S52 



PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. 



[Dec. 1S95. 



Norfolk farmer of to-day is a harrassed and hard-working man, with 

 little time to devote to anything but the struggle to make both ends 

 meet. The survivors of the easy-going class of farmers are few and far 

 between, and those who now occupy the farms are men who are holding 

 on by sheer determination and hard work. Many of those with whom 

 I came in contact were obviously keen and energetic men of business, 

 with a thorough and, as the phrase goes, ' up-to-date ' knowledge of all 

 the intricate details of their vocation. This might not, perhaps, apply 

 universally to all the smaller farmers ; but, as a general rule, no one 

 who met, as I had the pleasure of meeting, a large number of Norfolk 

 farmers, staying with some of them in their homes and spending a con- 

 siderable time with many others, could fail to be impressed with the 

 conviction that at the present time all that energy and intelligence can 

 accomplish is being done to combat their difficulties. 



" Many of the farms are now occupied by men of the younger genera- 

 tion, who, for the most part, have been educated specially (at Ciren- 

 cester or Downton in some cases) for the work of farming, and who 

 for many years past have been imbrued with very modest expectations 

 of the profits to be derived from the land. One of the saddest and most 

 significant facts, among the, many brought to my notice, is that these 

 men, who often come of a long race of Norfolk farmers, are losing heart 

 and hope, and are looking about for other directions in whicli they may 

 find better scope for their energies. Often the direction they look is 

 across the seas where, us they think, there are still chances for expert 

 farmers to obtain that return for their skill and capital which in their 

 own country they have relinquished the hope of securing. Many of 

 the older farmers told me that while they would no doubt have to ' hang 

 on ' because at their age they could not change their whole life, their 

 sons could not be induced to take up a pursuit which offers now so 

 little attraction for a young man. It is no light matter that agricul- 

 ture, and often the country also, is thus losing brain and muscle which 

 the nation can ill afford to spare. Whatever the other effects may be, 

 it is at least certain that to deplete the land of intelligence and enterprise 

 cannot make for agricultural progress in the future." 



One of the effects has been to diminish the corn-growing 

 acreage of the county, though this has applied specially to 

 wheat. The reduction of corn crops naturally implies a reduction 

 of the arable area and it appears that the land under the plough 

 in Norfolk has decreased during the 13 years 1881-94 by 

 35,843 acres. Of this 30,887 has apparently been laid down to 

 grass, while the remaining 4,956 acres have presumably gone 

 out of cultivation altogether, and are therefore not now included 

 in the returns. 



The following comparison is shown of the number of live 

 stock in the county in 1881 and 1894 : — • 









Increase + 





188L 



1894. 



or 









Decrease — . 





No. 



No. 





Horses _ - .- - 



63,127 



69,023 



+ 5,896 



Oatile 



114,348 



113,505 



- 843 



Sheep 



Pigs - - - - 



579,^91 



519,321 



- 60,370 



82,711 



96,584 



+ 13,873 



