272 
Tlie Survival in Farmhu/. 
have so few tdgh farmers here, that I am unable to give an 
opinion. Certainly the smallest farmers, who dairy and grow 
vegetables, and retail in their own carts — men of 20 to 50 
acres, — have done best around here." Insufficiency of capital, 
the fall in wheat, sloth in adapting their trade to the exigencies 
of the times, and reckless borrowing of sharpers, are given as the 
causes of failure ; while those who have succeeded owe their 
success to theii" judgment in dealing in stock, the production of 
saleable crops, milk, and butter, and to humble living, the family 
assisting in the labour of the farm . 
One of the best known land agents in Wiltshire, writing 
on the mixed farming districts of the Southern, Western, and 
Midland Counties, states that, as a rule, men who have pursued 
recognised systems of farming, with sufficient capital, and have 
conformed by domestic thrift to the reduced earnings of their 
farms, have best withstood the depression ; also that farmers of 
about a hundred acres in grass districts have done best, while 
those holding over three hundred acres of arable land have suf- 
fered most. My correspondent adds : — '• The losses incident to 
1879 and following seasons largely reduced the capital of the 
tenant, with the result that borrowed capital was imported to 
an excessive amount. Xo improvement in prices or physical 
conditions occiured to enable farmers to meet their increased 
burdens. Hence a large class of tenant farmers absolutely dis- 
appeared, who are not yet replaced by others, which accounts 
for the inability to let large arable farms." 
Taking into consideration the fact that insufficiency of 
capital is given as the principal cause of failure in the great 
majority of the replies to my questions, it may fairly be said 
that, on the whole, they tell strongly in favour of such mode- 
rately high farming as has been advocated in this article. No 
doubt, reduction of expenses, referred to by several corre- 
spondents, has been essential in a period of small returns ; but 
the reduction should not consist in the starving of the land. 
The bills which have been cut down to the greatest advantage 
liave been, not the cake or the manure bill, but the household 
and the labour bills. There is no doubt that a good deal of 
superfluous and unremunerative labour was employed in the 
'• good old times," especially in counties where wages were low. 
In my opinion, nothing is less remunerative on a faiTn than 
hand labour which is not absolutely necessary. The land must 
be kept clean, no doubt ; but it should be. as far as possible, by 
the plough, the cultivator, the harrow, and the horse hoe, rather 
than with the hand hoe. Another economy mentioned in the 
replies is that of dispensing with the services of middlemen, 
