Agriculture

Without the cultivation of the soil, a large population is not possible; only a sparsely settled people can get food enough by hunting and fishing. Save the Aztecs, the Peruvians, and other tribes depending on corn and field crops, the American Indians, with unsurpassed hunting and fishing grounds, were mere handfuls scattered along the shores of rivers and lakes. The more they relied on corn, vegetables, and rice, the larger the villages and the nearer they were together. Even the nomadic people of Asia, with their flocks and herds, require plenty of grazing room for each family. Historically the earliest centers of population and the first cities were located in the fertile river plains of the Old World where a mellow, rich soil produced food in abundance.

It is a curious fact that early literatures speak of tilling the soil as a curse. The hunter, the warrior, and the herdsman claim superiority, and even the writer of the book of Genesis says to Adam, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake. . . . In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Later writers and speakers have not failed to note the fundamental importance of agriculture. "When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore, are the founders of human civilization," says Daniel Webster. In one of his messages to Congress, President Grant uttered the same truth, although he perpetrated an unconscious pun to the effect that "Agriculture is the groundwork of our civilization."

Agriculture is the leading occupation in the United States. According to the twelfth census there were, by way of illustration, 29,000 dentists, 83,000 saloon keepers, 111,000 clergymen, 830,000 merchants, and over 10,000,000 farmers.

Bulletins issued by the secretary of agriculture at the middle of the decade make even a better showing. Final returns to the chief of the bureau of statistics of the department of agriculture from regular and special correspondents, supplemented by reports of special field agents, show the production and value of the principal farm crops of the United States in 1905 to have been as follows:

• Production, Bushels,
• Farm Value Dec. 1, 1905.
• Corn. . . . .2,707,993,540
• $1,116,696,738
• Winter wheat. . . . .428,462,834
• 334,986,942
• Spring wheat. . . . .264,516,655
• 183,385,785
• Oats. . . . .953,216,197
• 277,047,537
• Barley. . . . .136,651,020
• 55,047,166
• Rye. . . . .27,616,045
• 16,754,657
• Buckwheat. . . . .14,585,082
• 8,565,499
• Flaxseed. . . . .28,477,753
• 24,049,072
• Rice. . . . .12,933,436
• 12,285,834
• Potatoes. . . . .260,741,294
• 160,821,080
• Hay, tons. . . . .60,531,611
• 515,959,784
• Tobacco, pounds. . . . .633,033,719
• 48,674,118
• Cotton, estimated. . . . .
• 575,000,000

The secretary adds with enthusiasm, "The wealth produced on farms in 1905 reached the highest amount ever attained by the farmer of this or any other country, a stupendous aggregate of results of brain and muscle and machine, amounting in value to $6,415,000,000." Speaking further of the increase in the value of farms, he says: "Every sunset during the past five years has registered an increase of $3,400,000 in the value of the farms of this country. . . . This increase for little over a year balances the entire interest and non-interest bearing debt of the United States."

Secretary Wilson's estimate of the farm products for 1908 is still higher. The value of field products is placed at not less than $5,000,000,000, while dairy and meat products bring the total up to "the unthinkable amount" of $7,778,000,000 of wealth produced in a single year by the American farmer. In soberly considering these figures, however, the reader should remember that they include seed grain, and that a large part of the farmer's crop is fed to produce dairy and meat products; also that much of the produce is consumed in the home, and that many of the animals, being required to carry on the work of the farm, do not reach the market or swell the farmer's bank account. The net profit of farming is a fraction of Secretary Wilson's estimate of the value of farm products.

See articles on SEEDS, SOIL, PLOW, CORN, GARDENING, ROTATION, EXPERIMENT STATION, AND THE VARIOUS PLANTS, tools, and animals of the farm.

Volume I · Aiton’s Encyclopedia

the delta, where they roamed under the care of herdsmen. They were fed with hay during the annual inundation, and at other times tethered in meadows of green clover. The flocks were shorn twice annually (a practice common to several Asiatic countries), and the ewes yeaned twice a year. (See also EGYPT.)

The agriculture of the region bordering the Tigris and Euphrates, like that of Egypt, depended largely on irrigation, and traces of ancient canals are still to be seen in Babylonia. But beyond the fact that both Babylonia and Assyria were large producers of cereals, little is known of their husbandry.

The nomads of the patriarchal ages, whilst mainly dependent upon their flocks and herds, practised also agriculture proper. The tracts over which they roamed were in ordinary Bibllcal circumstances common to all shepherds alike. During accounts the summer they frequented the mountainous districts, among and retired to the valleys to winter. Vast flocks of *^f sheep and of goat constituted their wealth, although they also possessed oxen. When the last were abundant, it seems to be an indication that tillage was practised. Job, besides immense possessions in flocks and herds, had 500 yoke of oxen, which he employed in ploughing, and a " very great husbandry." Isaac, too, conjoined tillage with pastoral husbandry, and that with success, for " he sowed in the land Gerar, and reaped an hundred-fold "—a return which, it would appear, in some favoured regions, occasionally rewarded the labour of the husbandman. In the parable of the sower, Jesus Christ mentions an increase of thirty, sixty and an hundred fold.

Along with the Babylonians, Egyptians and Romans, the Israelites are classed as one of the great agricultural nations of antiquity. The Mosaic Institute contained an agrarian law, based upon an equal division of the soil amongst the adult males, a census of whom was taken just before their entrance into Canaan. Provision was thus made for 600,000 yeomen, assigning (according to different calculations) from sixteen to twenty-five acres of land to each. This land, held in direct tenure from Jehovah, their sovereign, was in theory inalienable. The accumulation of debt upon it was prevented by the prohibition of interest, the release of debts every seventh year, and the reversion of the land to the proprietor, or his heirs, at each return of the year of jubilee. The owners of these small farms cultivated them with much care, and rendered them highly productive. They were favoured with a soil extremely fertile, and one which their skill and diligence kept in good condition. The stones were carefully cleared from the fields, which were also watered from canals and conduits, communicating with the brooks and streams with which the country " was well watered everywhere," and enriched by the application of manures. The seventh year's fallow prevented the exhaustion of the soil, which was further enriched by the burning of the weeds and spontaneous growth of the Sabbatical year. The crops chiefly cultivated were wheat, millet, barley, beans and lentils; to which it is supposed, on grounds not improbable, may be added rice and cotton. The chief implements were a wooden plough of simple and light construction, a hoe or mattock, and a light harrow. The ox and the ass were used for labour. The word " oxen," which occurs in our version of the Scriptures, as well as in the Septua-gint and Vulgate, denotes the species, rather than the sex. As the Hebrews did not mutilate any of their animals, bulls were in common use. The quantity of land ploughed by a yoke of oxen in one day was called a yoke or acre. Towards the end of October, with which month the rainy season begins, seedtime commenced, and of course does so still. The seedtime, begun in October, extends, for wheat and some other white crops, through November and December; and barley continues to be sown until about the middle of February. The seed appears to have been sometimes ploughed in, and at other times to have been covered by harrowing. The cold winds which prevail in January and February frequently injured the crops in the more exposed and higher districts. The rainy season extends from October to April, during which time refreshing showers fall, chiefly during the night, and generally at intervals of a few days. The harvest was earlier or later as

the rains towards the end of the season were more or less copious. It, however, generally began in April, and continued through May for the different crops in succession. In the south, and in the plains, the harvest, as might be expected, commenced some weeks earlier than in the northern and mountainous districts. The slopes of the hills were carefully terraced and irrigated wherever practicable, and on these slopes the vine and olive were cultivated with great success. At the same time the hill districts and neighbouring deserts afforded pasturage for numerous flocks and herds, and thus admitted of the benefits of a mixed husbandry. Not by a figure of speech but literally, every Israelite sat under the shadow of his own vine and fig-tree; whilst the country as a whole is described (2 Kings xviii. 32) as " a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey."

The earliest known forms of intensive husbandry were based chiefly upon the proximity of rivers and irrigation. The agri-Greece, culture of classical ages was slightly more developed in so far as the husbandman of Greece and Rome was less able to leave to nature the fertilization of the soil. Greece being a mountainous land was favourable to the culture of the vine rather than to that of cereals. Scanty information on its agriculture is to be derived from the Works and Days of Hesiod (about the 8th century B.C.), the Oeconomicus of Xenophon (4th century B.C.), the History of Plants and the Origin of Plants of Theo-phrastus (4th century B.C.). The latter is the first writer on botany, and his works also contain interesting remarks on manures, the mixing of soils and other agricultural topics (see also GEOPONICI). Greek husbandry had no salient characteristics. The summer fallow with repeated ploughing was its basis. The young crop was hoed, reaping was performed with a sickle, and a high stubble left on the ground as manure. The methods of threshing and winnowing were the same as those in use in ancient Egypt. Wheat, barley and spelt were the leading crops. Meadows were pastured rather than mown. Attica was famous for its olives and figs, but general agriculture excelled in Peloponnesus, where, by means of irrigation and drainage, all the available land was utilized.

In the early days of the Roman republic land in Italy was held largely by small proprietors, and agriculture was highly esteemed and classed with war as an occupation becoming a free man. The story of Cincinnatus, twice summoned from the plough to the highest offices in the state, illustrates the status of the Roman husbandman. The later tendency was towards the absorption of smaller holdings into large estates. As wealth increased the peasant-farmer gave way before the large landowner, who cultivated his property by means of slave-labour, superintended by slave-bailiffs. The low price of grain, which was imported in huge quantities^from Sicily and other Roman provinces, operated to crush the small holder, at the same time as it made arable farming unremunerative. Sheep-raising, involving larger holdings, less supervision and less labour, was preferred by the capitalist land-holder to the cultivation of the wheat, spelt, vines or olives v/hich were the chief crops of the country. Lupine, beans, peas and vetches were grown for fodder, and meadows, often artificially watered, supplied hay. Swine and poultry were used for food to a greater extent than oxen, which were bred chiefly for ploughing. The following epitome of Virgil's advice to the husbandman in the first book of the Georgics suggests the outline of Roman husbandry: " First learn the peculiarities of your soil and climate. Plough the fallow in early spring, and plough frequently—twice in winter, twice in summer unless your land is poor, when a light ploughing in September will do. Either let the land lie fallow every other year or else let spelt follow pulse, vetches or lupine. Repetition of one crop exhausts the ground; rotation will lighten the strain, only the exhausted soil must be copiously dressed with manure or ashes. It often does good to burn the stubble on the ground. Harrow down the clods, level the ridges by cross ploughing, work the land thoroughly. Irrigation benefits a sandy soil, draining a marshy soil. It is well to feed down a luxuriant crop when the plants are level with the ridge tops. Geese and

Cranes, chicory, mildew, thistles, cleavers, caltrops, darnel and shade are farmer's enemies. Scare off the birds, harrow up the weeds, cut down all that shades the crop. Ploughs, waggons, threshing-sledges, harrows, baskets, hurdles, winnowing-fans are the farmer's implements. The plough consists of several parts made of seasoned wood. The threshing-floor must be smooth and rammed hard to leave no crevices for weeds and small animals to get through. Some steep seed in soda and oil lees to get a larger produce. Careful annual selection by hand of the best seed is the only way to prevent degeneration.. It is best to mow stubble and hay at night when they are moist."

In addition to the use of several kinds of animal and other manures,, green crops were sometimes ploughed in by the Romans. The shrewdness which, more than inventiveness, characterized their husbandry comes out well in the following quotation from the 18th book of the Natural History of Pliny:—" Cato would have this point especially to be considered, that the soil of a farm be good and fertile; also, that near it there be plenty of labourers and that it be not far from a large town; moreover, that it have sufficient means for transporting its produce, either by water or land. Also that the house be well built, and the land about it as well managed. They are in error who hold the opinion that the negligence and bad husbandry of the former owner is good for his successor. Now, I say there is nothing more dangerous and disadvantageous to the buyer than land so left waste and out of heart; and therefore Cato counsels well to purchase land of one who has managed it well, and not rashly to despise and make light of the skill and knowledge of another."

Roman writers on agriculture (see GEOPONICI) are mpre numerous than those of Greece. The earliest important treatises are the De re Rustica of Cato (234-149 B.C.) and the Rerum Rusticarum Libri of Varro. More famous than either are the Georgics oi Virgil, published about 30 B.C., and treating of tillage, horticulture, cattle-breeding and bee-keeping. The works of Columella (ist century A.D.) and of Palladius (4th century A.D.) are exhaustive treatises, and the Natural History of the elder Pliny (A.D. 23-70) contains considerable information on husbandry. Under the later empire agriculture sank into a condition of neglect, in which it remained throughout the Dark Ages. In Spain its revival was due to the Saracens, and by them, and their successors the Moors, agriculture was carried to a high pitch of excellence. The work on agriculture1 of Ibn-al-Awam, who lived in the i2th century A.D., treats of the varieties of soils, manuring, irrigation, ploughing, sowing, harvesting, stock, horticulture, arboriculture and plant diseases, and is a lasting record of their skill and industry.

The subsequent history of agriculture is treated in the following pages primarily from the British standpoint. Doubtless Flanders may claim to be the pioneer of " high farming " in medieval times, other countries following her lead in many respects. It is not, however, necessary to deal with the agricultural evolution of continental Europe, the gradual progress of agriculture as a whole being well enough typified in the story of its development in England, which indeed has led the way in modern times. After sections on the history and chief modern features of British agriculture, a separate account is given of the general features of American agriculture.

HISTORY OF ENGLISH AGRICULTURE

The " combined " or " common-field " system of husbandry practised by the village community or township (see VILLAGE COMMUNITIES) may be taken as the starting-point of English agriculture, in which, till the end of the i8th century, it is a dominant influence. The territory of the " township " consisted of arable land, meadow, pasture and waste. The arable land was divided into two or, more usually, three fields, which were cut up into strips bounded by balks and allotted to the villagers in such a way that one holding might include several disconnected strips in each field—a measure designed to prevent the whole of the best land falling to one man. The fields were fenced in from seed-time to harvest, after which the fences were taken 'Translation by Clement-Mullet (Paris, 1864).

down and the cattle turned in to feed on the stubble. According to early methods of cropping, which were destined to prevail for centuries, wheat, the chief article of food, was sown in one autumn, reaped the next August; the following spring, oats or barley were sown, and the year following the harvest was a period of fallow. This procedure was followed on each of the three fields so that in every year one of them was fallow. In addition to the cereals, beans, peas and vetches were grown to some extent. The meadow-land was also divided into strips from which the various holders drew their supply of hay. The pasture-land was common to all, though the number of beasts which one man might turn into it was sometimes limited. Rough grazing could also be had on the outlying waste lands. In the absence of artificial grasses and roots, hay was very valuable; it constituted almost the only winter food for live stock, which were consequently in poor condition in spring.

