[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "BPECIFILTOR."]
SIR,—Y011 make in the Spectator of August 8th what appears to me a most astonishingly inaccurate statement as to the cause of the decay of the agricultural industry in this country. You say in one of your leaders that "no energetic and capable man remains upon the land if he can get away from it," and in a footnote to Sir Herbert Maxwell's letter you say that "it is want of skill and energy that has damaged farming." One feels inclined to ask whether you have ever been to the Royal or Smithfield Shows, or attended a sheep or cattle sale, or met farmers at an ordinary; whether you have ever got up at six o'clock and spent the day with a farmer ; whether you are aware that England exports horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs for breeding purposes to most foreign countries ; whether you appreciate the energy, intelligence, and knowledge of his business which a farmer must possess in order to carry it on successfully. I suppose that because a farm of a thousand acres covers nearly five million square yards people cannot conceive that it is a concrete business, requiring that each yard shall have attention. A works which would necessitate the employment of capital equal to that required for working a farm of a thousand acres can be seen and appreciated, and you would evidently respect its owner as a person of intelligence and capacity of a superior order to that possessed by the farmer of a thousand acres. Yet I maintain that the works or mill owner would not require one half of the intelligence, foresight, and knowledge that the thousand-acre farmer would need, and he would not have to devote one half of the time to his business that the farmer is compelled to do. No, Sir, give the Devil his due, and credit the farmer with doing his best in common with all other producers. Common-sense is no monopoly of any one class, any more than stupidity and laziness are the natural prerogative of the agriculturist.—
[Our expression, we admit, was much too absolute in form. What we meant to say was that when agriculture does zot prosper it is generally due to lack of energy and
Icapacity in the farmer, and that unfortunately our most able and energetic men as a rule do not follow agriculture as a pursuit. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, and when a capable and energetic man with sufficient capital takes up farming he usually makes it pay, and does not clamour for Protection.—En. Spectator.]
Previous page
