The Agricultural Lessons of " The Eighties." 283 
crop, with a wretched prospect of 71. or 81. per acre from the 
next corn-crop, is another and less encouraging result. The 
upshot has been that arable cultivation has become in some 
cases no longer possible, and that the best course is found in 
laying down the field to grass. 
I believe that the only plan to meet this grave difficulty is 
the maintenance of good stock which will pay more than an ordi- 
nary return. Fodder-crops are now more valuable than corn- 
crops, and it seems misleading to view them as only a means to 
an end. They must be grown for their own sake. I recently 
put the case of the root-crop against a cereal-crop as follows : — 
" I have come to the conclusion that an acre of good swedes 
is worth a great deal more than an acre of good wheat. 
" I will take 20 tons per acre of swedes against 4 quarters 
of marketable wheat. 
" The case stands thus : — 
£ s. 
20 tons of swedes are worth for feeding, 20 (14 lb.) 
stones of beef or mutton, at 9*. a stone . . .90 
Value of the dung produced by the consumption of 20 
tons of swedes, at 5s. per ton . . . .50 
Total value £14 0 
£ s. 
4 quarters of marketable wheat, at 30s. . . .GO 
i sack of seconds and tailings, at 20s. . . . . 0 10 
Feeding value of 1 ton of straw = I value of hay . . 1 10 
Manure value of 1 ton of straw 0 10 
Total value £8 10 
" A good crop of mangel-wurzel grown on suitable soils would 
arrive at a weight of from 30 to 40 tons an acre, and if judi- 
ciously fed, would leave in beef, mutton, milk, or store-stock, 
10s. a ton, or 15Z. to 201. an acre. So much depends on the 
kind of stock which consumes the roots, that it is difficult to put 
a precise value on any produce consumed at home. But as I 
before said, the possibilities are almost without limit, and that 
because the value of animals is almost without limit. When, 
for example, a breeder of pedigree stock serves them with hay 
or with roots, the return may be much greater than when the 
same materials are eaten by ordinary or inferior stock." 
These figures may be thought extreme, and if so it will pro- 
bably be because the value of roots depends so much upon the 
season ; and, besides, roots are a risky crop. All I contend is, 
that 20 tons of swedes or 30 or 40 tons of mangel-wurzel fed 
upon the farm are now more remunerative than corn ; and 