Under the manorial system, the rise of which preceded the Norman Conquest, communal methods of husbandry remained, but the position of the cultivator was radically altered. " Villeins," instead of free-holders, formed the most numerous class of the population. They were bound to the soil and occupied holdings of scattered strips (amounting usually to a virgate or 30 acres) in return for a payment partly in labour and partly in kind. A portion of the manor, generally about a third, constituted the lord's demesne, which, though sometimes separate, usually consisted of strips intermingled with those of his villeins. It thus formed part of the common farm and was cultivated by the villeins and their oxen under the superintendence of a bailiff. Below the villeins in the social scale came the cottiers possessing smaller holdings, sometimes only a garden, and no oxen. Free tenants and, after the Norman Conquest, slaves formed small proportions of the population. During the middle ages cattle and sheep were the chief farm animals, but the intermixture of stock consequent on the common-field system was a barrier to improvement in the breed and conduced to the propagation of disease. Oxen, usually yoked in teams of eight, were used for ploughing. Sheep were small and their fleeces light, nevertheless, owing to the meagreness of the yields of cereals1 and the demand for wool for export, sheep-farming was looked to, as early as the i2th century, as the chief source of profit. Pigs and poultry were universally kept. The treatise on husbandry of Walter of Henley, dating from the early I3th century, is very valuable as describing the management of the demesne under the two- or three-field system. The following are typical passages:—

" April is a good season for fallowing, if the earth breaks up behind the plough; for second fallowing after St John's Day when the dust rises behind the plough; for seed-ploughing when the earth is well settled and not too cracked; however, the busy man cannot be always waiting on the seasons." " At sowing do not plough large furrows, but little and well laid together, that the seed may fall evenly."

" Know that an acre sown with wheat takes three ploughings, except lands that are sown each year, and that each ploughing costs 6d. more or less and the harrowing id. It is well to sow at least two bushels to the acre."

" Change your seed every year at Michaelmas, for the seed grown on other land will bring you more than that grown on your own."

" Neither sell your stubble nor move it from the ground unless you need it for thatching. Have manure put up in heaps and mixed with earth."

" Ridge marshy ground so as to let the water run off."

During the i3th century there arose a tendency to commute labour-rents for money payments. This change led to the gradual disappearance of tenants in villeinage—the villeins and cottiers—and the rise on the one hand of the small independent farmer, on the other of the hired labourer. The plague of 1348 marks an epoch in English agriculture. The diminution of the population by one-half led to a scarcity of labour and an increase of wages which deprived the landowner of his narrow margin of profit. To meet this situation, the Statute of Labourers (1351) enacted that no man should refuse to work at the same rate of wages as prevailed before the plague. In addition the

1 Walter of Henley mentions six bushels per acre as a satisfactory crop.

landowners attempted to revive the disappearing system of labour-rents. The bitter feelings engendered between employer and employed culminated in the peasants' revolt of 1381. Meanwhile large numbers of landowners were forced to adopt one of two alternatives. In some cases they ceased to farm their own land and let it out on lease often together with the stock upon it; or else they abandoned arable culture, laid down their demesnes to pasture, enclosed the waste lands and devoted themselves to sheep-farming. In the latter course they were encouraged by the high prices of wool during the i4th century, and by Edward III.'s policy of fostering both the export of wool and the home manufacture of woollen goods. The i5th century, barren of progress in methods of husbandry, was in its early years moderately prosperous. Later on the increasing abandonment of arable husbandry for sheep-farming brought about a less demand for labour, and rural depopulation was accelerated as the peasant was deprived of his grazing-ground by the enclosure of more and more of the waste land.2

From the beginning of the reign of Henry VII. to the end of Elizabeth's, a number of statutes were made for the encouragement of tillage, though probably to little purpose. Asricul. " Where in some towns," says the statute 4th tun under Henry VII. (1488), " two hundred persons were occu- the Tudors pied and lived of their lawful labours, now there are occupied two or three herdsmen, and the residue fall into idleness"; therefore it is ordained that houses which within three years have been let for farms, with twenty acres of land lying in tillage or husbandry, shall be upheld, under the penalty of half the profits, to be forfeited to the king or the lord of the fee. Almost half a century afterwards the practice had become still more alarming; and in 1534 a new act was tried, apparently with as little success. " Some have 24,000 sheep, some 20,000 sheep, some 10,000, some 6000, some 4000, and some more and some less "; and yet it is alleged the price of wool had nearly doubled, " sheep being come to a few persons' hands." A penalty was therefore imposed on all who kept above 2000 sheep; and no person was to take in farm more than two tenements of husbandry. By the 39th Elizabeth (1597) arable land made pasture since the ist Elizabeth shall be again converted into tillage, and what is arable shall not be converted into pasture.

The literature of agriculture, in abeyance since the treatise of Walter of Henley, makes another beginning in the i6th century. The best of the early works is the Book of Husbandry (ist ed. 1523), commonly ascribed to Sir Anthony Fitzherbert, a judge of the Common Pleas in the reign of Henry VIII., but more probably written by his elder brother John. This was followed by the Book of Surveying and Improvements (1523), by the same author, In the former treatise we have a clear and minute description of the rural practices of that period, and from the latter may be learned a good deal of the economy of the feudal system in its decline.

The Book of Husbandry begins with a description of the plough and other implements, after which about a third part of it is occupied with the several operations as they succeed one another throughout the year. Among other passages in this part of the work, the following deserve notice:—

"Somme (ploughs) wyll tournthe sheld bredith at every landsende, and plowe all one way "; the same kind of plough that is now found so useful on hilly grounds. Of wheel-ploughs he observes, that " they be good on even grounde that lyeth lyghte "; and on such lands they are still most commonly employed. Cart-wheels were sometimes bound with iron, of which he greatly approves. On the much agitated question about the employment of horses or oxen in labour, the most important arguments are distinctly stated.

" In some places," he says, "a horse plough is better," and in others an oxen plough, to which, upon the whole, he gives the preference. Beans and peas seem to have been common crops. He mentions the different kinds of wheat, barley and oats; and after describing the method of harrowing " all maner of cornnes," we find the roller employed. "They used to role their barley grounde

1 This process of enclosure must be distinguished from that of enclosing the arable common fields which, though advocated by Fitzherbert in a passage quoted below proceeded slowly till the 18th century.

after a showr of rayne, to make the grounde even to mowe." Under the article " To falowe," he observes, " the greater elottes (clods) the better wheate, for the elottes kepe the wheat warme all wynter; and at March they will melte and breake and fal in manye small peces, the whiche is a new dongynge and refreshynge of the corne." This is agreeable to the present practice, founded on the very same reasons. "In May, the shepe folde is to be set out "; but Fitzherbert does not much approve of folding, and points out its disadvantages in a very judicious manner. " In the latter end of May and the begynnynge of June, is tyme to wede the corne "; and then we have an accurate description of the different weeds, and the instruments and mode of weeding. Next comes a second ploughing of the fallow; and afterwards, in the latter end of June, the mowing of the meadows begins. Of this operation, and of the forks and rakes and the haymaking there is a very good account. The corn harvest naturally follows: rye and wheat were usually shorn, and barley and oats cut with the scythe. The writer does not approve of the common practice of cutting wheat high and then mowing the stubbles. " In Somersetshire," he says, " they do shere theyr wheat very lowe; and the wheate strawe that they purpose to make thacke of, they do not threshe it, but cut off the ears, and bynd it in sheves, and call it rede, and therewith they thacke theyr houses." He recommends the practice of setting up corn in shocks, with two sheaves to cover eight, instead of ten sheaves as at present—probably owing to the straw being then shorter. The corn was commonly housed; but if there be a want of room, he advises that the ricks be built on a scaffold and not upon the ground. The fallow received a third ploughing in September, and was sown about Michaelmas. " Wheat is moost commonlye sowne under the forowe, that is to say, cast it uppon the falowe, and then plowe it under "; and this branch of his subject is concluded with directions about threshing, winnowing and other kinds of barn-work/

Fitzherbert next proceeds to live stock. " An housbande," he says, " can not well thryue by his corne without he have other cattell, nor by his cattcll without corne. And bycause that shepe, in myne opynyon, is the mooste profytablest cattell that any man can haue, therefore I pourpose to speake fyrst of shepe." His remarks on this subject are so accurate that one might imagine they came from a storemaster of the present day.

In some places at present "they neuerseuertheir lambesfrom their dammes "; " and the poore of the peeke (high) countreye, and such other places, where, as they vse to mylke theyr ewes, they vse to wayne theyr lambes at 12 weekes olde, and to mylke their ewes fiue or syxe weekes " ; but that, he observes, " is greate hurte to the ewes, and wyll cause them that they wyll not take the ramme at the tyme of the yere for pouertye, but goo barreyne." " In June is tyme to shere shepe; and ere they be shorne, they must be verye well washen, the which shall be to the owner greate profyte in the sale of his wool, and also to the clothe-maker."

His remarks on horses, cattle, &c., are not less interesting; and there is a very good account of the diseases of each species, and some just observations on the advantage of mixing different kinds on the same pasture. Swine and bees conclude this branch of the work.

The author then points out the great advantages of enclosure; recommends " quycksettynge, dychynge and hedgeyng "; and gives particular directions about settes, and the method of training a hedge, as well as concerning the planting and management of trees. Fitzherbert throws some light on the position of women in the agriculture of his day. "It is a wyues occupation," he says, " to wynowe all maner of cornes, to make malte, to washe and wrynge, to make heye, shere corne, and, in time of nede, to helpe her husbande to fyll the mucke wayne or dounge carte, dryue the ploughe, to loode heye, corne and suche other; and to go or ride to the market to sel butter, chese, mylke, egges, chekyns, capons, hennes, pygges, gese, and all maner of cornes."

The Book of Surveying adds considerably to our knowledge of the rural economy of that age. " Four maner of commens " are described; several kinds of mills for corn and other purposes, and also " quernes that goo with hand"; different orders of tenants, down to the " boundmen," who " in some places con-tynue as yet "; " and many tymes, by colour thereof, there be many freemen taken as boundmen, and their lands and goods is taken from them." Lime and marl are mentioned as common manures, and the former was sometimes spread on the surface to destroy heath. Both draining and irrigation are noticed, though the latter but slightly. And the work concludes with an inquiry " how to make a township that is worth XX. marke a yere, worth XX. li. a year," advocating the transition from communal or open field to individual or enclosure farming.

" It is undoubted, that to every townshyppe that standeth in tyllage in the playne countrey, there be errable landes to plowe and sowe, and leyse to tye or tedder theyr horses and mares upon, and common pasture to kepe and pasture their catell, beestes and shepe upon; and also they have medowe grounde to get theyr hey upon. Than to let it oe known how many acres of errable lande euery man hath in tyllage, and of the same acres in euery felde to chaunge with

his neyghbours, and to leve them toguyther, and to make hym one seuerall close in euery felde for his errable lands; and his leyse .in euery felde to leve them togyther in one felde, and to makeone seuerall close for them all. And also another seuerall close for his portion of his common pasture, and also his porcion of his medowe in a seuerall close by itselfe, and al kept in seureall both in wynter and somer; and euery cottage shall haue his portion assigned hym accordynge to his rent, and than shall nat the ryche man ouerpresse the poore man with his cattell; and euery man may eate his oun close at his pleasure. And vndoubted, that hay and strawe that will find one beest in the house wyll finde two beestes in the close, and better they shall lyke. For those beestis in the house have short heare and thynne, and towards March they will pylle and be bare; and therefore they may nat abyde in the fylde before the heerdmen in wintertyme for colde. And those that lyein a close undera hedge haue longe heare and thyck, and they will neuer pylle nor be bare; and by this reason the husbande maye kepe twyse so many catell as he did before.

" This is the cause of this apprpwment. Nowe euery husbande hath sixe seuerall closes, whereof iii. be for corne, the fourthe for his leyse, the fyfte for his commen pastures, and the sixte for his haye; and in wynter time there is but one occupied with corne, and than hath the husbande other fyue to occupy tyll lente come, and that he hath his falowe felde, his ley felde, and his pasture fejde al sommer. And when he hath mowen his medowe, then he hath his medowe grounde, soo that if he hath any weyke catell that wold be amended, or dyvers maner of catell, he may put them in any close he wyll, the which is a great advantage; and if all shulde lye commen, than wolde the edyche of the corne feldes and the aftermath of all the medowes be eaten in X. or XII. dayes. And the rych men that hath moche catell wold have the advantage, and the poore man can have no help nor relefe in wynter when he hath moste nede; and if an acre of lande be wprthe sixe pens, or it be enclosed, it will be worth VIII. pens, when it is enclosed by reason of the compostying and dongyng of the catell that shall go and lye upon it both day and nighte; and if any of his thre closes that he hath for his corne be worne or ware bare, than he may breke and plowe up his close that he hadde for his layse, or the close that he hadde for his Commen pasture, or bothe, and sowe them with corne, and let the other lye for a time, and so shall he have always reist grounde, the which will bear moche corne with lytel donge; and also he shall have a great profyte of the wod in the hedges whan it is growen; and not only these profytes and advantages beforesaid, but he shall save moche more than al these, for by reason of these closes he shall save meate, drinke and wages of a shepherde, the wages of the heerdmen, and the wages of the swine herde, the which may fortune to be as chargeable as all his nolle rente; and also his corne shall be better saved from eatinge or destroying with catel. For dout ye nat but heerde-men with their catell, shepeherdes with their shepe, and tieng of horses and mares, destroyeth moch corne, the which the hedges wold save. Paraduenture some men would say that this shuld be against the common weale, bicause the shepeherdes, heerdmen and swyne-herdes shuld than be put out of wages. To that it may be answered, though these occupations be not used, there be as many newe occupations that were not used before; as getting of quicke settes, diching, hedging and plashing, the which the same men may use and occupye."

