AGRICULTURE 



With regard to horses the Shire Bred predominates in the county, 

 and some admirable specimens of the breed are kept in Mr. Hudson's 

 stables at Danesfield. There is always a ready market at a remunerative 

 price for a good shire horse. Mr. Hudson sends out some excellent 

 horses to travel the country in the spring which are thoroughly appre- 

 ciated over a very wide area. A good many farmers, however, take 

 advantage of the ready access to London to get down very useful horses 

 which can no longer stand the wear and tear of the streets, but are 

 capable of doing good work on the farms. For ploughing on the 

 tenderer lands and for the mowing and reaping machines they are 

 extremely useful. 



Poultry hardly receives the attention it deserves, but there is a 

 growing tendency to devote more trouble to it, and to keep a better 

 class on many farms. The county is, however, a long way behind 

 Surrey and Sussex with regard to this branch of farming. Turkeys are 

 kept in fair quantities in many parts of the county, and in a good 

 beech-mast season thrive well among the trees. Geese are not very 

 generally kept, in spite of the small expense involved in rearing them. 

 Ducks are the great speciality of the county, for it possesses in the 

 Aylesbury duck a breed of its own everywhere highly esteemed. A 

 great many very fine birds are kept in the Vale of Aylesbury and in 

 most parts of the county. Great trouble is taken with them, and the 

 aim is to get them hatched as early in January as possible in order to 

 have them ready by the end of March and in April. If brought to the 

 markets in good condition they will then readily make from i 2s. to 1 5*. 

 a couple. 



Rabbits on many farms make a useful addition to the returns from 

 the smaller items, but they are not kept in any large quantities. The 

 land does not so readily lend itself to warrens as the large sandy 

 heaths of the Eastern Counties. In some seasons, when the beech- 

 mast is plentiful, the wood pigeon also is laid under profitable con- 

 tributions. These birds do not, however, now come in such huge 

 flocks as they used to do formerly. 



Pheasant rearing, on the other hand, has become a considerable 

 industry and now represents a good deal of invested capital. Starting 

 at Missenden, it has spread along the Chiltern Hills and has enabled 

 a good deal of very poor land to be profitably occupied. Both the 

 ring-necked and other varieties are kept, and there seems little to 

 choose between them. Wild ducks are also in many places reared in 

 large numbers alongside the pheasants. 



A great feature of the county is the large extent of its commons 

 and heaths, covering many thousands of acres. The grazing rights 

 on these are a very fruitful source of discord, and it may well be 

 doubted if they are in reality very much assistance to farmers. In 

 many cases sheep are sent on to the commons to graze when they would 

 have done far more good if kept on the land at home to enrich it for 

 the next crop. 



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