68 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
July  16,  1903. 
Fiscal  Policy:  The  New  Departure. 
Before  expressing  our  opinion  on  the  new  fiscal  ques¬ 
tion  raised  by  Mr.  Chamberlain,  we  must  disclaim  any 
political  bias,  at  least  so  far  as  party  politics  are  concerned. 
There  is  such  an  enormous  difference  between  the  policy 
which  governs  a  party  and  the  policy  wherewith  the  same 
party  governs  the  country,  that  we  may  reasonably  ask. 
What  is  the  real  meaning  of  the  word  “  political  V’  What 
are  politics'?  With  regard  to  agriculture  and  its  interests, 
we  are  afraid  politics  are  a  game  in  which  those  interests 
take  the  form  of  the  shuttlecock,  which  is  kept  rising  and 
falling  at  the  will  of  the  player,  but  is  much  more  frequently 
down  than  aloft..  Well,  the  fiscal  suggestions  are  before  the 
country  as  a  political  question,  and  with  Mr.  Editor’s  per¬ 
mission,  we  propose  to  shortly  discuss  their  probable  effects 
in  relation  wdth  agriculture. 
Opponents  of  Mr.  Chamberlain’s  suggestion  are  raising 
a  cry  against  taxes  on  food,  and  probably  a  number  of  farmers 
are  secretly  rejoicing  at  the  prospect  of  obtaining  more  for 
their  produce,  and  the  price  of  Wheat  is  the  point  in  which 
they  take  the  greatest  interest.  The  price  of  Wheat  repre¬ 
sents  the  price  of  bread,  not  quite  exactly,  but  nearly 
enough  for  purposes  of  argument,  and  it  is  absolutely  absurd 
to  suppose  that  the  electorate  of  this  country  will  sanction 
any  artificial  enhancement  of  the  price  of  the  loaf.  If  Mr. 
Chamberlain’s  suggestions  should  be  worked  out  in  practice, 
though  Wheat  might  be  taxed,  the  impost  could  only  be  a 
small  one,  at  any  rate  until  our  colonies  should  be  in  a  posi¬ 
tion  to  supply  the  greater  part  of  our  deficiency  of  bread 
stuffs. 
The  farmer  who  hopes  for  the  imposition  of  protective 
tariffs  sufficient  to  revive  British  Wheat  production,  is 
living  in  a  fool’s  paradise.  The  people  who  argue  that  we 
can  produce  Wheat  sufficient  for  home  necessities  are  only 
talking  nonsense.  It  can  be  done  ;  but  not  as  a  paying 
transaction.  We  could  produce  the  Wheat  if  it  would  pay 
to  do  so,  but  the  crop  requires  more  field  room  than  our 
England  can  supply,  and  it  does  not  under  modern  condi¬ 
tions  employ  very  much  labour.  As  towns  increase  in  size 
and  number  the  purely  agricultural  area  of  the  country 
must  decrease,  and  any  artificial  stimulus  to  the  production 
of  cereal  crops  is  really  not  to  be  desired,  either  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  general  or  of  the  agricultural  interest. 
We  are  by  no  means  sure  that  Mr.  Chamberlain  has  in 
mind  auy  serious  imposts  ou  imported  cereals.  The  pro¬ 
posal  is  to  investigate  the  whole  question  of  imports  with  a 
view  to  rearrangement  of  import  duties.  It  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  duties  on  tea  and  sugar,  which  fall  entirely 
on  the  consumer,  may  be  reduced,  and  imposts  placed  on 
imported  manufactured  articles  which  compete  with  home 
productions. 
If  we  follow’  the  common-sense  plan  of  lax'ng  artioies  in 
proportion  as  we  can  produce  them  at  home  or  not,  then 
Wheat  would  be  one  of  those  most  lightly  taxed,  for  we  do 
not  iDi’oduce  one-fourth  of  our  requirements.  And  it  is  ihe 
same  with  ±Sarley  and  Oats,  tlK)ugh  in  lesser  degree. 
How  could  the  live  stock  of  this  country  be  fed  if  there  were 
no  imports  of  Barley,  Oats,  and  similar  feeding  stuffs?  We 
cannot  produce  a  sufficient  supply  of  brewing  materials 
even,  and  it  would  be  suicidal  to  impose  duties  which  would 
be  in  the  least  degree  prohibitive.  Of  course,  the  point  of 
the  whole  proposal  is  the  giving  a  preference  to  our  colo¬ 
nies  and  if  anything  should  come  of  it  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Canada  would  be  one  of  the  chief  gainers,  for 
her  climate  is  suitable  for  the  growth  of  Barley  and  Oats 
as  well  as  of  Wheat,  and  no  doubt  if  she  had  sufficient  en¬ 
couragement  she  could  enormously  increase  her  export  of 
all  three  cereals. 
Will  Bradford  agree  to  import  duties  on  wool,  the  raw 
material  of  tier  industry  1  If  wool  be  taxed  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  will  benefit  the  British  farmer,  and  the  price 
of  wool  is  now  so  wretched  that  he  deserves  all  the  help 
he  can  get  from  this  quarter.  The  preferential  tariff  would 
greatly  encourage  Australian  sheep  owners  by  giving  them 
an  advantage  over  their  Argentine  rivals.  By  encouraging 
sheep-breeding,  however,  it  might  also  give  a  fillip  to  ihe 
frozen  mutton  trade,  whilst  the  Argentine  demand  for  pure 
bred  rams  might  be  expected  to  show  a  decline. 
