SHORTCOMINGS OF OUR AGRICULTURE, ii 



All the more unwise for us to miss so excellent and tempting 

 an opportunity of turning the plant food contained in our 

 soil into money. After Mr. Prothero's promising reference 

 to the very great utility of potatoes for remunerative indus- 

 trial purposes we may hope that a very much larger quan- 

 tity of potatoes will be grown in this country in the future. 

 Our Agriculture will gain by the changes. The greater 

 equableness of our climate, ensuring a longer period of 

 vegetation than in Germany, and our practical freedom 

 from the danger of early frosts in the autumn — stand 

 decidedly in our favour. 



Over and besides all this, it ought to be borne in 

 mind that in Germany practically there is no raising of 

 rent. For the most part the occupier is also owner of 

 his land and secure of a return for all his improvements, 

 in the shape either of annual yield or else of selling 

 value. So far as he is a tenant, he as a general rule farms 

 under a pretty long lease, which enables him to manure 

 freely and till well without fear of being dispossessed of his 

 rightful reward. In such cases also, as a rule, he has a 

 good landlord, that is, the State, some municipality or 

 foundation, or a very large landowner, all of whom are 

 Ukely to deal fairly by him. And, furthermore, it ought 

 to be borne in mind that Germany has no game preserving 

 to speak of. It is only in few districts that there is sufficient 

 game to do any serious damage. And there the landlord 

 meets his tenants in a very fair way, permitting them to 

 scare the big game off their fields at night with the help 

 of dogs and trumpets and torches, though of course they 

 must not kill any. The consequence is that bags are less 

 heavy, but game is " game," and there is really more genuine 

 sport in shooting it. Hunting is relegated to very few 

 regions of large estates, as for instance Pomerania and 

 Mecklenburg, in which squires are very much in the ascen- 

 dant. All this helps to produce a difference. 



Unquestionably Germany has stolen a substantial march 

 upon us and left us for the moment behind in the race. 

 Her land, under a different land system, more appropriate 

 to the present age, yields considerably more than does 