The next author who writes professedly on agriculture is Thomas Tusser, whose Five Hundred Points of Husbandry, published in 1562, enjoyed such lasting repute that in 1723 Lord Molesworth recommended that it should be taught in schools. In it the book of husbandry consists of 118 pages, and then follows the Points of Housewifrie, occupying 42 pages more. It is written in verse. Amidst much that is valueless there are some useful notices concerning the state of agriculture at the time in different parts of England. Hops, which had been introduced in the early part of the i6th century, and on the culture of which a treatise was published in 1574 by Reginald Scott, are mentioned as a well-known crop. Buckwheat was sown after barley. Hemp and flax are mentioned as common crops. Enclosures must have been numerous in some counties; and there is a very good comparison between " champion (open fields) country and several," which Blith afterwards transcribed into his Improver Improved. Carrots, cabbages, turnips and rape, not yet cultivated in the fields, are mentioned among the herbs and roots for the kitchen. There is nothing to be found in Tusser about serfs or bondmen, as in Fitzherbert's works.

In 1577 appeared the Foure Bookes of Husbandry, translated, with augmentation, from the work of Conrad Heresbach. Much stress is laid on the value of manure, and mention is made of clover.

Fitzherbert, in deploring the gradual discontinuance of the practice of marling land, had alluded to the grievance familiar

in modern times of tenants " who, if they should marl and make their holdings much better, fear lest they should be put out, or make a great fine or else pay more rent." This subject is treated at length in Sir John Norden's Surveyor's Dialogue (ist ed. 1607), the next agricultural work demanding notice. The author, writing from the landowner's point of view, ascribes the rise in rents and the rise in the price of corn1 to the " emulation " of tenants in competing for holdings, a practice implying that the agriculture of the period was prosperous. Norden's work contains many judicious observations on the " different natures of grounds, how they may be employed, how they may be bettered, reformed and amended." The famous meadows near Salisbury are mentioned, where, when cattle have fed their fill, hogs, it is said, " are made fat with the remnant—namely, with the knots and sappe of the grasse." " Clouer grasse, or the grasse honey suckle " (white clover), is directed to be sown with other hay seeds. " Carrot rootes " were then raised in several parts of England, and sometimes by farmers. London street and stable dung was carried to a distance by water, and appears from later writers to have been got for the trouble of removing. Leases of 21 years are recommended for persons of small capital as better than employing it in purchasing land. The works of Gervase Markham, Leonard Mascall, Gabriel Plattes and other authors of the first half of the 17th century may be passed over, the best part jof them being preserved by Blith and Hartlib, who are referred to below.

Sir Richard Weston's Discourse on the Husbandry of Brabant and Flanders was published by Hartlib in 1645, and its title indicates the source to which England owed much of its subsequent agricultural advancement. Weston was ambassador from England to the elector palatine in 1619, and had the merit of being the first who introduced the great clover, as it was then called, into English agriculture, about 1652, and probably turnips also. Clover thrives best, he says, when you sow it on the barrenest ground, such as the worst heath ground in England. The ground is to be pared and burnt, and unslacked lime must be added to the ashes. It is next to be well ploughed and harrowed; and about 10 ft of clover seed must be sown on an acre in April or the end of March. If you intend to preserve seed, then the second crop must be let stand till it come to a full and dead ripeness, and you shall have at the least five bushels per acre. Being once sown, it will last five years; the land, when ploughed, will yield, three or four years together, rich crops of wheat, and after that a crop of oats, with which clover seed is to be sown again. It is in itself an excellent manure, Sir Richard adds; and so it should be, to enable land to bear this treatment. Before 1655 the culture of clover, exactly according to the present method, seems to have been well known in England, and it had also made its way to Ireland.

A great many works on agriculture appeared during the time of the Commonwealth, of which Walter Blith's Improver Improved and Samuel Hartlib's Legacie are the most valuable. The first edition of the former was published in 1649, an!37,790 4,527,899 4,1 45, 633 4,i37,406

10,441,627 9,952,611 9,282,855 8,922,379 8,330,308 8,218,787 7,846,309

occupied barely more than half the area assigned to it at the beginning. If the land taken from wheat had been cropped with one or both of the other cereals, the aggregate area would have remained about the same. This, however, was not the case, for a fairly uniform decrease in the barley area was accompanied by somewhat irregular fluctuations in the acreage of oats. To the decline in prices of home-grown cereals the decrease in area is largely attributable. The extent of this decline is seen in Table II., wherein are given the annual average prices from 1875 to 1905, calculated upon returns from the 190 statutory markets of England and Wales (Corn Returns Act 1882). These prices are per imperial quarter,—that is, 480 Ib of wheat, 400 ft> of barley and 312 Ib of oats, representing 60 Ib, soft and 39 ft) per bushel respectively. After 1883 the annual average price of English wheat was never so high as 403. per quarter, and only twice after

1892 did it exceed 303. In one of these exceptional years, 1898, the average rose to 345., but this was due entirely to a couple of months of inflated prices in the early half of the year, when the outbreak of war between Spain and the United States of America coincided with a huge speculative deal in the latter country. The

TABLE II.—-Gazette Annual Average Prices per Imperial Quarter of British Cereals in England and Wales, 1875-1905.

weekly aveiage prices of English wheat in 1898 fluctuated between 483. id. and 255. sd. per quarter, the former being the highest weekly average since 1882. The minimum annual average was 22S. lod. in 1894, in the autumn of which year the weekly average sank to 175. 6d. per quarter, the lowest on record. Wheat was so great a glut in the market that various methods were devised for feeding it to stock, a purpose for which it is not specially suited; in thus utilizing the grain, however, a smaller loss was often incurred than in sending it to market. In 1894 the monthly average price for October, the chief month for wheat-sowing in England, was only 173. 8d. per quarter, and farmers naturally shrank from seeding the land freely with a crop which could not be grown except at a heavy loss. The result was that in the following year the wheat crop of the United Kingdom was harvested upon the smallest area on record—less than ij million acres. In only one year, 1878, did the annual average price of English barley touch 403. per quarter; it never reached 303. after 1885, whilst in 1895 it fell to so low a level as 2is. nd. The same story of declining prices applies to oats. An average of zos. per quarter was touched in 1891 and 1902, but with those exceptions this useful feeding grain did not reach that figure after 1885. In 1895 the average price of 480 Ib of wheat, at 235. id., was identical with that of 312 Ib of oats in 1880, and it was less in the preceding year. The declining prices that have operated against the growers of wheat should be studied in conjunction with Table III., which shows, at intervals of five years, the imports of TABLE III.—Imports into the United Kingdom of Wheat Grain, and of Wheat Meal and Flour—Cwt.

• 1875 1880 1885 1890
• 51,876,517 55,261,924 61 ,498,864 60,474,180
• 15,773,336 18,368,410 2i,548;i3i 11,954,763
• 77,331,707 76,247,516 100,118,365 90,217,621 109-577,515

wheat grain and of wheat meal and flour into the United Kingdom. The import of the manufactured product from 1875 to 1900 increased at a much greater ratio than that of the raw grain, for whilst in 1875 the former represented less than one-ninth of the total, by 1900 the proportion had risen to nearly one-fourth. The offal, which is quite as valuable as the flour itself, was thus retained abroad instead of being utilized for stock-feeding purposes in the United Kingdom. In the five subsequent years the proportion was fundamentally altered, so that with a greatly increased importation of grain, that of meal and flour was in the proportion of about one-ninth. The highest and lowest areas of wheat, barley and oats in the United Kingdom during the period 1875-1905 were the following:—

Wheat . 3,514,088 acres in 1875; 1,407,618 acres in 1904. Barley . 2,931,809 „ „ 1879; 1,872,305 „ ,,1905. ; Oats . 4,527,899 „ „ 189513,998,200 „ ,,1879.

These show differences amounting to 2,106,470 acres for wheat, 1,659,504 acres for barley, and 529,699 acres for Oats. The acreage of wheat, therefore, fluctuated the most, and that of oats the least. Going back to 1869, it is found that the extent of wheat in that year was 3,981,989 acres or very little short of four million acres.

The acreage of rye grown in the United Kingdom as a grain crop is small, the respective maximum and minimum areas during the period 1875-1905 having been 102,676 acres in 1894 and 47,937 acres in 1880. Rye is perhaps more largely grown as a green crop to be fed off by sheep, or cut green for soiling, in the spring months.

Of corn crops other than cereals, beans and peas are both less cultivated than formerly. In the period 1875-1905 the area of beans in the United Kingdom fluctuated between 574,414 acres in 1875 and 230,429 acres in 1897, and that of peas between 318,410 acres in 1875 and 155,668 acres in 1901. The area of peas (175,624 acres in 1905) shrank by nearly one-half, and that of beans (256,383 acres in 1905) by more than one-half. Taking cereals and pulse corn together, the aggregate areas of wheat, barley, oats, rye, beans and peas in the United Kingdom varied as follows over the six quinquennial intervals embraced in the period 1875-1905:—

Year. Acres. Year. Acres. 1875 - - 11,399,030 1890 . . 9,574,249 1880 . . 10,672,086 1895 . . 8,865,338 1885 . . 10,014,625 1900 . . 8,707,602

1905 . . 8,333,770

Disregarding minor fluctuations, there was thus a loss of corn land over the 30 years of 3,065,260 acres, or 27%.

The area, withdrawn from corn-growing is not to be found under the head of what are termed " green crops." In 1905 the total area of these crops in the United Kingdom was 4,144,374 acres, made up thus:—

Crop. Acres. Potatoes ......... 1,236,768

Turnips and swedes ...... 1,879,384

Cabbage, kohl-rabi and rape .... 225,315

Vetches or tares . . . . . . . 139,285

Other green crops . . . . - . . . 186,082

The extreme aggregate areas of these crops during the thirty years were 5,057,029 acres in 1875 and 4,109,394 acres in 1904. At five-year intervals the areas were:—

1875 • • 5,057,029 1880 . . 4,746,293 1885 . . 4,765,195

These crops, therefore, which, ex for stock-feeding, have like th gradually diminishing areas. The land that has been lost to

Year. Acres. 1890 . . 4,534-145 1895 • • 4,399,949 1900 . . 4,301,774

1905 . . 4,144,374 cept potatoes, are used mainl'y ; corn crops been grown on

the plough is found to be still

further augmented when an inquiry is instituted into the area devoted to clover, sainfoin and grasses under rotation. The areas of five-year intervals are given in Table IV. Under the old Norfolk or four-course rotation (roots, barley, clover, wheat) land thus seeded with clover or grass seeds was intended to be

ploughed up at the end of a year. Labour difficulties, low prices of produce, bad seasons and similar causes provided inducements for leaving the land in grass for two years, or over three years or more, before breaking it up for wheat. In many cases it would be decided to let such land remain under grass indefinitely, and thus it would no longer be enumerated in the Agricultural Returns as temporary grass land, but would pass into the category of permanent grass land, or what is often spoken of as " permanent pasture." Whilst much grass land has been laid down with the intention from the outset that it should be permanent, at the same time some considerable areas have through stress of circumstances been allowed to drift from the temporary or rotation grass area to the permanent list, and have thus still further diminished the area formerly under the dominion of the plough. The column relating to permanent grass in Table IV. shows clearly enough how the British Isles became

TABLE IV.—Areas of Grass Land (excluding Heath and Mountain Land) in the United Kingdom—Acres.

Temporary (i.e. under rotation) .

Permanent (i.e. not broken up in rotation).

1875 1880 1885 1890

6,337,953 6,389,232 6,738,206 6,097,210 6J,o6i,i39 6,025,025 5,779,323

23,772,602 24,717,092 25,616,071 27,115,425

32,354,277 33,212,635 33,892,256 34,291,737 34,644,696

more pastoral, while the figures already given demonstrate the extent to which they became less arable. In the period 1875-1905 the extreme areas returned as " permanent pasture "—a term which, it should be clearly understood, does not include heath or mountain land, of which there are in Great Britain alone about 13 million acres used for grazing—were 23,772,602 acres in 1875, and 28,865,373 acres in 1905. Comparing 1905 with 1875 the increase in permanent grass land amounted to over five million acres, or about 21 %.

On account of the greater humidity and mildness of its climate, Ireland is more essentially a pastoral country than^Sreat Britain. The distribution between the two islands of such important crops of arable land as cereals and potatoes is indicated in Table V. The figures are those for 1905, but, though the absolute acreages

TABLE V.—Areas of Cereal and Potato Crops in Great Britain and Ireland in 1905.

vary somewhat from year to year, there is not much variation in the proportions. The comparative insignificance of Ireland in the case of the wheat and barley crops, represented by 2 and 8 % respectively, receives some compensation when oats and potatoes are considered, about one-fourth of the area of the former and more than half that of the latter being claimed by Ireland. It is noteworthy, however, that Ireland year by year places less reliance upon the potato crop. In 1888 the area of potatoes in Ireland was 804,566 acres, but it continuously contracted each year, until in 1905 it was only 616,755 acres, or 187,811 acres less than 17 years previously.

A similar comparison for the several sections of Great Britain, as set forth in Table VI., shows that to England belong about 95 % of the wheat area, over 80 % of the barley area, over 60 % of the oats area, and over 70 % of the potato area, and these

proportions do not vary much from year to year. The figures for cereals are important, as they indicate that it is the farmers of England who are the chief sufferers through the diminishing prices of corn; and particularly is this true of East Anglia, where corn-growing is more largely pursued than in any other part of the

TABLE VI.—Areas of Cereal and Potato Crops in England, Wales and Scotland, and in Great Britain, in 1905.

country. Scotland possesses nearly one-third of the area of oats and nearly one-fourth of that of potatoes. Beans are almost entirely confined to England, and this is even more the case with peas. The mangel crop also is mainly English, the summer in most parts of Scotland being neither long enough nor warm enough to bring it to maturity.

The Produce of British Crops.

