PREFACE 



THE journeys herein recorded were undertaken with 

 the view of learning something of the diversity of 

 British farming, and of the manner in which its 

 practices have been adapted to meet the variations 

 of soil and climate which occur in these Islands. 

 As a scientific man dealing with agriculture I found 

 myself not infrequently called upon for advice which 

 demanded a knowledge of local conditions and methods 

 of farming about which I could find very little informa- 

 tion in the text-books. So with Professor T. B. Wood 

 of Cambridge, and Mr. E. S. Beaven of Warminster, 

 a farming tour was planned and begun in 1910, 

 though it eventually took three summers to carry 

 it through to completion. We were helped with 

 numerous introductions, and were received everywhere 

 with such a measure of hospitality and willingness to 

 provide information that we were able to form a 

 pretty definite opinion on the character of the farming 

 of the district we were passing through in spite of the 

 flying character of our visits. Mistakes and omissions 

 there must be in my account, but I am inclined to 

 think they are less due to the hasty nature of the 

 journey than to the fact that no man can get up a 

 case without falling into errors both in his material 

 and in the interpretation he gives to it. 



The book consists of a reprint of the articles de- 



