Pleasure Farming. 
85 
Blackfaced and Cheviot sheep the most widely distributed of 
all in Great Britain. The Border Leicesters appear to prevail 
next most widely, while Hampshire, Shropshire, Oxford Downs, 
Southdowns, and Lincolns may be noted as prominently wide- 
spread in the English counties. Mr. Rew’s report presents 
many interesting comments on the opinions held respecting 
the wool trade of the country and reflects the variety of views 
held by practical men on the practice of washing wool. Con- 
siderable attention will undoubtedly be given to this report, 
and its lessons at a time when, after long discouragement, the 
hearts of flockmasters have been revived by the recovery of 
wool prices in these recent years, which broadly speaking has 
carried the average values of this once prominent item of 
British agricultural produce upwards since 1902 by little if at 
all short of 100 per cent. 
PLEASURE FARMING. 
The question of “What is a farmer?” has often been put and 
variously answered in agi-icultural discussions. A year ago, in 
this Journal, 1 it was pointed out that the term is by no means 
identical with “ occupier of land.” Dealing with England 
alone, it was then noticed that less than 189,000 persons 
returned themselves to the Census of 1901 as falling under 
the category of “farmers and graziers ” — while the Agricultural 
Returns showed that just about twice as many persons were ‘in 
some capacity occupying land in that area. If the census 
figures for the larger unit of England and Wales were, as is 
more usually the case, referred to, we should still find only 
224,000 persons calling themselves “farmers” while 443,000 
agricultural holdings find a place in the yearly statistics. Even 
bringing Scotland also into purview would only carry the 
self-classified “ farmers ” to 270,000 all told in Great Britain, 
while the “ occupiers ” were well over half-a-million. Many 
explanations of this phenomenon — which is obvious also, in 
many other countries than our own — have been forthcoming, 
and they need not be repeated here. It is sufficient to remember 
that the “ occupation” inserted in the Census Schedules is only 
that which comes first, either by accident or design in the 
householder’s own return, and he may be, and often is, 
engaged in many other capacities. Smaller holders, in par- 
ticular in England, like the crofters in Scotland, will be 
often occupiers but not primarily farmers ; and it is a well 
* Volume 67, 1906, page 9. 