Whilst the returns relating to the acreage of crops and the number of live stock in Great Britain have been officially collected in each year since 1866, the annual official estimates of the produce of the crops in the several sections1 of the kingdom do not extend back beyond 1885. The practice is for the Board of Agriculture to appoint local estimators, who report in the autumn as to the total production of the crops in the localities respectively assigned to them. By dividing the total production, say of wheat, in each -county by the number of acres of wheat as returned by the occupiers on June 4, the estimated average yield per acre is obtained. It is important to notice that the figures relating to total production and yield per acre are only estimates, and it is not claimed for them that they are anything more. The fact that much of the wheat to which the figures apply is still in the stack after the publication of the figures shows that the latter are essentially estimates. The total produce of any crop in a given year must depend mainly upon the acreage grown, whilst the average yield per acre will be determined chiefly by the character of the season. In Table VII. are shown, in thousands

TABLE VII.—Estimated Annual Total Produce of Corn Crops in the United Kingdom, 1890-1905—Thousands of Bushels.

of bushels, the estimated produce of the corn crops of the United Kingdom in the years 1890-1905. The largest area of whe^t in the period was that of 1890, and the smallest was that of 1904; the same two years are seen to have been respectively those of highest and lowest total produce. It is noteworthy that in 1895 the country produced about half as much wheat

as in any one of the years 1800, 1801 and 1898. The produce of barley, like that of oats, is less irregular than that of wheat, the extremes for barley being 80,794,000 bushels (1890) and 62,453,000 bushels (1904), and those for oats 100,863,000 bushels (1894) and 161,175,000 bushels (1001). Similar details for potatoes, roots and hay, brought together in Table VIII., show that the

TABLE VIII.—Estimated Annual Total Produce of Potatoes, Roots and Hay in the United Kingdom, 1890-71905—Thousands of Tons.

production of potatoes varies much from year to year. The imports of potatoes into the United Kingdom vary, to some extent inversely; thus, the low production in 1897 was accompanied by an increase of imports from 3,921,205 cwt. in 1897 to 6,751,728 cwt. in 1898. No very/great reliance can be placed upon the figures relating to turnips (which include swedes), as these are mostly fed to sheep on the ground, so that the estimates as to yield are necessarily vague. Mangels are probably more closely estimated, as these valuable roots are carted and stored for subsequent use for feeding stock. Under hay are included the produce of clover, sainfoin and rotation grasses, and also that of permanent meadow. The extent to which the annual production of the leading fodder crop may vary is shown in the table by the two consecutive years 1893 and 1894; from only nine million tons in the former year the production rose to upwards of fifteen million tons in the latter, an increase of over /o%.

Turning to the average yialds per acre, as ascertained by dividing the number of acres into the total produce, the results of a decade are collected in Table IX. The effects of a prolonged

drought, as distinguished from spring and summer drought, are shown in the very low yield of turnips in 1899. Mangels are sown earlier and have a longer period of growth than turnips; if they become well established in the summer they are less susceptible to autumn drought. The hay made from clover, sainfoin and grasses under rotation generally gives a bigger average yield than that from permanent grass land. The mean values at the foot of the table—they are not, strictly speaking, exact averages—indicate the average yields per acre in the United Kingdom to be about 31 bushels of wheat, 33 bushels of barley, 40 bushels of oats, 28 bushels of beans, 26 bushels of peas, 4! tons of potatoes, 135 tons of turnips and swedes, 185 tons of mangels, 32 cwt. of hay from temporary grass, and 29 cwt. of hay from permanent grass. Although enormous single crops of mangels

TABLE X.—Decennial Average Yields in Great Britain of Wheat, Barley and Oats—Bushels per acre.

are spmetimes grown, amounting occasionally to 100 tons per acre, the general average yield of i8j tons is about 5 tons more than that of turnips and swedes. Again, although from the richest old permanent meadow-lands very heavy crops of hay are taken season after season, the general average yield of permanent grass is about 3 cwt. of hay per acre less than that from;clover, sainfoin and grasses under rotation. The general average yields of the corn crops are not fairly comparable one with the other, because they are given by measure and not by weight, whereas the weight per bushel varies considerably. For purposes of comparison it would be much better if the yields of corn crops were estimated in cwt. per acre. This, indeed, is the practice in Ireland, and in order to incorporate the Irish figures with those for Great Britain so as to obtain average values for the United Kingdom, the Irish yields are calculated into bushels at

TABLE IX.—Estimated Annual Average Yield per Acre of Crops in United Kingdom, 1895-1904.

spring and summer drought, like that of 1893, are exemplified in the circumstance that four corn crops and the two hay crops all registered very low average yields that year, viz. wheat 26-08 bushels, barley 29-30 bushels, oats 38-14 bushels, beans 19-61 bushels, rotation hay 23-55 cwt., permanent hay 20-41 cwt. On the other hand, the season of 1898 was exceptionally favourable to cereals and to hay. The effects of a prolonged autumn

the rate of 60 Ib to the bushel of wheat, of beans and of peas, 50 Ib to the bushel of barley and 3 9 Ib to the bushel of oats. The figure denoting the general average yield per acre of any class of crop needs readjustment after every successive harvest. If a decennial period be taken, then—for the purpose of the new calculation —the earliest year is omitted and the latest year added, the number of years continuing at ten. Adopting this course in the case of the cereal crops of Great Britain the decennial averages recorded in Table X. are obtained, the period 1885-1894 being the earliest decade for which the official figures are available. It thus appears that the average yield of wheat in Great Britain, as calculated upon the crops harvested during the ten years (1896-1905), exceeded 31 bushels to the acre, whereas, for the ten years ended 1895, it fell below 29 bushels. A large expansion in the acreage of the wheat crop would probably be at-tesnded by a decline in the average yield per acre, for when a

crop is shrinking in area the tendency is to withdraw from it first the land least suited to its growth. The general average for the United Kingdom might then recede to rather less than 28 bushels of 60 Ib per bushel, which was for a long time the accepted average—unless, of course, improved methods of cultivating and manuring the soil were to increase its general wheat-yielding capacity.1

The greater freedom of cropping and the less close adherence to the formal system of rotation of crops, which characterize the early years of the 2oth century, rest upon a scientific 'basis. Experimental inquiry has done much to enlighten the farmer as to the requirements of plant-life, and to enable him to see how best to meet these requirements in the case of field crops. He cannot afford to ignore the results that have been gradually accumulated—the truths that have been slowly established—at the agricultural experiment stations in various parts of the world. Of these stations.the greatest, and the oldest now existing, is that at Rothamsted, Harpenden, Herts, England, which was founded in 1843 by Sir John Bennet Lawes (q.v.). The results of more than half a century of sustained experimental inquiry were communicated to the world by Lawes and his collaborator, Sir J. H. Gilbert, in about 130 separate papers or'reports, many of which were published, from 1847 onwards, in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England?

In the case of plants the method of procedure was to grow some of the most important crops of rotation, each separately year after year, for many years in succession on the same land, (a) without manure, (6) with farmyard manure and (c) with a great variety of chemical manures; the same description of manure being, as a rule, applied year after year on the same plot. Experiments on an actual course of rotation, without manure, and with different manures, have also been made. Wheat, barley, oats, beans, clover and other leguminous plants, turnips, sugar beet, mangels, potatoes and grass crops have thus been experimented upon. Incidentally there have been extensive sampling and analysing of soils, investigations into rainfall and the composition of drainage waters, inquiries into the amount of water transpired by plants^and experiments on the assimilation of free nitrogen.

Cereals

Cereals.—Amongst the field experiments there is, perhaps, not one of more universal interest than that in which wheat was grown for fifty-seven years in succession, (a) without manure, (6) with farmyard manure and (c) with various artificial manures. The results show that, unlike leguminous crops such as beans or clover, wheat may be successfully grown for many years in succession on ordinary arable land, provided suitable manures be applied and the land be kept clean. Even without manure the average produce over forty-six years, 1852-1897, was nearly thirteen bushels per acre, or about the average yield per acre of

1 The higher yield of wheat in the later years of the igth century appears to be largely attributable to better grain-growing seasons. The yields in the experimental wheat-field at Rothamsted—where there is no change either of land or of treatment—indicate this. The following figures show the average yields per acre of theselected plots at Rothamsted over six 8-yearly periods from 1852 to 1899, and afford evidence that the higher yield of later years is due to the seasons:—

Bushels (of 60 ft)

Average of— per acre, 8 years 1852-1859 ...... 28}

• -"f . . . . . 27*

1876-1883 . 1884-1891 . 1892-1899 .

. . . . . 25| . - . . . 29! . 30

. . . . . 27|

• . . . .30

48 „ 1852-1899 ...... 28$

The average of the first thirty-two years was thus 27! bushels per acre, of the last sixteen years 30 bushels, and of the whole forty-eight years 28} bushels.

1 See J. B. Lawes and J. H. Gilbert, Rothamsted Memoirs on Agricultural Chemistry and Physiology, 7 vols. (1893-1899); A. D. Hall, Book of the Rothamsted Experiments (1905).

the wheat lands of the whole world. Mineral manures alone give very little increase, nitrogenous manures alone considerably more than mineral manures alone, but the mixture of the two considerably more than either separately. In one case, indeed, the average produce by mixed minerals and nitrogenous manure was more than that by the annual application of farmyard manure; and in seven out of the ten cases in which such mixtures were used the average yield per acre was from over two t6 over eight bushels more than the average yield of the United Kingdom (assuming this to be about twenty-eight bushels of 60 ft per bushel) under ordinary rotation. It is estimated that the reduction in yield of the unmanured plot over the forty years, 1852-1891, after the growth of the crops without manure during the eight preceding years, was, provided it had been uniform throughout, equivalent to a decline of one-sixth of a bushel from year to year due to exhaustion—that is, irrespectively of fluctuations due to season. It is related that a visitor from the United States, talking to Sir John Lawes, said, " Americans have learnt more from this field than from any other agricultural experiment in the world."

Experiments upon the growth of barley for fifty years in succession on rather heavy ordinary arable soil resulted in showing that the produce by mineral manures alone is larger than that without manure; that nitrogenous manures alone give more produce than mineral manures alone; and that mixtures of mineral and nitrogenous manure give much more than, either used alone—generally twice, or more than twice, as much as mineral manures alone. Of mineral constituents, whether used alone or in mixture with nitrogenous manures, phosphates are much more effective than mixtures of salts of potash, soda and magnesia. The average results show that, under all conditions of manuring—excepting with farmyard manure-—the produce was less over the later than over the earlier periods of the experiments, an effect partly due to the seasons. But the average produce over forty years of continuous growth of barley was, in all cases where nitrogenous and mineral manures (containing phosphates) were used together, much higher than the average produce of the crop grown in ordinary rotation in the United Kingdom, and very much higher than the average in most other countries when so grown. The requirements of barley within the soil, and its susceptibility to the external influences of season,, are very similar to those of its near ally, wheat. Nevertheless there are distinctions of result dependent on differences in the habits of the two plants, and in the conditions of their cultivation accordingly. In the British Isles wheat is, as a rule, sown in the autumn on a heavier soil, and has four or five months in which to-distribute its roots, and so it gets possession of a wide range of soil and subsoil before barley is sown in the spring. Barley, on the other hand, is sown in a lighter surface soil, and, with its short period for root-development, relies in a much greater degree on the stores of plant-food within the surface soil. Accordingly it is more susceptible to exhaustion of surface soil as to its nitrogenous, and especially as to its mineral supplies; and in the common practice of agriculture it is found to be more benefited by direct mineral manures, especially phosphatic manures, than is wheat when sown under equal soil conditions. The exhaustion of the soil induced by both barley and wheat is, however, characteristically that of available nitrogen; and when, under the ordinary conditions of manuring and cropping, artificial manure is still required, nitrogenous manures are, as a rule, necessary for both crops, and, for the spring-sown barley, superphosphate also. Although barley is appropriately grown on lighter soils than wheat, good crops, of fair quality, may be grown on the heavier soils after another grain crop by the aid of artificial manures, provided that the land is sufficiently clean. Experiments similar to the foregoing were carried on for many years in succession at Rothamsted upon oats, and gave results which were in general accordance with those on the other cereal crops.

Additional significance to the value of the above experiments on wheat and barley is afforded by the fact that the same series, with but slight modifications, has also been carried out since 1876 at the Woburn (Bedfordshire) experimental farm of the

Royal Agricultural Society of England, the soil here being of light sandy character, and thus very different from the heavy soil of Rothamsted. The results for the thirty years, 1877-1906, are in their general features entirely confirmatory of those obtained at Rothamsted.

Root-Crops

Root-Crops.—Experiments upon root-crops—chiefly white turnips, Swedish turnips (swedes) and mangels—have resulted in the establishment of the following conclusions. Both the quantity and the quality of the produce, and consequently its feeding value, must depend greatly upon the selection of the best description of roots to be grown, and on the character and the amount of the manures, and especially on the amount of nitrogenous manure employed. At the same time, no hard-and-fast rules can be laid down concerning these points. Independently of the necessary consideration of the general economy of the farm, the choice must be influenced partly by the character of the soil, but very much more by that of the climate. Judgment founded on knowledge and aided by careful observation; both in the field and in the feeding-shed, must be relied upon as the guide of the practical farmer. Over and above the great advan^ tage arising from the opportunity which the growth of root-crops affords for the cleaning of the land, the benefits of growing the root-crop in rotation are due (i) to the large amount of manure applied for its growth, (2) to the large residue of the manure left in the soil for future crops, (3) to the large amount of matter at once returned as manure again in the leaves, (4) to the large amount of food produced, and (5) to the small proportion of the most important manurial constituents of the roots which is retained by store or fattening animals consuming them, the rest returning as manure again; though, when the roots are consumed for the production of milk, a much larger proportion of the constituents is lost to the manure.

Leguminous Crops and the Acquisition of Nitrogen.—The fact that the growth of a leguminous crop, such as red clover, leaves the soil in a higher condition for the subsequent growth of a grain crop—that, indeed, the growth of such a leguminous crop is to a great extent equivalent to • the application of a nitrogenous manure for the cereal crop—was in effect known ages ago. Nevertheless it was not till near the approach of the closing decade of the igth century that the explanation of this long-established point of agricultural practice was forthcoming. It was in the year 1886 that Hellriegel and Wilfarth first published in Germany the results of investigations in which they demonstrated that, through the agency of micro-organisms dwelling in nodular outgrowths on the roots of ordinary leguminous plants, the latter are enabled to assimilate the free nitrogen of the air. The existence of the root nodules had long been recognized, but hitherto no adequate explanation had been afforded as to their function.

