618 Typical Farms in Cheshire and North Wales. 
can be learnt from its perusal ? It is manifest that these can 
only be general ; because although the proverbial courtesy of the 
British farmer was, on the writer's tour of inspection, found in 
no respect to have diminished, there was either an implied or 
an expressed disinclination on the part of most of the occupiers 
visited to allow many of the details of their private affairs to be 
published for the information of the public. The reports must, 
therefore, speak for themselves, but they are significant on 
several points. They indicate that Cheshire has not suffered 
agriculturally so much as many other counties. To what cause 
is this attributable ? Partly, no doubt, to the spirited action of 
the owners and occupiers of the land. It is obvious, from a 
consideration of this Report, that owners of property have 
realised in the past, and still realise, the necessity of thoroughly 
equipping the farms so as to economise the cost of production. 
This is evidenced by the superiority of the houses and buildings 
inspected. Tenants have also shown remarkable energy and 
enterprise in the large outlay they continue to make on durable 
and permanent improvements, and they also pay sedulous atten- 
tion to the details of their avocation. In some instances their 
outlay upon buildings is surprising. 
Compared with the past, the farming has vastly improved. 
Draining has been generally accomplished, and the system of 
marling the land has been superseded by the general application 
of bones, which have a marvellous effect upon the pastures of 
Cheshire. In several instances the numbers of the live-stock on 
the holdings visited had been doubled in the course of a decade 
or a somewhat longer period, while the crops had largely in- 
creased in yield. Labour-saving machinery and appliances con- 
nected with the dairy and farm have also become the general rule. 
But, although these changes for the better are in operation, 
similar improvements have not prevented the agricultural crisis 
from presenting itself in a more acute form elsewhere than in 
Cheshire, and we must seek other reasons for this county’s 
comparative immunity from agricultural distress. Among these 
is the system of farming. Dairying, as of old, is still the great 
agricultural industry of the county, and in connection with 
dairying the breeding and feeding of pigs is an essential feature. 
It would appear, therefore, that Cheshire has suffered less 
agriculturally because — 
(1) There lias heen a smaller decline in prices of dairy produce and pigs 
than in other agricultural commodities. 
(2) The prices of feeding-stuffs are lower than ever before. 
(3) The cost of manurial fertilisers is less. 
(4) The consumption of home-grown com where suitable to the stock 
has been conducted at a profit. 
