2 TKHMANENT AND TEMroRAlIY PASTUEES. 



tinn of I)arli'y, l)r;nis, pons, turnips, llax, and certain otlier crops. 

 IJut tlic variations in all these sink into insiLniilicanee beside the 

 tremendous falliuLr (tirin wheat, whicli shows a decline of no less 

 than l,'214,(io8 acres. 



When the wet summers j)ersistently followed each other, 

 the opinion was frt'ely expressed thai fanners were suflerin^^ 

 piincipally from the exci'ssive rainfall, an<l th.it immediately hot 

 summers returned, those who had hastily laid down their land 

 would 1)0 ofpudly hasty in j)louLdiini: it uj) aL^■liIl. Hut in the 

 k^outli of EuLdand we have had hot seasons, accompanied with 

 drouLdit suflicient to tui-n pastures brown and to pi-eveiit the 

 growth of iiiuch aftermath, yet no one thinks of ])loughiiiL'" tlie 

 sod. On the contrary, it is considered fortunate that expenses 

 are reduced by part of the land being freed from the heavy 

 outgoings for labour whicli render arable cultivation so unprolit- 

 able. 



Many causes have combined to necessitate the conversion of 

 arable land into meadow and pasture. Chief among these in- 

 lluences have been the low price of corn, the reduced ca})ital of 

 agriculturists, and the increased cost of labour, and these forces 

 still prevail. 



However reluctant we may be to ai'rive at such a conclusion, 

 the fact is indisputable that foreign Avheat can at present be 

 profitably delivered in this country at a low'or })rice than it can 

 be grown here. Formerly tlie sale of corn was regarded as the 

 means of setting farmers' finances straight for the year. Now the 

 corn rotation is looked upon almost as a necessary evil. 



The diminished capital which farmers hold renders it im- 

 possible for a very large number of them to till their land in an 

 ofTicient manner, and I am persuaded that in many cases the only 

 way of enabling them to do justice to their holdings is by laying 

 down a portion to grass. ^ 



' Of late years tLe apricuUnral reports frnni our Colonies have been read with great 

 inferept in this country. JUit thon<rh Colnnial farmers have Ix on i-n<svr piirchii.'-ers of our 

 slock aiid iuj] It-meuts, we have not hitherto found them adiuir-irs of our agricultural 



