Agricultural Changes Adopted in La Manche. 9 



shall afterwards clearly show. And now I come to a 

 most important point, to which these remarks naturally 

 lead up, and to which I desire to direct special attention. 

 I have said that our farmers are afraid to attempt 

 agricultural changes which to them are of a more or less 

 speculative character I have italicised the words "to 

 them," because the very agricultural changes to be 

 recommended here are precisely those which have been 

 adopted in the La Manche district in Normandy, where 

 the farmers have universally given up cereals for per- 

 manent pasture, and this, too, notwithstanding that 

 they had the so-called advantages of Protection. Just 

 enough land is now given up to wheat for household 

 consimiption, to buckwheat for the food of pigs and 

 poultry, and to roots, lucerne, and other temporary 

 pasture sufficient for the winter food of live stock. 

 The adoption of this course is universally considered 

 to have been the saving of farmers of La Manche. A 

 similar course would have been the saving of farmers in 

 many parts of these islands. Why, then, were such 

 changes of front not at once adopted here ? "Why did 

 the farmers of Normandy evidently not consider them 

 to be of a speculative and risky character, while to our 

 farmers they evidently were so? But a reference to 

 our Cherbourg consul's report throws full light on the 

 subject, and we find that he attributes the happy 

 change in La Manche to Government aid in the shape 

 of agricultural schools and experimental farms. Had 

 we had such advantages here, I see no reason to doubt 

 that our farmers would long ago have had recourse to 

 these steps which were the saving of their brethren in 

 La Manche ; and our landlords and land agents, having 

 had equal opportunities, would have readily joined the 

 tenants in aiding to bring about the necessary changes 

 in our agricultural system. But there was ignorance 

 all along the line — a natural dread of embarking on 

 new courses which might prove to be failures, and 

 no means of enlightenment at hand in the shape of 



