M.— AGRICULTURE. 223 



the whole industry also benefited themselves and their whole environ- 

 ment, because these improvements were introduced on sound business 

 lines. Land to-day in the hands of British landowners is more than 

 ever an amenity, and although there are many whose serious impoverish- 

 ment operates as an inducement to put their estates upon a business 

 footing, they are sadly conscious that they have not the knowledge 

 to do so. The excessive development of urban and industrial interests, 

 coupled with the relatively severe neglect of all rural development, is 

 the fundamental cause of the present unpromising state of British agri- 

 culture, which is affecting adversely the prosperity and security of the 

 whole nation. 



One drawback to the English estate system is the size and character 

 of the home farm. It is in but few cases that this has been conducted 

 on business lines, and it has, therefore, proved unconvincing to the 

 tenant farmers. Even where a high standard of live-stock or of cultiva- 

 tion has been obtained, the working farmer has assumed that such 

 methods are uneconomic, and therefore unworthy of imitation by one 

 who has ' to make a living out of his farm. ' In this respect Germany 

 has shown a pleasing contrast. The great estate of the typical East 

 Prussian landowner was only in part farmed by his small 

 tenants. He himself had a large demesne. With the agrarian 

 revival, which dated from about 1870', these owners commenced 

 farming their demesnes more intensively instead of finding more 

 estate tenants. They realised the importance of the application 

 of science to farming, and sought skilled scientific managers, and 

 obtained them from the German agricultural colleges, notably from 

 Bonn. This developed a valuable organisation, under which the well- 

 trained young agriculturist could obtain his practical experience as an 

 under-manager before he was selected to control the business of farming 

 commercially a large area of land. In this country, where for many 

 years science and practice have, in spite of the motto of the Eoyal 

 Agricultural Society of England, existed largely in separate watertight 

 compartments, with a tendency on the part of many of the more 

 influential landowners (at their rent audit dinners and on other like 

 occasions) to disparage the value of the former and evoke applause by 

 so doing, such a development has been impracticable. If, for instance, 

 at the present time an English landowner proposed to farm his 5,000 

 or 10,000 acres as an industrial undertaking, he would have considerable 

 difficulty in finding a trustworthy manager fully equipped for the post. 

 Every year for many years past suitable men have been leaving the 

 agricultural colleges, but they have found it impossible to obtain the 

 necessary practical experience for the full commercial utilisation of their 

 scientific equipment, owing to their inability to enter the business of 

 industrial farming in a subordinate capacity. Experience on a single 

 farm of average size does not fit a potentially capable man for the 

 management of a big, highly organised farming business. He has not 

 developed the right outlook. 



A good illustration of the weakness of ownership detached from 

 occupation when the landlord ceases to have the necessary knowledge 

 and experience may be seen in Italy at the present time. The metayer 

 1922 R 



