producing corn and meat ... loo-iio 

 The area of rich pasture is very restricted. An im- 

 provement can often be made in poor and medium 

 pasture by the use of basic slag, bv drainage, and in 

 other ways, but the results could p'robablv never sur- ' 

 pass those now obtained on rich "pasture. None of | 

 them approach the results obtained on arable land. | 

 NO. 26^3, VOL. 105] . 



During the war, therefore, the policy of the Food 

 Production Department was to convert grassland 

 into arable, and much was done ; but now that the 

 element of compulsion has disappeared some of the 

 arable is going back to grass. It is not that the 

 farmer is trying to avoid work; he is impressed by 

 the greater risk of arable farming,* and, above all, 

 he desires to keep to the well-established principle 

 that his system of husbandry must suit the local 

 conditions. This is strikingly shown by the following 

 returns from a large number of farms : — 



Collected by the Agricultural Costings Committee. 



Income per I<2xpenciiture Profit^ Capital 



acre per acre per acre per acre 



England and Wales— £ s. d. £ s. </. ^ .». ,/. £ s. ,i. 



Mixed farms ... 9 12 5 10 2 11 1 7 2 13 9 o 



Dairy farms ... 14 17 o 13 18 5 i 74 15 7 o 



Corn and sheep 7 7 i 7 4 10 i 14 2 12 10 9 



Large sheep farm 143 o 17 6085 17 10 



All acottibh ... 5 10 y 4 15 10 1 4 11 7 7 9 



The profit per acre from the large sheep farm is 

 small in itself, but it is large in proportion to the 

 capital and the expenditure, and, given a sufficient 

 acreage, the farm is more lucrative than the more 

 risky mixed or dairy farms. The risk of corn pro- 

 duction can, and probably will, have to be met by 

 some system of insurance or guarantee; but the need 

 to conform to local conditions will always remain. 



The problem therefore arises : Can a system of 

 husbandry be devised which suits' the natural condi- 

 tions as well as grass, and is as productive of 

 total wealth as arable crops? I believe this can be 

 done. Grass is not the only crop adapted to moist 

 conditions or heavy soils, and appropriate for the pro- 

 duction of meat and milk. Many other leaf or root 

 crops serve as well, some of which yield much more 

 food per acre than does grass. Vetches, rape, man- 

 golds, kale, and marrow-stem kale can all be used 

 direct, and there are various mixtures of oats with 

 peas, tares, vetches, etc., that can be fed green :md 

 made into hay or silage as the farmer may wish. The 

 use of these crops in the place of grass for the feeding 

 of livestock is known as the soiling system. 



We are only just beginning to discover the com- 

 binations of crops best suited to particular conditions. 

 An interesting experiment is in progress at the Harper 

 Adams Agricultural College, which, however, should 

 be repeated elsewhere. Each crop is governed by the 

 same general laws as hold for cereals. In each case 

 the vield and feeding value can both be increased by 

 the proper use of artificial fertilisers, and there is the 

 further possibility of great improvement by the plant- 

 breeder. 



It is in this direction that I think British agricul- 

 ture will develop in the future. The system is strictly 

 in accordance with the laws of science, and therefore 

 it needs a minimum amount of artificial support. It 

 gives the farmer abundant scope for the production 

 of livestock, which he has always regarded as his 

 sheet anchor, and the community an abundant pro. 

 duction of food per acre. Most important of all, while 



* On our ordinary farm at Rothamsted (distinc' from the experiment.il 

 land) the expenditure on arable 'nnd is continuously increasing, while that 

 on the grassland is much less. The fifrures are : — 



Grass fhay) 3 k ... 4 16 ... 6 o 



„ (grazing) ... 2 15 ... 24 ... 30 



Direct wage payments account for about 40 per cent, of the expenditure on 

 arable land, but for less than 15 per cent, of that on grassland. 

 ' Including change in valuation. 



