Country Life
" Speed the Plough "
When the farming statistics of the year are published, it will be found—and there is no secret about the figures—that the area under wheat will exceed most estimates and the GovernMent's expectations. It is, of course, a grateful experience for country people to see an answer to the old prayer of " Speed the Plough." Villagers who are " praisers of times past " nearly always lay their stress on the lovely fields of golden grain that they used to welcome. The mere picturesqueness of the sight will make the most prosaic, half- lyrical old cottagers still talk of the " gleaning loaves " and vow they have never tasted bread that is real bread since. A very hard-bitten farmer of my acquaintance has said, not once but very many times, that if he can't grow wheat he will go out of business altogether. He is growing more than ever this year. The chief reason of the increase is, of course, the quota ; and after the quota the improvement in mechanical farming itself stimulated by the quota. A more hopeful spirit (accelerated in some counties by the very high profits earned by hop-growers) has helped in the same direction. The emphasis on saving money has been trans- ferred to the hope of making it.
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