Since Hellriegel's striking discovery farm crops have been conveniently classified as nitrogen-accumulating and nitrogen-consuming. To the former belong the ordinary leguminous crops—the clovers, beans, peas, vetches or tares, sainfoin, lucerne, for example—which obtain their nitrogen from the air, and are independent of the application of nitrogenous manures, whilst in their roots they accumulate a store of nitrogen which will ultimately become available for future crops of other kinds. It is, in fact, fully established that these leguminous crops acquire a considerable amount of nitrogen by the fixation of the free nitrogen of the atmosphere under the influence of the symbiotic growth of their root-nodule-microbes and the higher plant. The cereal crops (wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize); the cruciferous crops (turnips, cabbage, kale, rape, mustard); the solanaceous crops (potatoes); the chenopodiaceous crops (mangels, sugar-beets), and other non-leguminous crops have, so far as is known, no such power, and are therefore more or less benefited by the direct application of nitrogenous manures. The field experiments on leguminous plants at Rothamsted have shown that land which is, so to speak, exhausted so far as the growth of one leguminous crop is concerned, may still grow very luxuriant crops of another plant of the same natural order, but of different habits of growth, and especially of different

character and range of roots. This result is doubtless largely dependent on the existence, the distribution and the condition of the appropriate microbes for the due infection of the different descriptions of plant, for the micro-organism that dwells sym-biotically with one species is not identical with that which similarly dwells with another. It seems certain that success i» any system involving a more extended growth of leguminous crops in rotations must be dependent on a considerable variation in the description grown. Other essential conditions of success will commonly include the liberal application of potash and phosphatic manures, and'sometimes chalking or liming for the leguminous crop. As to how long the,leguminous crop should occupy the land, the extent to which it should be consumed on the land, or the manure from its consumption be returned, and under what conditions the whole or part of it should be ploughed in—these are points which must be decided as they arise in practice. It seems obvious that the lighter and poorer soils would benefit more than the heavier or richer soils by the extended growth of leguminous crops.

Remarkable as Hellriegel's discovery was, it merely furnished the explanation of a fact which had been empirically established by the husbandman long before, and had received most intelligent application when the old four-course (or Norfolk) rotation was devised. But it gave some impetus to the practice of green manuring with leguminous crops, which are equally capable with such a crop as mustard of enriching the soil in humus, whilst in addition they bring into the soil from the atmosphere a quantity of nitrogen available for the use of subsequent crops of any kind. In Canada and the United States this rational employment of a leguminous crop for ploughing in green .is largely resorted to for the amelioration of worn-out wheat lands and other soils, the condition of which has been lowered to an unremunerative level by the repeated growth year after year of a cereal crop. The well-known paper of Lawes, Gilbert and Pugh (1861), " On the Sources of the Nitrogen of Vegetation^ with special reference to the Question whether Plants assimilate free or uncombined Nitrogen," answered the question referred to in the negative. The attitude taken up later on with regard to this problem is set forth in the following words, which are quoted from the Memoranda of the Rothamsted Experiments, 1900 (p. 7):— >

" Experiments were commenced in 1857, and conducted for several years in succession, to determine whether plants assimilate free or uncombined nitrogen, and also various collateral points. Plants of the gramineous, the leguminous and of other families were operated upon. The late Dr Pugh took a prominent part in this inquiry. The conclusion arrivedat wasthatouragriculturalplarits do not themselves directly assimilate the free nitrogen of the air by their leaves.

" In recent years, however, the question has assumed quite a new aspect. It now is—whether the free nitrogen of the atmosphere is brought into combination under the influence of micro-organisms, or other low forms, either within the soil' or in symbiosis with a higher plant, thus serving indirectly as a source of nitrogen to plants of a higher order.. Considering that the results of Hellriegel and Wilfarth on this point were, if confirmed, of great significance and importance, it was decided to make experiments at Rothamsted on somewhat similar lines. Accordingly, a preliminary series was undertaken in 1888; more extended series were conducted in 1889 and in 1890; and the investigation was continued up to the-.com-mencement of the year 1895. Further experiments relating to certain aspects of the subject were begun in 1898. The results have shown that, when a soil growing leguminous plants is infected with appropriate organisms, there is a development of the so-called leguminous nodules on the roots of the plants, and, coincidently, increased growth and gain of nitrogen."

The conclusions of Hellriegel and Wilfarth have thus been confirmed by the later experiences of : Rothamsted, and since that time efforts have been directed energetically to the practical application of • the discovery. This has taken the form of inoculating the soil with the particular organism required by the particular kind of leguminous crop. To this end the endeavour has been made to produce preparations which shall contain in portable form the organisms required by the several plants, and though, as yet, it can hardly be claimed that they have been generally successful, the work done justifies hopes

that the problem will eventually be solved in a practical direction.

Grass

Grass.—Another field experiment of singular interest is that relating to the mixed herbage of permanent meadow, for which seven acres of old grass land were set apart in Rothamsted Park in 1856. Of the twenty plots into which this land is divided, two were left without manure from the outset, two received ordinary farmyard manure for a series of years, whilst the remainder each received a different description of artificial or chemical manure, the same being, except in special cases, applied year after year on the same plot. During the growing season the field affords striking evidence of the influence of different manurial dressings. So much, indeed, does the character of the herbage vary from plot to plot that the effect may fairly be described as kaleidoscopic. Repeated analyses have shown how greatly both the botanical constitution and the chemical composition of the mixed herbage vary according to the description of manure applied. They have further shown how dominant is the influence of season. Such, moreover, is the effect of different manures that the gross produce of the mixed herbage is totally different on the respective plots according to the manure employed, both as to the proportion of the various species composing it and as to their condition of development and maturity.

The Rotation of Crops.

The growth, year after year, on the same soil of one kind of plant unfits it for bearing further crops of the kind which has exhausted it, and renders themjless vigorous and more liable to disease. The farmer therefore arranges his cropping in such a way that roots, or leguminous crops, succeed the cereal crops.

It is not only the conditions of growth, but the uses to which the different crops are put, that have to be considered in the case of rotation. Thus the cereal crops, when grown in rotation, yield more produce for sale in the season of growth than when grown continuously. Moreover, the crops alternated with the cereals accumulate very much more of mineral constituents and of nitrogen in their produce than do the cereals themselves. By far the greater proportion of those constituents remains in circulation in the manure of the farm, whilst the remainder yields highly valuable products for sale in the forms of meat and milk. For this reason these crops are known as " restorative," cereals the produce of which is sold off the farm being classed as " exhaustive." With a variety of crops, again, the mechanical operations of the farm, involving horse and hand labour, are better distributed over the year, and are therefore more economically performed. The opportunities which rotation cropping affords for the cleaning of the land from weeds is another distinct element of advantage. Although many different rotations of crops are practised, they may for the most part be considered as little more than local adaptations of the system of alternating root-crops and leguminous crops with cereal crops, as exemplified in the old four-course rotation—roots, barley, clover, wheat.

Under this system the clover is ploughed up in the autumn, the nitrogen stored up in its roots being left in the soil for the nourishment of the cereal crop. The following summer the wheat crop is harvested, and an opportunity is afforded for extirpating weeds which in the three previous years have received little check. Or, where the climate is warm and the soil light, a " catch-crop," i.e. rye, vetches, winter-oats or some other rapidly-growing crop may be sown in autumn and fed off or otherwise disposed of prior to the root-sowing. On heavy soils, however, the farmer cannot afford to curtail the time necessary for thorough cultivation of the land. The cleaning process is carried on through the next summer by means of successive hoeings of the spring-sown root-crop. As turnips or swedes may occupy the ground till after Christmas little time is left for the preparation of a seed-bed for barley, but as the latter is a shallow-rooted crop only surface-stirring is required. Clover is sown at the same time or shortly after the cereaj a,ncj thus occupies the land for two years.

The rotations extending to five, six; seven or more years are, in most cases, only adaptations of the principle to variations of soil, altitude, aspect, climate, markets and other local conditions. They are effected chiefly by some alteration in the description of the root-crop, and perhaps by the introduction of the potato crop; by growing a different cereal, or it may be more than one cereal consecutively; by the growth of some other leguminous crop than clover, since " clover-sickness" may result if that crop is grown at too short intervals, or the intermixture of grass seeds with the clover, and perhaps by the extension by one or more years of the period allotted to this member of the rotation. Whatever the specific rotation, there may in practice be deviations from the plan of retaining on the farm the whole of the root-crops, the straw of the grain crops and the leguminous fodder crops (clover, vetches, sainfoin, &c.) for the production of meat or milk, and, coincidently, for that of manure to be returned to the land. It is equally true that, when under the influence of special local or other demand—proximity to towns, easy railway or other communication, for example—the products which would otherwise be retained on the farm .are exported from it, the import of town or other manures is generally an essential condition of such practice. This system of free sale, indeed, frequently involves full compensation by purchased manures of some kind. Such deviations from the practice of merely selling grain and meat off the farm have much extended in recent years, and will probably continue to do so under the altered conditions of British agriculture, determined by very large imports of grain, increasing imports of meat and of other products of stock-feeding, and very large imports of cattle-food and other agricultural produce. More attention is thus being devoted to dairy produce, not only on grass farms, but on those that are mainly arable.

The benefits that accrue from the practice of rotation are well illustrated in the results obtained from the investigations at Rothamsted into the simple four-course system, which may fairly be regarded as a self-supporting system. Reference may first be made to the important mineral constituents of different crops of the four-course rotation. Of phosphoric acid, the cereal crops take up as much as, or more than, any other crops of the rotation, excepting clover; and the greater portion thus taken up is lost to the farm in the saleable product—the grain. The remainder, that in the straw, as well as that in the roots and the leguminous crops, is supposed to be retained on the farm, excepting the small amount exported in meat and milk. Of potash, each of the rotation crops takes up very much more, than of phosphoric acid. But much less potash than phosphoric acid is exported in the cereal grains, much more being retained in the straw, whilst the other products of the rotation—the root and leguminous crops—which are also supposed to be retained on the farm, contain very much more potash than the cereals, and comparatively little of it is exported in meat and milk. Thus the whole of the crops of rotation take up very much more of potash than of phosphoric acid, whilst probably even less of it is ultimately lost to the land. Of lime, very little is taken up by the cereal crops, and by the root-crops much less than of potash; more by the leguminous than by the other crops, and, by the clover especially, sometimes much more than by all the other crops of the rotation put together. Very little of the lime of the crops, however, goes off in the saleable products of the farm in the case of the self-supporting rotation under consideration. Although, therefore, different, and sometimes very large, amounts of these typical mineral constituents are taken up by the various crops of rotation, there is no material export of any in the saleable products, excepting of phosphoric acid and of potash; and, so far at least as phosphoric acid is concerned, experience has shown that it may be advantageously supplied in purchased manures.

Of nitrogen, the cereal crops take up and retain much less than any of the crops alternated with them, notwithstanding the circumstance that the cereals are very characteristically benefited by nitrogenous manures. The root-crops, indeed, may contain twp or more times as much nitrogen as either pf the cereals/

and the leguminous crops, especially the clover, much more than the root-crops. The greater part of the nitrogen of the cereals is, however, sold off the farm; but perhaps not more than 10 or 15 % of that of either the root-crop or the clover (or other forage leguminous crop) is sold off in animal increase or in milk. Most of the nitrogen in the straw of the cereals, and a very large proportion of that of the much more highly nitrogen-yielding crops, returns to the land as manure, for the benefit of future cereals and other crops. As to the source of the nitrogen of the root-crops—the so-called " restorative crops "—these are as dependent as any crop that is grown on available nitrogen within the soil, which is generally supplied by the direct appli-

cation of nitrogenous manures, natural or artificial. Under such conditions of supply, however, the root-crops, gross feeders as they are, and distributing a very large extent of fibrous feeding root within the soil, avail themselves of a much larger quantity of the nitrogen supplied than the cereal crops would do in similar circumstances. This result is partly due to their period of accumulation and growth extending even months after the period of collection by the ripening cereals has terminated, and at the season when nitrification within the soil is most active, and the accumulation of nitrates in it is the greatest. When a full supply of both mineral constituents and nitrogen is at commandj these root-crops assimilate a very large amount of

TABLE XI.—The Weight and Average Composition of Ordinary Crops, in Ib. per Acre.

Wheat, grain, 30 bushels .

Total crop . .

Barley, grain, 40 bushels . „ straw ....

• Oats, grain, 45 bushels
• Maize, grain, 30 bushels .
• Meadow hay, ij ton .
• Red Clover hay, 2 tons
• Beans, grain, 30 bushels .

Turnips, root, 17 tons ,, leaf ....

Swedes, root, 14 tons „ leaf ....

Mangels, root, 22 tons leaf ....

Potatoes, tubers, 6 tons .

"Calculated from a single analysis only.

carbon from the atmosphere, and produce, besides nitrogenous food materials, a very large amount of the carbohydrate sugar, as respiratory and fat-forming food for the live stock of the farm. The still more highly nitrogenous leguminous crops, although not characteristically benefited by nitrogenous manures, nevertheless contribute much more nitrogen to the total produce of the rotation than any of the other crops comprised in it. It is the leguminous fodder crops—especially clover, which has a much more extended period of growth, and much wider range of collection within the soil and subsoil, than any of the other crops of the rotation—that yield in their produce the largest amount of nitrogen per acre. Much of this is doubtless taken up as nitrate, yet the direct application of nitrate of soda has comparatively little beneficial influence on their growth. The nitric acid is most likely taken up chiefly as nitrate of lime, but probably as nitrate of potash also, arid

it is significant that the high nitrogen-yielding clover takes up, or at least retains, very little soda. Table XL, from War-ington's Chemistry of the Farm, igth edition (Vinton and Co.), will serve to illustrate the subjects that have been discussed in this section.

For further information on the routine and details of farming, reference may be made to the articles under the headings of the various crops and implements.

The numbers of live stock in the United Kingdom are shown at five-yearly intervals in Table XII. Under horses are embraced orily unbroken horses and horses used solely for agriculture (including mares kept for breeding). The highest and lowest annual totals for the United Kingdom in the period 1875-1905 were the folio wing'

Horses

Horses . Cattle . . Sheep . Pigs. . .

2,116,800 in 1905 11,674,019 „ 1905 33,642,808 „ 1892 4,362,040 ,, 1890

9-731-537 - 1877 27,448,220 ,, 1882 2,863,488 „ 1880

295-113 1,942,482 6,194,588 1,498,552

After 1892 cattle, which in that year numbered 11,519,417, and sheep declined continuously for three years to the totals of 1895, the diminution being mainly the result of the memorable

• drought of 1893. Sheep, which numbered 32,571,018 in 1878,

• declined continuously to 27,448,220 in 1882—a loss of over five : million head in five years. This was chiefly attributable to the : ravages of the liver fluke which began in the disastrously wet :season of 1879. Pigs, being prolific breeders, fluctuate more widely in numbers than cattle or sheep, for the difference of :i,498,552 in their case represents one-third of the highest total, whereas the difference is less than one-seventh for horses, less than one-sixth for cattle, and less than one-fifth for sheep. The

TABLE XII.—Numbers of Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs in the United Kingdom.

