The Survival in Farming, 
271 
stock of all kinds. The causes of failure have been chiefly 
where tenants have tried to cultivate large arable farms with 
insufficient capital, relying almost entirely on the corn crop for 
profit. High farming on arable land has not been profitable, 
our experience being that a large outlay in respect of artificial 
feeding stuffs has failed to secure anything like a profitable 
return. On the other hand, those who have kept no stock have 
been the first almost to go to the wall. Undoubtedly, in this 
neighbourhood, and as far as our experience extends in any part 
of the district embracing what may be called the five Home 
Counties, the system which has held its own out of all others has 
been that of keeping a breeding flock in proportion to the 
extent of the arable land, and rearing every year a certain 
number of calves, thus avoiding the necessity of going to 
market, when, as has so often been the case in recent years, 
there has been no prospect whatever of a margin of profit 
between the price demanded for store beasts and the prospective 
price to be realised by their sale at the end of the season. The 
gi'eatest mistake a tenant can make is to attempt to farm more 
land than he has capital to properly stock, and if more attention 
were directed to the breeding and rearing of all kinds of agri- 
cultural stock, there would, in our opinion, be fewer cases 
recorded of ruined agriculturists than we have, unfortunately, 
been accustomed to witness during the past decade." 
The reply is quoted at length because there are two or three 
impoi'tant points in it. It will be observed that Messrs. 
Simmons, while pronouncing against the remunerativeness of 
high farming on arable land, dwell more emphatically still upon 
the importance of having sufficient capital for the acreage held. 
Therefore, it may fairly be said that they regard low farming as 
more dangerous than high farming. Probably, if cross-examined, 
they would explain that it is only what they deem extravagant 
high farming that they find unremunerative, and not what is 
tei-med " good " farming. Some other points in their evidence 
which are particularly well put, come out also in the majority of 
the replies, and will be commented on presently. 
A land agent whose practice is chiefly in Mid-Kent, where 
arable, hop, and fruit farming prevail, says that, leaving out of 
consideration the hop and fruit farms, high farmers have cer- 
tainly withstood the depression better than low farmers. The 
chief causes of failure given are want of capital, the starving of 
the land, and the " absence of business habits to such an extent 
that it is surprising that many have ever got a living." 
Mr. W. Frank Perkins, of Southampton, writing on ex- 
perience gained in the county of Southampton, says : — " We 
