OBJECTIONS. 99 



fore, if we had a famine in the land, and we 

 could get a guinea a bnsliel for our wheat, we 

 should try to grow the very utmost that is 

 possible, but the lower it goes so we must contract 

 our farming down to what I should call the 

 average of the seasons. "We have in this country 

 very bad seasons, and very good seasons, and the 

 mean of those is something like what we can 

 grow, not more." " Then (he was asked) in your 

 opinion a remedy is not to be found in higher 

 cultivation, in the sense of putting more manure 

 to the land? " " Xo, it is quite contrary to that, 

 The last bushel always costs you more than all 

 the others." " Then (he was further asked) I 

 suppose, you would deduce from this that, in the 

 corn districts, the higher the farmer has farmed 

 his land in the sense of adding manure, the 

 worse has been the financial result?" " Yes, quite 

 so." Finally, he was asked, " Do you think that 

 those farmers who have farmed on a verv hiirh 

 system have probably lost more money than those 

 who have farmed on a lower scale? " He replied, 

 " I am afraid so." 



The suggestion that we should " farm better "' 

 is one of those vague suggestions which simply 

 do not stand enquiring into. If a man does farm 

 better it is, generally speaking, of no avail, as 

 the returns are not commensurate with the 

 trouble and outlay. It is, however, as often cs 

 not quite impossible to "farm better," as the 

 capital is wanting, labour is scarce (and, often 

 not of the best), and prices, even where the farm- 



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