!J875 1880 1885 1890 1895 1900 J9<>5

1,819,687 1,929,680 1,909,200 1-1964,911 2,112,207 2,000,402 2,116,806

9,871,153 10,868,760 10,789,858 10,753,314 11,454,902 11,674,019

33491,948 30,239,620 30,086,200 31,667,195

3-495.16? 2,863,488 3,686,628 4,362,040 4,238,870 3,663,669 3,601,659

relative proportions— as distinguished from the actual numbers

•in which stock are distributed over the several 'sections of the United Kingdom do not vary greatly from year to year. Table XIII., in which, the totals for the United Kingdom include those for the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, illustrates the prepon-

• derance of the sheep-breeding industry in the drier climate of

' Great Britain, and of the cattle-breeding industry in the more

humid atmosphere of Ireland. In Great Britain in 1905, for

• every head of cattle there were about four head of sheep, whereas

in Ireland the cattle outnumbered the sheep. Again,' whilst

'•Great Britain possessed Only half as many cattle more than

TABLE XIII.—Numbers of Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Pigs in the United Kingdom in 1905.

United ) Kingdom1 \

Ireland, she possessed six times as many sheep. The cattle population of England alone slightly exceeded that of Ireland, but cattle are more at home on the broad plains of England than amongst the hills and mountains of Wales and Scotland, which are suitable for sheep. Hence, whilst in England sheep were not three times as numerous as cattle, in Wales they were nearly five times, and in Scotland nearly six times as many. Great Britain had twice as many pigs as Ireland, but the swine industry is mainly English and Irish, and England possessed more than six times as many pigs as Wales and Scotland together, the number in the last-named country being particularly small, 'One English county alone, Suffolk, maintained more pigs than ,the whole of Scotland.

British Imports of Live A nimals and Meat. The stock-breeders and graziers of the United Kingdom have, ' for a Shorthorn-Aberdeen cross-bred and 1-97 ft for a Sussex. In the sheep section of the Smithfield show the classes for ewes were finally abolished in 1898, and the classes restricted to wethers and

wether lambs, whose function is exclusively the production of meat. At the 1905 show, sheep of each breed, and also cross-breds, competed as (i) wether lambs under twelve months old, and (2) wether sheep above twelve and under twenty-four months old. The only exception was in the case of the slowly-maturing Cheviot and mountain breeds, for which the second class was for wether sheep of any age above twelve months. Of prize sheep at the centenary show the largest average daily gain was 0-77 Ib per head given by Oxford-Hampshire cross-bred wether lambs, aged nine months two weeks. In the case of wether sheep, twelve to twenty-four months old, the highest daily increase was 0-56 Ib per head as yielded by Lincolns, aged twenty-one months. Within the last quarter of the igth century the stock-feeding practices of the country were much modified in accordance with these ideas of early maturity. The three-year-old wethers and older oxen that used to be common in the fat stock markets are now rarely seen, excepting perhaps in the case of mountain breeds of sheep and Highland cattle. It was in 1875 that the Smithfield Club first provided the competitive classes for lambs, and in 1883 the champion plate offered for the best pen of sheep of any age in the show was for the first time won by lambs, a pen of Hampshire Downs. The young classes for bullocks were established in 1880. The time-honoured notion that an animal must have completed its growth before it could be profitably fattened is no longer held, and the improved breeds which now exist rival one another as regards the early period at which they may be made ready for the butcher by appropriate feeding and management.

In 1895 the Smithfield Club instituted a carcase competition in association with its annual show of fat stock, and it has been continued each year since. The cattle and sheep entered for this competition are shown alive on the first day, at the close of which they are slaughtered and the carcases hung up for exhibition, with details of live and dead weights. The competition thus constitutes what is termed a " block test," and it is instructive in affording the opportunity of seeing the quality of the carcases furnished by the several animals, and in particular the relative proportion and distribution of fat and lean meat. The live animals are judged and subsequently the carcases, and, though the results sometimes agree, more often they do not. Tables are constructed showing the fasted live weight, the carcase weight, and the weight of the various parts that are separated from and not included with the carcase. An abundance of lean meat and a moderate amount of fat well distributed constitutes a better carcase, and a more economical one for the consumer, than a carcase in which gross accumulations of fat are prominent. To add to the educational value of the display, information as to the methods of feeding would be desirable, as it would then be possible to correlate the quality of the meat with the mode of its manufacture. A point of high practical interest is the ratio of carcase weight to fasted live weight, and in the case of prize-winning carcases these ratios usually fluctuate within very narrow limits. At the 1899 show, for example, the highest proportion of the carcase weight to live weight was 68 % in the case of an Aberdeen-Angus steer and of a Cheviot wether, whilst the lowest was 61 %, afforded alike by a Shorthorn-Sussex cross-bred heifer and a mountain lamb. A familiar practical method of estimating carcase weight from live weight is to reckon one Smithfield stone (8 Ib) of carcase for each imperial stone (14 Ib) of live weight. This gives carcase weight as equal to 57 % of live weight, a ratio much inferior to the best results obtained at the carcase^ competition promoted by the Smithfield Club.

A noteworthy feature of the closing decades of the I9th century was the formation of voluntary associations of stockbreeders, with the object of promoting the interests of the respective breeds of live stock. As a typical example of these organizations the Shire Horse Society may be mentioned. It was incorporated in 1878 to improve and promote the breeding of the Shire or old English race of cart-horses, and to effect the distribution of sound and healthy sires throughout the country. The society holds

annual shows, publishes annually the Shire Horse Stud Book and offersrgold and silver medals for competition amongst Shire horses at agricultural shows in different parts of the country, The society has carried on a work of high national importance, and has effected a marked improvement in the character and quality of the Shire horse. What has thus voluntarily been done in England would in most other countries be left to the state, or would not be attempted at all. It is hardly necessary to say that the Shire Horse Society has never received a penny of public money, nor has any other of the voluntary breeders' societies. The Hackney Horse Society and the Hunters' Improvement Society are conducted on much the same lines as the Shire Horse Society, and, like it, they each hold a show in London in the spring of the year and publish an annual volume. Other horse-breeders' associations, all doing useful work in the interests of their respective breeds, are the Suffolk Horse Society, the Clydesdale Horse Society, the Yorkshire Coach Horse Society, the Cleveland Bay Horse Society, the Polo Pony Society, the Shetland Pony Stud Book Society, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society and the New Forest Pony Association. Thoroughbred race-horses are registered in the General Stud Book. The Royal Commission on Horse Breeding, which dates from 1887, is, as its name implies, not a voluntary organization. Through the commission the money previously spent upon Queen's Plates is offered in the form of " King's Premiums " (to the number of twenty-eight in 1907) of £150 each for thoroughbred stallions, on condition that each stallion winning a premium shall serve not less than fifty half-bred mares, if required. The winning stallions are distributed in districts throughout Great Britain, and the use of these selected sires has resulted in a decided improvement in the quality of half-bred horses. The annual show of the Royal Commission on Horse Breeding is held in London jointly and concurrently with that of the Hunters' Improvement Society.

Of organizations of cattle-breeders the English Jersey Cattle Society, established in 1878, may be taken as a type. It offers prizes in butter-test competitions and milking trials at various agricultural shows, and publishes the English Herd Book and Register of Pure-bred Jersey Cattle. This volume records the births in the herds of members of the society, and gives the pedigrees of cows and bulls, besides furnishing lists of prizewinners at the principal shows and butter-test awards, and reports of sales by auction of Jersey cattle. Other cattle societies, all well caring for the interest of their respective breeds, are the Shorthorn Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Lincolnshire Red Shorthorn Association, the Hereford Herd Book Society, the Devon Cattle Breeders' Society, the South Devon Herd Book Society, the Sussex Herd Book Society, the Long-horned Cattle Society, the Red Polled Society, the English Guernsey Cattle Society, the English Kerry and Dexter Cattle Society, the Welsh Black Cattle Society, the Polled Cattle Society (for the Aberdeen-Angus breed), the English Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Association, the Galloway Cattle Society, the Ayrshire Cattle Herd Book Society, the Highland Cattle Society of Scotland and the Dairy Shorthorn Association.

In the case of sheep the National Sheep Breeders' Association looks after the interests of flockmasters in general, whilst most of the pure breeds are represented also by separate organizations. The Hampshire Down Sheep Breeders' Association may be taken as a type of the latter, its principal object being to encourage the breeding of Hampshire Down sheep at home and abroad, and to maintain the purity of the breed. It publishes an annual Flock Book, the first volume of which appeared in 1890. In this book are named the recognized and pure-bred sires which have been used, and ewes which have been bred from, whilst there are also registered the pedigrees of such sheep as are proved to be eligible for entry. Prizes are offered by the society at various agricultural shows where Hampshire Down sheep are exhibited. Other sheep societies include the Leicester Sheep Breeders' Association, the Cotswold Sheep Society, the Lincoln Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association, the Oxford Down Sheep Breeders' Association, the Shropshire Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Southdown Sheep Society, the Suffolk

Sheep Society, the Border Leicester Sheep Breeders' Society, the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Incorporated Wensleydale Blue-faced Sheep Breeders' Association and Flock Book Society, the Kent Sheep Breeders' Association, the Devon Longwool Sheep Breeders' Society, the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders' Association, the Cheviot Sheep Society and the Roscommon Sheep Breeders' Association.

The interests of pig-breeders are the care of the National Pig. Breeders' Association, in addition to which there exist the British Berkshire, the Large Black Pig, and the Lincoln Curly-Coated White Pig Societies, and the Incorporated Tamworth Pig Breeders' Association.

The addresses of the secretaries of the various live-stock societies in the United Kingdom are published annually in the Live Stock Journal Almanac.

The Maintenance of the Health of Live Stock.

It was not till the closing decade of the igth century that the stock-breeders of the United Kingdom found themselves in a position to prosecute their industry free from the fear of the introduction of contagious, disease through the medium of store animals imported from abroad for fattening on the native pastures. By the Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59'& 60 Vict., c. 15) it was provided that cattle, sheep and pigs imported into the United Kingdom should be slaughtered at the place of landing. The effect was to reduce to a minimum the risk of the introduction of disease amongst the herds and flocks of the country, and at the same time to confine the trade in store stock exclusively to the breeders of Great Britain and Ireland. This arrangement makes no difference to the food-supply of the people, for dead meat continues to arrive at British ports in ever-increasing quantity. Moreover, live animals are admitted freely from certain countries, provided such animals are slaughtered at the place of landing. At Deptford, for example, large numbers of cattle and sheep which thus arrive—mainly from Argentina, Canada and the United States—are at once slaughtered, and so furnish a steady supply of fresh-killed beef and mutton. The animals which are shipped in this way are necessarily of the best quality, because the freight on a superior beast is no more costly than on an inferior one, and the proportion of freight to sale price is therefore less With this superior description of butchers' stock all classes of home-grown stock—good, bad and indifferent— have, of course, to compete. The Board of Agriculture has the power to close the ports of the United Kingdom against live animals from any country in which contagious disease is known to exist. This accounts for the circumstance that so few countries—none of them in Europe—enjoy the privilege of sending live animals to British ports. In 1900 the discovery early in the year of the existence of foot-and-mouth disease amongst ;cattle and sheep shipped from Argentina to the United Kingdom led to the issue of an order by which all British ports were closed against live animals from the country named. This order came into .force on the 3oth of April, and the result was a marked decline in the shipments of live cattle and sheep from the River Plate, but a decided increase in the quantity of frozen meat sent thence to the United Kingdom.

The last quarter of the igth century witnessed an important change in the attitude of "public opinion towards legislative control over the contagious diseases of animals. When, after the introduction of cattle plague or rinderpest in 1865, the proposal was made to resort to the extreme remedy of slaughter in order to check the ravages of a disease which was pursuing its course with ruinous results, the idea was received with public indignation and denounced as barbarous. Views have undergone profound modification since, then, and the most drastic remedy has come to be regarded as the most effective, and in the long run the least costly. The Cattle Diseases Prevention Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. 2) made compulsory the slaughter of diseased cattle, and permitted the slaughter of cattle which had been exposed to infection, compensation being provided out of the rates. The Act 30 81:31 Vict. c. 125,1867, is of historical interest,

in that it contains the first mention of pleuro-pneumonia, and the exposure in any market of cattle suffering from that disease was made an offence. The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict. c. 70) revoked all former acts, and defined disease to mean cattle plague, pleuro-pneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, sheep-pox, sheep-scab and glanders, together with any disease which the Privy Council might by order specify. The principle of this act in regard to foreign animals was that of free importation, with power for the Privy Council to prohibit or subject to quarantine and slaughter, as circumstances seemed to require. The act of 1869 was at that time the most complete measure that had ever, been passed for dealing with diseases of animals. The re-introduction of cattle plague into England in 1877 led to the passing of the Act 41 & 42 Vict. c. 74, 1878, which repealed the act of 1869, and affirmed as a principle the landing of foreign animals for slaughter only, though free importation or quarantine on the one hand and prohibition on the other were provided for in • exceptional circumstances. By an order of council which came into operation in December 1878, swine fever was declared to be a disease for the purposes of the act of that year. It was not, however, till October 1886 that anthrax and rabies were officially declared to be contagious diseases for the purposes of certain sections of the act of 1878. In 1884 the Act 47 & 48 Vict. c. 13 empowered the Privy Council to prohibit the landing of animals from any country in respect of which the circumstances were not such as to afford reasonable security against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease. After one or two other measures of minor importance came the Act 53 & 54 Vict. c. 14, known as the Pleuro-pneumonia Act 1890, which transferred the powers of local authorities to slaughter and pay compensation in cases of pleuro-pneumonia to the Board of Agriculture, and provided further for the payment of such compensation out of money specifically voted by parliament. This measure was regarded at the time as a marked step in advance, and was only carried after a vigorous campaign in its favour. In 1892 by the Act 55 & 56 Vict. c. 47 power was given to the Board of Agriculture to use the sums voted on account of pleuro-pneumonia for paying the costs involved in dealing with foot-and-mouth disease; under this act the board could order the slaughter of diseased animals and of animals in contact with these, and could pay compensation for animals so slaughtered. Under the provisions of the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 43) swine fever in Great Britain was, from the ist of November in that year, dealt with by the Board of Agriculture in the same way as pleuro-pneumonia, the slaughter of infected swine being carried out under directions from the central authority, and compensation allowed from the imperial exchequer. In 1894 was passed the Diseases of Animals Act (57 & 58 Vict. c. 57), the word "contagious" being omitted from the title. This was a measure to consolidate the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts 1878-1893. In it "the expression ' disease' means cattle plague (that is to say, rinderpest, or the disease commonly called cattle plague), contagious pleuro-pneumonia of cattle (in this act called pleuro-pneumonia), foot-and-mouth disease, sheep-pox, sheep-scab, or swine fever (that is to say, the disease known as typhoid fever of swine, soldier purples, red disease, hog cholera or swine plague)." The Diseases of Animals Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 15) rendered compulsory the slaughter of imported live stock at the place of landing, a boon for which British stock-breeders had striven for many years. The ports in Great Britain at which foreign animals may be landed are Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Liverpool, London,\ Manchester and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Animals from the Channel Islands may be landed at Southampton.

