The Agriculture oj Glamorganshire. 
197 
by the shelter of plantations. The returns from planting are 
slow, but sure and remunerative. The person who plants 
seldom reaps the full fruit of his labours, but the value of his 
estate is gradually and permanently increased for the benefit of 
his successors. 
General Remarks. 
It has, I believe, been shown that the arable farming 
of the Vale of Glamorgan, though generally prosecuted with 
skill, a fair amount of capital, and all the most modern ap- 
pliances, has of late years been very unremunerative. The 
returns from corn-growing have been disappointing and unsatis- 
factory. Foreign competition has seriously reduced the price 
of all cereals, and inclement seasons have reduced their yield. 
It is suggested that one-third of the arable land, and especially 
that which is heavy and difficult to work, should be laid down 
to permanent pasture. It is also suggested that the rents of 
arable land should be reduced to meet the emergencies of the 
times. This is being done. It is further suggested that wet 
land should be drained, and that farm-buildings and cottages 
should be made fully adequate for the requirements of the 
respective holdings. The Railway and Dock Returns prove 
that South Wales is at the present time more prosperaus than 
any portion of the United Kingdom, and landlords must feel 
that the commercial industries of the country tend to increase 
the value of their property ; and that if they can assist their 
tenants to tide over a period of agricultural depression, the 
result must in the end be to their own advantage. 
It has been shown that the tenants of the small farms of the 
hill districts have of late years been more prosperous than the 
larger farmers of the arable districts, but this affords no valid 
argument for small farms to be preferred to large ones. The 
reason is simply apparent, that foreign competition has not as 
yet seriously affected the value of home-grown beef and mutton. 
Some people predict that the future importations of American 
beef, and New Zealand and River Plate mutton, will as seriously 
affect the grazing districts of this country as foreign corn has 
done that of the arable districts. There is, however, no imme- 
diate prospect of this being realised. If the home herds and 
flocks can be kept free from imported diseases, there is every 
probability that home supplies of beef and mutton will cope 
for some considerable time with the foreign importation of 
these articles. The efforts of the British farmer must continue 
to be directed to improved breeds of stock, to early maturity, and 
economical feeding and management. The present are doubt- 
less transition times in English farming, and there must be 
