438 CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 



crops and tlie rotation can be obtained by counting the fields on the 

 roadside under each crop and working out the proportion of the whole 

 under each crop. Precise figures are in the possession of the Ministry of 

 Agriculture, and may be obtained in the form of parish returns by scientilic 

 societies or students properly introduced by a University School of 

 Geography.* The returns show, however, only the data for the parish, 

 and parish boundaries are not necessarily fixed by physical conditions. 



The crop information is not complete without a record of the breeds 

 of animals and of their movements. The interpretation would generally 

 need an agricultural expert. 



This completes the material of the survey but not the survey itself. 

 The important task remains to discover how and why the present position 

 arose. The manner of utilising land is determined by two factors ; the 

 physical and meteorological conditions determine which out of all known 

 crops can be grown, and the economic conditions determine which of all 

 possible crops actually are grown. The economic conditions have the 

 further effect of determining the standard of life and activity of the people, 

 and therefore the general character of the village, its buildings, and other 

 human productions. It is difficult, if not impossible, to assess economic 

 conditions adequately, but the standard for comparison can usually be 

 obtained from some of the official inquiries and edicts made from time 

 to time. So far as the agricultural labourer is concerned, his minimum 

 wages are in each county prescribed by the Agricultural Wages Board 

 and published. There is no secret about the minimum, but the actual 

 is greater and not usually known. The official minimum is probably 

 comparable with the figures published in past years by the various Govern- 

 ment committees and commissions appointed to inquire into the state of 

 agriculture in the United Kingdom, e.g. 1902, 1906, 1907, 1913, 1919, &c. 

 It is far more difficult to arrive at any opinion as to the farmer's economic 

 condition at any time ; indeed, he rarely knows it himself. Fortunately 

 for purposes of the regional survey, it is unnecessary to descend to details^ 

 only a general impression is needed. 



It must not be supposed that the countryman ever elaborately studied 

 the various possibilities of crop production and land utilisation, and then 

 deliberately selected those best adapted to the conditions of the time. 

 For the regulations of their own affairs human beings do not adopt the 

 principles of science or the deductions of pure logic ; they proceed by the 

 method of trial and error, testing all things even if they often fail to hold 

 fast to that which is good. In the trial and error method, the important 

 thing is to have the record ; to know what was tried, what was the result, 

 and whether in the end the result sufficiently accorded with human needs, 

 to survive. 



Fortunately many of the records exist and the process can be traced 

 pretty completely. Mediaeval men had to produce most of what they 



^ The Ministry of Agriculture informs me that this information is supplied free 

 of charge to Universities, Research Institutes, &c., requiring it for purposes likely 

 to be of educational value. Students are charged the cost of extraction and tabulation 

 if the work occupies a clerk for a whole day or more. On an average particulars of 

 ten to fifteen parishes can be extracted, tabulated and checked for about 1 Is. Certain 

 regulations are imposed in accordance with the Act under which the returns are 

 obtained. 



