The  Application  of  Science  to  Ayriculhire. 
107 
arable  fields  being  in  hand.  But  the  agricultural  de{)ression 
culminating  in  the  disastrous  season  of  1879  was  then 
beginning  to  make  itself  sevei’ely  felt,  and  as  tenant  after 
tenant  either  failed  or  threw  up  his  holding  to  avoid  worse  loss 
Mr.  Mason  took  the  farms  in  hand,  until  from  600  acres  or  so 
of  pasture  he  grew  into  farming  about  1,800  acres,  of  which 
about  800  were  under  the  plough.  Practically  the  whole  of 
this  land  lies  on  the  Oxford  Clay  which  here  forms  a poor  soil, 
unkindly  and  difficult  to  cultivate,  and  yielding  a very  unsatis- 
factory pasture  for  many  years  after  it  is  laid  down  to  grass. 
Skilful  as  the  old  farming  was  in  the  cultivation  of  such  land, 
the  fall  in  prices  rendered  it  necessary  to  find  a new  system  if 
the  land  was  to  be  kept  in  cultivation  and  pay  any  rent. 
To  Mr.  Mason,  who  had  lived  in  an  atmosphere  of  utilising 
.science  for  the  exploitation  of  nature,  the  old  farming  was  too 
much  of  a skilled  craft  working  by  traditional  rules.  He 
conceived  that  by  the  proper  application  of  science  to  its 
methods  it  might  l)e  given  something  of  the  certainty  of  a 
manufacturing  process. 
To  reform  agriculture  by  the  exercise  of  scientific  prin- 
ciples and  business  methods  has  been  no  uncommon  dream  ; 
many  and  .severe  have  been  the  losses  in  consecpience,  until  the 
old  hand  can  safely  indulge  in  a smile  of  j>rophecy  as  he  hears 
of  each  new  attem])t.  If  Mr.  Ma.son’s  measure  of  success  was 
greater  it  was  due  to  a greater  tenacity  of  purpose  ; with  a 
clear  conception  of  the  principles  he  wished  to  translate  into 
practice  he  ])ursued  them  through  repeated  failures  until  he 
found  the  working  conditions  neces.sary  for  their  application. 
The  fundamental  basis  for  Mr.  Mason’s  reforms  w'as  an 
exact  .system  of  book-keeping.  By  degrees,  as  the  farming 
operation.s  grew,  one  was  evolved,  complex  in  apj)earance  but 
answering  its  purpo.se  admiral)ly.  Boughly  speaking  a ledger 
account  is  oj)ened  against  each  field  : on  the  debit  side  are  the 
cultivations,  seed,  manure,  &c.,  together  with  the  rent  and 
interest  at  .5  per  cent,  on  whatever  has  been  expende<l  on  the 
field  at  the  end  of  the  year  over  and  above  the  receipts.  If 
the  cultivations  have  cost  more  than  the  crop  is  worth,  tln^ 
deficit  is  carrieil  forward  to  the  following  year  and  interest  is 
charged  on  it  until  it  is  wiped  off.  There  is  no  valuation 
of  cultivations,  standing  crop,  &c.,  at  the  end  of  each  year,  but 
the  .strictly  cash  account  is  continued  for  such  ])eriod  as  may 
be  thought  necessary  to  t(‘st  the  system  adopted.  A further 
debit  comes  (>v('rv  vear  under  the  head  of  “establishment 