There  is  another  corner  of  this  suoject  that  may  readily 
become  a  very  important  one  when  every  point  has  been 
well  and  fairly  considered.  Politicians  of  all  creeds  are 
agreed  as  to  the  extreme  desirability  of  retaining  our  rural 
population,  and  none  will  dissent  from  us  when  we  say  that 
the  land  to  be  more  productive  needs  more  labour,  more 
manure,  and  higher  cultivation  altogether.  As  our  arable 
fields  become  restricted  it  is  necessary  that  they  should 
receive  more  forcing  treatment.  But  how  is  it  to  be  done  ? 
From  whence  are  we  to  get  the  nee e  l  stimulus  '?  From  Mr. 
Chamberlain’s  new  idea,  if  it  should  be  carried  into  effect. 
It  would  be  taxing  food,  and  the  towns  might  set  their  faces 
against  it  at  first,  but  it  would  be  taxing  luxurj-es  more  than 
necessaries.  We  are  referring,  of  course,  to  the  enormous 
imports  of  foreign  vegetables  and  fruit  which  reach  this 
country  in  advance  of  our  season,  and  have  very  nearly 
ruined  British  market  gardeners.  Fruit  and  vegetables  out 
of  season  are  luxuries,  and  people  who  require  them  should 
afford  to  pay  a  duty  on  them.  An  advantage  for  the  home 
grower  in  his  own  market  would  greatly  encourage  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  all  kinds  of  British  vegetables  and  fruit,  and  in 
all  probability  the  consumer  would  very  soon  reap  a  benefit 
in  having  as  good  a  supply  as  ever,  and  of  sounder  food. 
The  encouragement  of  more  intense  cultivation  of  this  kind 
would  indirectly  stimulate  the  production  of  eggs  and 
poultry,  as  well  as  dairying,  for  it  is  the  occupiers  of  small 
holdings  which  do  the  lion’s  share  .n  supivying  the  country 
with  those  articles,  the  demand  for  which  is  ever  increasing. 
Without  duties  on  vegetables  and  fruits  we  should  be  better 
as  we  are. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
We  have  had  a  very  dry  week,  with  very  high  w’inds  and  an 
immense  amount  of  dust.  Rain  is  wanted  badly  everywhere 
except  in  the  hayfields.  Hay  making  has  been  the  chief  work 
all  round  us,  and  ricks  may  be  seen  in  every  direction ;  little 
grass  is  left  standing,  and  in  a  few  days  the  hay  harvest  will  be 
over. 
Turnips  are  stopped  for  want  of  rain ;  they  grow  slowly,  and 
but  few  fields  have  yet  been  singled.  Now  that  hay  is  prac¬ 
tically  out  of  the  way  all  hands  can  be  sent  to  the  Turnips. 
It  is  most  necessary  now  to  get  the  hoeing  done  quickly,  for 
the  time  before  harvest  is  getting  very  short.  Fortunately  the 
use  of  string  binders  makes  it  possible  to  keep  men  amongst  the 
root  crops  for  some  time  after  reaping  has  commenced. 
Faimiers  who  intend  to  spray  their  Potatoes  must  be  having 
the  work  done.  We  had  a  most  striking  illustration  of  the 
value  of  spraying  last  year.  One  field  only  amongst  many  was 
sprayed,  and  that  field  kept  green  much  longer  and  produced  a 
heavier  crop  than  auy  of  the  others.  The  cost  of  the  operation 
seemed  heavy,  but  it  was  a  remarkable  financial  success. 
Sheep  pastures  are  drying  up  rapiclly,  and  ewes  are  begin¬ 
ning  to  lose  their  milk.  We  are  meditating  early  weaning  of 
the  lambs.  There  is  plenty  of  dry  food  now,  and  the  lambs 
will  never  bo  deprived  of  their  mother’s  milk  under  more 
favourable  conditions.  There  is  plenty  of  grass  fog  ready  for 
them  ;  we  can  spare  them  a  few  Mangolds,  and  the  Cabbages 
are  ripening  nicely,  so  there  will  he  plenty  of  good  sound  food 
for  the  immediate  future.  We  shall  dip  both  ewes  and  lambs 
when  we  separate  them.  The  dixr  we  shall  use  is  of  the  nature 
of  xrhenyle,  and  is  non-poisonous.  The  whole  operation  will  cost 
little  more  than  Id.  per  head.  Surely  there  is  no  excuse  for 
neglect  of  dixriring.  This  reminds  us  that  we  have  not  got  coin- 
puLsory  dipiring  yet.  We  trust  that  such  a  time  will  come, 
and  that  it  is  not  far  distant. 
The  wisdom  of  insuring  farm  men  against  accidents  is  shown 
by  two  accidents  which  have  just  haxipened,  both  of  them  to 
foremen.  In  one  case,  uninsured,  the  man  was  trajiped  be¬ 
tween  a  cart  shaft  and  a  wall ;  he  will  be  disabled  for  two 
months  at  the  farmer’s  expense.  The  other  was  knocked  down 
and  mauled  by  a  young  horse,  seriously  injured.  His  employer 
is  receiving  conqie-nsation  from  an  insurance  comxiany. 