The Diseases of Animals.

Under the Diseases of Animals Acts 1894 and 1896 weekly returns are issued by the Board of Agriculture of outbreaks of anthrax, foot-and-mouth disease, glanders (including farcy), pleuro-pneumonia, rabies and swine fever in the counties of Great Britain; also monthly returns of outbreaks of sheep-scab.

Cattle plague, or rinderpest, has not been recorded in Great

Britain since 1877. In that year there were 47 outbreaks distributed over five counties and involving 263 head of cattle.

The course of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain between 1877 and 1905 inclusive is told in Table XX., from which the

TABLE XX.—Outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Great Britain, 1877-1905.

years 1887 to 1891, 1895 to 1899 and J9°3 to I9°S inclusive are omitted, because there was no outbreak during those periods. The disease is seen to have attained its maximum virulence in 1883-

Sheep-scab is a loathsome skin disease due to an acarian parasite. Table XXI. shows the number of outbreaks and the number of counties over which they were distributed from 1877 to 1905. The recorded outbreaks were more numerous in the decade of the 'nineties than in that of the 'eighties, though possibly this may have been due to greater official activity in the later period. The largest number of sheep attacked was

TABLE XXI.—Outbreaks of Sheep-Scab in Great Britain, 1877-1905.

68,715 (in 1877). It is compulsory on owners to notify the authorities as to the existence of scab amongst their sheep. By the Diseases of Animals Act (1903) powers to prescribe the dipping of sheep, irrespective of the presence or otherwise of sheep scab, were conferred upon the Board of Agriculture. An inspector of the board or of the local authority was by the same act authorized to enter premises and examine sheep. Each year the disorder runs a similar course, the outbreaks dwindling to a minimum in the summer months, June to August, and attaining a maximum in the winter months, December to February. It is chiefly in the " flying " flocks and not in the breeding flocks that the disease is rife, and it is so easily communicable that a drove of scab-infested sheep passing along a road may leave behind them traces sufficient to set up the disorder in a drove" of healthy sheep that may follow. For its size and in relation to its sheep population Wales harbours the disease to a far greater extent than the other divisions of Great Britain.

The fatal disease known as anthrax did not form the subject of official returns previous to the passing of the Anthrax Order of 1886. Isolated outbreaks are of common occurrence, and from the totals for Great Britain given in Table XXII. it would appear that there is little prospect of the eradication of this bacterial disorder.

Glanders (including farcy) was the subject during the twenty-four years 1877—1900 of outbreaks in Great Britain ranging between a minimum of 518 in 1877 and a maximum of 1657 in 1892; in the former year 758 horses were attacked, and in the latter 3001. A recrudescence of the disease marked the closing years of the iQth century, .the outbreaks having been 748 in 1898,

853 in 1899 and 1119 in 1900. The counties of Great Britain over which the annual outbreaks have been distributed have ranged between 24 in 1890 and 52 in 1879. As a matter of fact,

TABLE XXII.—Outbreaks of Anthrax in Great Britain, 1895-1905.

however, the disease is strongly centred upon the metropolitan area, more than half of the outbreaks being reported from the county of London alone.

The Rabies order was passed in 1886, and the number of counties in Great Britain in which cases of rabies in dogs were reported in each subsequent year is shown in Table XXIII. In addition there have been some cases of rabies in animals other, than dogs. The disease was very rife in 1895, but the extensive application of the muzzling restrictions of the Board of Agriculture was accompanied by so steady a diminution in the

TABLE XXIII.—Cases of Rabies in Dogs in Great Britain, 1887-1902.

1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892

217 1 60 312 129 79 38 93 248

1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902

672 438 151 i? 9 6 I 13

prevalence of the disease, that it was thought the latter had been extirpated. The entire revocation of the muzzling order, which accordingly followed, proved, however, to be premature, and it became necessary to reimpose it in the districts where it had last been operative, namely, certain parts of South Wales. No cases were reported in 1903, 1904 or 1905.

Pleura-pneumonia in Great Britain was dealt with by the local authorities up to the year 1890. Between 1870 and 1889 the annual outbreaks had ranged between a minimum of 312 in 1884 and a maximum of 3262 in 1874, the largest number of cattle attacked in any one year being 7983 in 1872. The largest number of counties over which the outbreaks were distributed was 72 in 1873. On the ist of September 1890 the Board of Agriculture assumed powers with respect to pleuro-pneumonia under the Diseases of Animals Act of that year. Their administration was attended by success, for from 192 outbreaks in Great Britain in 1891 the total fell to 35 in 1892 and to 9 in 1893. In the four subsequent years, 1894-1897, the outbreaks numbered 2, i, 2. and 7 respectively. In January 1898 an outbreak was discovered in a London cow-shed. This proved to be the last case in the igth century of what at one time had been a veritable scourge to cattle-owners and a source of heavy financial loss.

Between 1879 and 1892 inclusive, administration with regard to swine-fever was entrusted to local authorities. The largest number of outbreaks reported in any one of those years was 7926 in 1885, and the smallest 1717 in 1881. In 1893 the Board of Agriculture took over the management, and Table XXIV. shows the number of counties in which swine-fever existed, the number of outbreaks confirmed and the number of swine slaughtered by order of the board in each year since. The trouble with this disease has been mainly in England, the outbreaks in

Wales and Scotland being comparatively few. What are termed

" swine-fever infected areas " are scheduled by the board when

and where circumstances seem to require, and the movement

TABLE XXIV.—Outbreaks of Swine Fever in Great Britain,

Swine slaughtered as diseased, or as having been exposed to infection.

of swine within such areas is prohibited, much inconvenience to trade resulting from restrictions of this kind. Frequently, moreover, the exhibition of pigs at agricultural shows has to be abandoned in consequence of these swine-fever, regulations.

The Trade in Live Stock between Ireland and Great Britain.

The compulsory slaughter at the place of landing does not extend to animals shipped from Ireland into Great Britain, and this is a matter of the highest importance to Irish stock-breeders, who find their best market close at hand on the east of St George's Channel. Table XXV. shows the number of cattle, sheep and pigs shipped from Ireland into Great Britain in each of the fifteen years 1891-1905, the numbers of horses similarly shipped being also indicated. On the average rather more than half the total of cattle is made up of store animals for fattening or breeding purposes, the fattening of Irish stores being a business of considerable magnitude in Norfolk and other counties. Calves constitute about one-twelfth of the total number of cattle.

TABLE XXV.—Imports of Live Stock from Ireland into Great Britain, 1891-1905.

Most of the pigs sent from Ireland into Great Britain are fat, the store pigs accounting for less than one-tenth of the total number. The returns from Ireland under the Diseases of Animals Acts 1894 and 1896 are less significant than those of Great Britain. Thus, in the year ending June 1903, they included 4 outbreaks of anthrax, 219 of swine-fever and 343 of sheep-scab, while there were no cases of rabies. Compared with the export trade in live stock from Ireland to Great Britain the reciprocal trade from Great Britain to Ireland is small, and is largely restricted to animals for breeding purposes. Owing to the reappearance of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain early in 1900 the importation of cattle, sheep, goats and swine therefrom into Ireland was temporarily suspended by the authorities in the latter country.

Exports of Animals from the United Kingdom. The general export trade of the United Kingdom in living animals represented an aggregate average annual value over the

five years 1896-1900 of £1,017,000 as against £935,801 over the five years 1901-1905. To these sums the value of horses alone contributed about three-fourths, Belgium taking more than half the number of exported horses. The export trade in cattle, sheep and pigs is practically restricted to pedigree animals required for breeding purposes, and though its aggregate value

TABLE XXVI.—Quantities and Value of Home-bred Live Stock exported from the United Kingdom, 1900-1905.

• 30,038 27,612 30,032 34,798 32,955 47,708
• 2,742 1,648 2,428 2,736 3,3" 3,938
• 435 378 515 776 732 931
• 75,642 68,012 60,941 52,095 50,873 50,307
• 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905

£ 681,927 605,699 635,661 734,598 581,339 875,647

96,153 140,244 146,210 190,406

25,727 29,069 67,758 88,421 I33,4!3

£ 3032 3437 5053 7053 7850 8024

£ 45,241 45,476 56,691 48,335

is not large it is of considerable importance to stock-breeders, as it is a frequent occurrence for buyers for export—to Argentina, Australasia, Canada, the United States and elsewhere—to bid freely at the sale rings, and often to pay the highest prices, thus stimulating the sales and encouraging the breeding of the best types of native stock. Details for the six years 1900-1905 are summarized in Table XXVI.

It is the custom of the Royal Agricultural Society of England to invite competitions at its annual shows in specified classes of implements, and an enumeration of these will indicate the character of the appliances which were thus brought into prominence in the latter years of the igth and the early years of the 2oth century. These trials taking place, with few intermissions, year after year serve to direct the public mind to the development, which is continually in progress, of the mechanical aids to agriculture. The awards here summarized are quite distinct from those of silver medals which are given by the society in the case of articles possessing sufficient merit, which are entered as " new implements for agricultural or estate purposes."

In 1875, at Taunton, special prizes were awarded for one-horse and two-horse mowing-machines, hay-making machines, horse-rakes (self-acting and not self-acting), guards to the drums of threshing-machines, and combined guards and feeders to the drums of threshing-machines. In 1876, at Birmingham, the competitions were of self-delivery reapers, one-horse • reapers and combined mowers and reapers without self-delivery. In

1878. at Bristol, the special awards were all for dairy appliances —milk-can for conveying milk long distances, churn for milk, churn for cream, butter-worker for large dairies, butter-worker for small dairies, cheese-tub, curd knife, curd mill, cheese-turning apparatus, automatic means of preventing rising of cream, milk-cooler and cooling vat. A gold medal was awarded for a harvester and self-binder (McCormick's). In

1879. at Kilburn, the competition was of railway waggons to convey perishable goods long distances at low temperatures. In 1880 at Carlisle, and in 1881 at Derby, the special awards were for broadside steam-diggers and string sheaf-binders respectively. In 1882, at Reading, a gold medal was given for a cream separator for horse power, whilst a prize of 100 guineas offered for the most efficient and most economical method of drying hay or corn crops artificially, either before or after being stacked, was not awarded. In 1883, at York, a prize of £50 was given for a butter dairy suitable for not more than twenty cows. In 1884, at Shrewsbury, a prize of £100 was awarded for a sheaf-binding reaper, and one of £50 for a similar machine. In 1885, at Preston, the competitions were concerned with two-horse, three-horse and four-horse whipple-trees, and packages for

conveying fresh butter by rail. In 1886, at Norwich, a prize of £25 was awarded for a thatch-making machine. In 1887, at Newcastle-on-Tyne, a prize of £200 went to a compound portable agricultural engine, one of £100 to a simple portable agricultural engine, and lesser prizes to a weighing-machine for horses and cattle, a weighing-machine for sheep and pigs, potato-raisers and one-man-power cream separators. In 1888, at Nottingham, hay and straw presses for steam-power, horse-power and hand-power were the subjects of competition. In 1889, at Windsor, prizes were awarded for a fruit and vegetable evaporator, a paring and coring machine, a dairy thermometer, parcel post butter-boxes to carry different weights, and a vessel to contain preserved butter. In 1890, at Plymouth, competitions took place of light portable engines (a) using solid fuel, (b) using liquid or gaseous fuel, grist mills for use on a farm, disintegrators, and cider-making plant for use on a farm. In 1891, at Doncaster, jpecial prizes were given for combined portable threshing and Snishing machines, and cream separators (hand and power). In 1892, at Warwick, the competitions related to ploughs— single furrow (a) for light land, (b) for strong land, (c) for press drill and broad-cast sowing; two-furrow; three-furrow; digging (a) for light land, (b) for heavy land; and one-way ploughs. In 1893, at Chester, self-binding harvesters and sheep-shearing machines (power) were the appliances respectively in competition. In 1894, at Cambridge, the awards were for fixed atnd portable oil engines, potato-spraying and tree-spraying machines, sheep-dipping apparatus and churns. In 1895, at Darlington, the competitions were confined to hay-making machines and clover-making machines. In 1896, at Leicester, prizes were awarded after trial to potato-planting machines, potato-raising machines and butter-drying machines. In 1897, at Manchester, special awards were made for fruit baskets and milk-testers. In 1898, at Birmingham, a prize of £ioo was given for a self-moving vehicle for light loads, £100 and £50 for self-moving vehicles for heavy loa'ds, and £10 for safety feeder to chaff-cutter, in accordance with the Chaff-cutting Machines (Accidents) Act 1897. In 1899, at Maidstone, special prizes were offered for machines for washing hops with liquid insecticides, cream separators (power and hand), machines for the evaporation of fruit and vegetables, and packages for the carriage of (a) soft fruit, (b) hard fruit. In 1900, at York, the competitions were concerned with horse-power cultivators, self-moving steam diggers, milking machines and sheep-shearing machine"* (power and hand). In 1901, at Cardiff, competition was invited in portable oil engines, agricultural locomotive oil engines and small ice-making plant suitable for a dairy. In the years 1903 and 1904 petrol motors adapted for ploughing and other agricultural operations formed a prominent feature of the exhibits.

