'52 THE EQUIPMENT OF THE FARM. 



is at present the great difficulty in the way of farm profit. 

 The difference between the cost of labour now and formerly 

 is not greater than the difference on this point which has 

 all along existed between the South and the North. And 

 this is true, notwithstanding the higher wages which obtain 

 as a rule in north country farming. We are dealing with 

 it, generally in the Southern counties, rather by laying land 

 to grass and adopting less laborious cultivation. It would 

 be even better could the difficulty be overcome by making 

 such labourers as we employ more efficient, so that the 

 smaller number now at our disposal might be enabled to 

 do the work which formerly employed them all. That this 

 will be better for the men is seen in the higher wages of the 

 northern counties just referred to, where certainly that is 

 the solution of the difficulty in question ; and, that it will 

 be better for the master to have a smarter, quicker system 

 at his command needs no argument to prove. 



Livestock, The equipment of the farm in this point 

 depends on the quantity of food for them which every month 

 provides. This of course determines the number of mouths 

 to be fed which may be required. The kind of stock 

 selected for the consumption of this food depends on soil, 

 climate, and circumstances. Sheep are the stock chosen 

 for uplands, downs, and dry-soils generally, with just cattle 

 enough to provide the yard-manure which some of our 

 crops require. Cattle are the stock preferred on lands 

 unsuited for the sheep-fold, for rich pastures, and of course 

 for pasture lands of second quality adapted for the dairy. 



There are, however, exceptions even to a general rule of 

 this kind. Even clayland farms where arable culture exists, 

 where there are steep slopes, or inaccessibility by distance 



