JOURNAL OF THE RO\AL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



so general, as the better education which will give him the more 

 flexible habit of mind that comes with reading. Landlords come in 

 for criticism not so much in their relations with their tenants as in 

 their deficiency of leadership, there being no one nowadays to set 

 beside Coke of Norfolk. At the other end of the social scale is the 

 labourer, whose wages are estimated as being now equivalent, or 

 more than equivalent, to a pound a week all over the country. To 

 the farmers' complaint that the men are not worth their wages, Mr. 

 Hall replies that they will have to be more highly paid still before 

 they will earn their money. He is not very sanguine as to the success 

 of small holdings generally, except as adjuncts to other employments, 

 and especially as stepping-stones whereby the labourer can make a 

 start at becoming a master himself. 



We have dealt at this length with the author's general conclusions 

 because we hold that with his experience as head (until recently) of 

 the world-famous Rothamsted Experiment Station, the benefit of 

 which he has given to the public in some of the leading text-books 

 of agricultural science, and now as Development Commissioner, there 

 are few living men so well qualified to express an opinion on the 

 subject, especially after such a comprehensive tour as that described 

 in this book, including as it does, riot only English, Welsh, and Scotch 

 farming, as the title indicates, but Irish as well. 



Those with a practical knowledge of farming will be interested 

 in the descriptions of the diverse kinds of farming — perhaps no other 

 country of equal area presents such widely differing forms as our 

 own — and it need hardly be said the author pays special attention 

 to the geological formation of the soils and the varying systems of 

 crop relation which have been found best adapted to their needs, the 

 old Norfolk four-course, where followed in principle, being now 

 generally altered to a five-course shift consisting of roots, barley, 

 seeds, wheat, and oats, or other spring corn. He also speaks with 

 the authority of an expert on the various breeds of sheep and cattle, 

 and expresses surprise that " although Great Britain is the fountain- 

 head from which every other great stock-producing country draws 

 its blood, the general level of the animals which may be seen on sale 

 at any local market is below that which prevails, say, in Canada or 

 the northern United States." As regards W T elsh farming generally, 

 it is considered to be undeveloped and below the opportunities offered 

 by the soil and climate. In Scotland the general average of farming 

 is higher than in England. He takes a hopeful view of Irish farming, 

 finding men on the look-out everywhere for improvement, and in 

 County Down he was " surprised by the obvious prosperity and com- 

 parative wealth of the men farming 40 to 60 acres." 



But those also whose knowledge of farming is only over the hedge 

 will find much to interest them, principally in the specialist farming, 

 which is often described in some detail. We read of the high farming 

 round Dunbar, where potatos are the staple crop and rents run as 

 high as 90s. an acre, probably the most highly-rented arable (not 



