38 AGRICULTURAL DEPRESSION 



Rew, the outgoings for twelve months were ;^I749 is Qd, 

 and the receipts ^2058 19s id ; and in addition to paying 

 5 per cent, on the capital invested in poultry, the net 

 returns gave the farmer a profit more than double this 

 interest, and paid the rent of the whole farm besides. 

 The cheapness of corn and other feeding stuffs has been 

 a help, and rents do not seem to have been raised unduly. 

 On the other hand, the great increase in the imports of 

 Russian chickens, and railway rates, both on young 

 chickens and on consignments, have been drawbacks. 



A successful trade in poultry and eggs is also carried 

 on from South Lincolnshire and Cumberland. ^ 



In the Aylesbury district, the ducks are collected by 

 the London and North Western Railway Company's 

 carts and forwarded in bulk to London at id a bird. A 

 similar arrangement has been made by a successful duck 

 farmer near Fleetwood, who makes a good profit by 

 sending to Manchester. 



The want of organisation deprives the English farmer 

 of the egg market, where there is an enormous unsupplied 

 demand, and this although English eggs fetch los to lis 

 per " long " hundred as compared with 8s for French, 

 down to 53'8d for Russian. Now, more than half the 

 eggs sold are foreign. In spite of the importations 

 having more than doubled in the last twelve years, prices 

 have materially improved. Organisation of collection 

 and delivery, and the provision of winter eggs, would 

 make great profits. The demand for high class poultry 

 is increasing and would grow with the supply ; for " well 

 fatted" poultry we are only at the beginning of the 

 demand in many parts of the country. 



Dairy Farming. 



Dairy farming has generally, but by no means 

 universally, brought moderate but steady profits during 

 the years of depression ; but it is essentially a localised 

 branch of farming. In several counties where distress 

 has prevailed, notably in Norfolk, there is too little 



' E. Brown, 62,284, etc. 



