TIUKSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 



847 



teach, and to urpe them zealously to preserve their floclvs and herds from disease, 

 whether for their own safety or for the prospect of trading with the mother 

 country in the matter of meat supply. 



5. British and Canadian Ar/ricultnrc. By Professor J. P. Sheldon. 



The competition of the old and new countries is growing keener, and contains 

 certain elements wliicli were never expected by our fathei-s. The volume of tliis 

 competition will become much greater on the part of the new country, but we 

 cannot foretell the lines on which it will be developed, or tht> surprises tiiat nmy be 

 in store. The transatlantic trade in fresh meat and in live animals, developed in 

 tlit'se last ten years, is a striking instance in point, and may be supplemented by 

 othor unlooked-for surprises. The expcjrt of cheese from (Canada has greatly in- 

 creased, while that in butter has decreased, of late years; this is owing, as butter 

 i, now made and paclieil in < "anada, to the superior advantages wliicli cheese 

 alfords for transit purposes. Jiy improved methods of packing butter, however, 

 Cauada ought to win over a good portion of the AN'est Indian butter trade, which 

 at present l)ulongs almost entirely to Denmark. The competition of Canada with 

 EiFland in the future will be more in the form of animals and their products than 

 in that of grain ; her exports of wheat prove already that she is devoting her.self 

 more to live-stock and dairying. The com])etition of India in the domain of wheat- 

 raising will be more serious to Canada than ever that of Canada was to I'higland, 

 and prices of breadstuffs are destined to contract still more. India, with her suit- 

 able cHmate and abundance of cheap labour, can produce wheat at a very low cost. 

 While the eastern provinces of Canada are, in many parts of tliem, well adapted 

 for live-stock farming, and tor tlie production of dairy goods, which may also be 

 aid of the vast district com])rised in what is termed the "foot-hills of the lloekies,' 

 the great plains of the North- West Territory, them.selves also well suited to .stock- 

 raking in many parts, promise to become the chief granary of the American 

 continent. The laying down of land to grass in I'lngland is still going on, and the 

 number of liye-stock is increasing. AVet seasons have impoverished British farmers, 

 wlio, however, are better shieliled now by law against confiscation of improve- 

 ments. Agricultural tuition is improving, and it is by improved practice and the 

 help of an increasing population, that the English farmer may hope to meet foreign 

 competition. The present position of the I'^nglish labnuiei' will not compare an- 

 favourably with that f)f the labourer in Canada, savi' tliat the Canadian has a 

 better chance of raising himself to better things. IJut, in any case, the luiglish 

 labourers of to-day are better fed, better clothed, better boused, better paid, and 

 better taught than their ftithers were; and, with due sobriety and economy, he 

 can raise his family better than they could, and also lay Ijy a store against a rainy 

 day. 



G. The Position and, Prospects of British Agriculture.^ 

 Bij Professor W. Fream, B'.Sc, F.L.S., F.G.ti. 



The present critical position of British farming has been induced by a series of 

 wet seasons, accompanied by the widespread disease of live stock, and one of tlie 

 chief results lias been a lowering of farm rents. The acreage under corn crops, and 

 particularly wheat, has continued to decreiise, while that under permanent pasture 

 has increased. During the six years 1878 to \8H?>, ,140,05!J acres have been 

 brought into cultivation, but during the same period the increase in permanent 

 pasture has been 1,L'2.3,126 acres, or nearly four times as much, so that 882,4()7 acres 

 which in 1878 were under other cropping are now in permanent ])asture. The 

 fnrmir number (1,223,120 acres) somewhat exceeds the area of Lancashire, the 

 si.xth in size of the English counties, while the latter number (882,40*' acres) rejjrc- 

 sents an area larger than that of Wilts, the thirteenth in size of the English 



' Tublished tft ^ar^eH-w in the Agricultural Gaz"ttj, AortJi liritish Agricnltiirhty 

 Montreal Herald, &c. 



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