36 AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION 



Some men of exceptional enterprise and intel- 

 ligence and of large capital have made farming pay 

 even in the worst times on special lines. 



Thus Mr Prout's well-known experiment in continu- 

 ous corn growing, with large applications of artificial 

 manures, though much less profitable, is found by Mr 

 Spencer to still yield some profit. 



Two farms in owners' hands in Hunts, worked on 

 much Mr Prout's plan, and kept in garden-like order, 

 seem to pay their way after a fashion, in spite of distance 

 from railway, which strikes off some profit from straw 

 and hay selling.' In these cases it is clear that success 

 has largely been due to an absolutely free hand as re- 

 gards cultivation, ample capital, and considerable know- 

 ledge and skill. 



Again, farmers in many counties who have ac- 

 quired a reputation for special types of stock, pedigree 

 cattle, or sheep, or in horse breeding, have had advan- 

 tages which no fall in prices could quite take away. 

 They have been the recognised purveyors of the best 

 articles of their kind. And in bad times, the tendency 

 of the more capable farmer is to save himself by keeping 

 the best quality of everything whether in stock or seeds. 

 The greatest fall in values has invariably been with the 

 inferior grades of stock and of produce. 



Where the soil and other circumstances are suit- 

 able, market gardening and fruit growing has been found 

 highly profitable, and has greatly raised both the capital 

 and the letting value of land. In the Vale of Evesham 

 and surrounding district, land of the best quality for 

 fruit growing has sold at ^^300 an acre, and lets at from 

 X3 to £14, and in some cases up to ^18 an acre. The 

 value of the tenant right of well-established market 

 gardens in this district has ranged from £^0 to ;^ioo an 

 acre, and it is said, sometimes, to even higher rates. 

 Naturally, when farms fall vacant they are at once 

 turned into market gardens, and there has been a rapid 

 and very wide extension. The highest rents and 

 profits depend on special quality, such as the "black 

 ^ Pringle, Beds, Hunts, Northants, p. 42. 