The progress of steam cultivation has not justified the hopes that were once entertained in the United Kingdom concerning this method of working implements in the field. It was about the year 1870 that its advantages first came into prominent notice. At that time, owing to labour disputes, the supply of hands was short and horses were dear. The wet seasons that set in at the end of the 'seventies led to so much hindrance in the work on the land that the aid of steam was further called for, and it seemed probable that there would be a lessened demand for horse power. It was found, however, that the steam work was done with less care than had been bestowed upon the horse tillage, and the result was that steam came to be regarded as an auxiliary to horse labour rather than as a substitute for it. In this capacity it is capable of rendering most valuable assistance, for it can be utilized in moving extensive areas of land in a very short time. Accordingly, when a few days occur early in the season favourable to the working of the land, much of it can be got into a forward condition, whilst horses are set free for the lighter operations. The crops can then be sown in due time, which in wet years, and with the usual teams of horses kept on a farm, is not always practicable. Much advantage arises from the steam working of bastard fallows in summer, and after harvest a considerable amount of autumn cultivation can be

done by steam power, thus materially lightening the work in the succeeding spring. On farms of moderate size it is usual to hire steam tackle as required, the outlay involved in the purchase of a set being justifiable only in the case of estates or of very big farms where, when not engaged in ploughing, or in cultivating, or in other work upon the land, the steam-engine may be employed in threshing, chaff-cutting, sawing and many similar operations which require power. The labour question again became acute in the early years of the 2oth century, when, owing to the scarcity of hands and the high rate of wages, self-binding harvesters were resorted to in England for the ingathering of the corn crops to a greater extent than ever before. For the same reason potato-planting and potato-lifting machines were also in greater requisition.

Agricultural Population and Wages.

The last half of the igth century witnessed a remarkable diminution of the British rural population. The decrease has assumed serious proportions since 1871, as before that date the supply of rural labour exceeded the demand. A large number of agricultural labourers were thus only in partial employment, and their withdrawal from the land was of minor importance as compared with the shrinkage in the number of those permanently employed. The following tables indicate the extent of rural depopulation:—

Number of " Persons engaged in Agriculture " in the United Kingdom, 1851-1901.

The number of " agricultural labourers and shepherds," which affords a more precise index, declined in a still more marked degree.

The decrease in the demand for labour is attributable chiefly to the reduction of the cultivated area and the laying down to pasture of land" once under the plough, and to the increasing use of agricultural machinery. .It may, however, be noticed that the period 1850-1903 was marked by a steady increase of the cash wages of the farm labourer, as indicated in the following table from the Report on the Earnings of Agricultural Labourers issued by the Board of Trade in 1905.

Average Weekly Cash Wages of ordinary Agricultural Labourers employed on certain Farms in England and Wales.

England and Wales, 69 farms.

Eastern counties, 12 farms.

(See also ALLOTMENTS AND SMALL HOLDINGS.) Agricultural Education.

In Great Britain agricultural education as a whole lacks the scope and co-ordination which it has in some continental countries. Centres at which higher agricultural education is given are, however, numerous. The chief are:—

The Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.

Aspatria Agricultural College, Carlisle.

*Agricultural and Horticultural-College, Uckfield, Sussex.

*Agficultural and Horticultural College, Holme Chapel, Cheshire.

*Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, Kingston, Derby. 'Harper-Adams Agricultural College, Newport, Salop. .. . 'Lancashire County School, Harris Institute, Preston.

*University College of North Wales, Bangor.

*Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne. "Cambridge University.

*South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye.

*University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. "Agricultural Institute, Ridgmont (Bedfordshire County Council).

*Essex County Technical Laboratories, Chelmsford.

In the year 1904-1905 £10,600 was devoted by the Board of Agriculture to agricultural instruction and experiments. Of this sum the greater part was divided amongst the institutions marked with an asterisk in the above list. The first three named are private establishments. The county councils also expend sums varying at their own discretion on instruction in dairy-work, poultry-keeping, farriery and veterinary science, horticulture, agricultural experiments, agricultural lectures at various centres, scholarships at, and grants to, agricultural colleges and schools; the whole amount in 1904-1905 reaching £87,472.* The sum spent by individual counties varies considerably. In 1904-1905 Lancashire (£8510), Kent (£5922) and Cheshire (£431°) spent most in this "direction. In some instances colleges are supported entirely by one county, as is the Holmes Chapel College, Cheshire; in others a college is supported by several affiliated counties, as in the case of the agricultural department of the University College, Reading, which acts in connexion with the counties of Berks, Oxon, Hants and Buckingham. The organization and supply of county agricultural instruction is often carried out through the medium of the institution to which the county is affiliated. In Scotland higher agricultural instruction is given at:—

Edinburgh and East of Scotland Agricultural College. Edinburgh University, Agriculture Department. West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow. Aberdeen and North of Scotland Agricultural College. University of St. Andrews.

A typical course at one of the higher colleges lasts for two years and includes instruction under the heads of soils and manure, crops and pasture, live stock, foods and feeding, dairy work, farm and estate management and farm bookkeeping, surveying, agricultural buildings and machinery, agricultural chemistry, agricultural botany, veterinary science and agricultural entomology. Experimental farms are attached to the colleges.

The facilities for intermediate are far inferior to those for higher agricultural education. Schools for farmers' sons and daughters, and others, answering to the ecoles pratiques d'agriculture (see FRANCE) , are few, the principal being the Dauntsey Agricultural School, Wiltshire, the Hampshire Farm School, Basing, and the Farm School at Newton Rigg, Penrith, Cumberland, maintained by the county councils of Cumberland and Westmorland. Occasionally grammar schools have agricultural sides, and in evening continuation schools agricultural classes are sometimes held. Both elementary day schools and continuation schools are in many cases provided with gardens in which horticultural teaching is given.

In Ireland agricultural education is under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, founded in 1899. Higher education is given at the Royal College of Science, Dublin; the Albert Agricultural College, Glasnevin; and the Munster Institute, Cork, for female students, where dairying and poultry-keeping are prominent subjects. Winter classes for boys over sixteen years of age are held at centres in some counties, and there are winter schools of agriculture at Downpatrick, Monaghan and Mount Bellew (Co. Galway); while lectures are given at farmers' meetings by

1 This sum was furnished out of a total of £693,851, forming the residue grant allocated for the purposes of education to the various county councils of England and Wales under the Local Taxation (customs and Excise) Act 1890.

itinerant instructors. The Department carries on agricultural experiment-stations at Athenry (Co. Galway), Ballyhaise (Co. Cavan) and Clonakilty (Co. Cork), where farm apprentices are received and instructed.

AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES

Agriculture has been the chief and most characteristic work of the American people, that in which they have achieved the greatest results in proportion to the resources at command, that in which their economic superiority has been most strikingly manifest. In ten years from 1790, the mean population of the period being 4,500,000, 65,000 sq. m. were for the first time brought within the limits of settlement, crossed with roads and bridges, covered with dwellings, both public and private, much of it also cleared of primeval forest; and this in addition to keeping up and improving the whole extent of previous settlements, and building towns and cities, at a score of favoured points. In the next decade, the mean number of inhabitants' being about 6,500,000, population extended itself over 98,000 sq. m. of absolutely new territory, an area eight times as large as Holland. Between 1810 and 1820, besides increasing the density of population on almost every league of the older territory, besides increasing their manufacturing capital twofold, in spite of a three years' war, the people of the United States advanced their frontier to occupy 101,000 sq. m., the mean population being 8,250,000. Between 1820 and 1830, 124,000 sq. m. were brought within the frontier and made the seat of habitation and cultivation; between 1830 and 1840, 175,000 sq. m.; between 1840 arid 1850, 215,000 sq. m. The Civil War, indeed, checked the westward flow of population, though it caused no refluence, but after 1870 great progress was made in the creation of new farms and the development of old.

That which has allowed this great work to be done so rapidly and fortunately has been, first, the popular tenure Of the soil, and, secondly, the character of the agricultural class. At no time have the cultivators of the soil north of the Potomac and Ohio constituted a peasantry in the ordinary sense of that term. They have been the same kind of men, out of precisely the same homes, generally with the same early training, as those who filled the learned professions or who were engaged in manufacturing or commercial pursuits. Switzerland and Scotland have, in a degree, approached the United States in this particular; but there is no other considerable country where as much mental activity and alertness has been applied to the cultivation of the soil as to trade and manufactures.

But even the causes which have been adduced would have failed to produce such effects but for the exceptional inventive ingenuity of the American. The mechanical genius which has entered into manufacturing in the United States, the engineering skill which has guided the construction of the greatest works of the continent, have been far exceeded in the hurried " improvements " of the pioneer farm; in the housing of women, children and live stock and gathered crops against the storms of the first few winters; in the rough-and-ready reconnaissances which determined the " lay of the land " and the capabilities of the soil; in the preparation for the thousand exigencies of primitive agriculture. It is no exaggeration to say that the chief manufacture of the United States, prior to 1900, was the manufacture of 5,740,000 farms, comprising 841,200,000 acres.

The people of the United States, finding themselves on a continent containing an almost limitless extent of land of fair average fertility, having at the start but little accumulated capital and urgent occasions for the economy of labour, have elected to regard the land in the earliest stages of occupation as practically of no value, and to regard labour as of high value. In pursuance of this view they have freely sacrificed the land, so far as was necessary, in order to save labour, systematically cropping the fields on the principle of obtaining the largest results with the least expenditure, limiting improvements • to what was demanded for immediate uses, and caring little about returning to the soil an equivalent for the properties taken from it in the harvests of successive years. But, so far as the northern

states are concerned, the enormous profits of this alleged wasteful cultivation have in the main been applied, not to personal consumption, but to permanent improvements,—not indeed to improvements of the land, but to what were still more needed in the situation, namely, improvements upon the land. The first-fruits of a virgin soil have been expended in forms which have vastly enhanced the productive power of the country. The land, doubtless, as one factor of that productive power, became temporarily less efficient than it would have been under a conservative European treatment; but the joint product of the three factors—land, labour and capital—was for the time enormously increased. Under this regimen the fertility of the land, of course, in time necessarily declined, sooner or later, according to the nature of the crops grown and to the degree of original strength in the soil. Resort was then had to new fields farther west. The granary of the continent moved first to western New York, thence into the Ohio valley, and then, again, to the banks of the Mississippi. The north and south line dividing the wheat product of the United States into two equal parts was in 1850 drawn along the 82nd meridian (81° 58' 49")-In 1860 that line was drawa along the 86th (86° i' 38"), in 1870 along the 8pth (88° 48' 40"), in 1880 along the goth (00° 30' 46"), in 1890 along the 93rd (93° 9' 18"), and in igoo'along the gsth (94° 59' 23"). Meanwhile one portion of the inhabitants of the earlier settlements joined in the movement across the face of the continent. As the grain centre passed on to the west they followed it, too restless by character and habit to find pleasure in the work of stable communities. A second portion of the inhabitants became engaged in raising, upon limited areas, small crops, garden vegetables and orchard fruits, and in producing butter, milk, poultry and eggs, for the supply of the cities and manufacturing towns which had been built up out of the abundant profits of the primitive agriculture. Still another portion of the agricultural population gradually became occupied in the more careful and intense culture of the cereal crops upon the better lands, the less eligible fields being allowed to spring up in brush and wood. Deep ploughing and thorough drainage were resorted to; fertilizers were employed to bring up and to keep up the soil; and thus began the serious systematic agriculture of the older states. Something continued to be done in wheat, but not much. New York raised 13 million bushels in 1850; thirty years later she raised 115 million bushels; and fifty years later ioj million bushels. Pennsylvania raised 153 million bushels in 1850; in 1880 she raised 19^ million bushels; and in 1900 20^ million bushels. More is done in Indian corn (maize), that most prolific cereal, the backbone of American agriculture; still more is done relatively in buckwheat, barley and rye. Pennsylvania, though the eleventh state in wheat production in 1905, stood first in rye and second in buckwheat (ninth in oats). New York was only twenty-first in wheat, but first in buckwheat (tenth in barley), fourth in rye. We do not, however, reach the full significance of the situation until we account for the fourth portion of the former agricultural population, in noting how naturally and fortunately commercial and manufacturing cities spring up in the sites which have been prepared for them by the lavish expenditure of the enormous profits of a primitive agriculture upon permanently useful improvements of a constructive character. These towns are the gifts of agriculture.

Besides the extension of cultivated area, very little was accomplished in the way of agricultural improvement before 1850. With some few exceptions the methods of cultivation were substantially the same as those of colonial days, and were marked by crudeness, waste and a general adherence to rule-of-thumb principles. The year 1850 roughly marks the beginning of a period of improvement and development. The Irish famine of 1846 and the German political troubles of 1848 were followed by an unprecedented emigration to America of highly desirable European labourers, for whom there were cheap and abundant lands. The period from 1850 to 1870 was marked by a steady growth, which, in the western states, was highly stimulated by the Civil War. While this conflict withdrew a certain amount

of productive energy from agricultural pursuits, it tended at the same time to increase the value of farm labour and of farm products and to extend the use of machinery in order to offset the deficient labour supply. Agricultural machinery had been employed before the war, but only to a very small extent. In 1864, 70,000 reapers and mowers were manufactured, twice as many as in 1862, and manufacturers were unable to supply the demand. Moreover, in the years 1860,1861 and 1862 the wheat crops of Great Britain and the European continent were failures, while those of the United States, far removed from the theatre of military operations, were unusually large. The wheat exports to Great Britain in 1861 were three times as great as those of any previous year, and the strong demand from abroad was an additional stimulus to higher prices. In 1864 agricultural prices were from 100 to 200 % higher than in 1861, while transportation charges had only slightly advanced and in some instances had actually decreased. In the middle of the war the farmers' profits were normal; toward the end they had increased enormously. This marvellous agricultural prosperity of a nation engaged in one of the world's most formidable wars has no counterpart in modern history. In the decade from 1860 to 1870 there was a steady increase in cultivated area, in agricultural products and in population. The value of the farm lands in the northern states in 1870 exceeded that of 1860 by five dollars an acre. On the other hand, the farm lands of the southern states had declined in value to an almost equal amount; but after 1870 these states also made substantial progress, and in 1880 they produced more cotton than in 1860, when the greatest crop under the slave system was grown.

Since 1870 the most important factors in this development have been the employment of more scientific methods of production and the more extensive use of machinery. The study of soils with a view of adapting to them the most suitable crops and fertilizers; the increased attention given to diversified farming and crop rotation; the introduction and successful growth of new plants (e.g. the date palm in Arizona and California, and tea in South Carolina); tile drainage; the ensilage of forage; more careful selection in breeding; the use of inoculation to prevent Texas fever in cattle and cholera in swine, of tuberculin to discover the presence of tuberculosis in cows, of organic ferments to hasten the progress of butter-making, of the " Babcock test " for ascertaining the amount of fat in milk, of fungicides and insecticides to destroy fruit and vegetable pests,—such are but a few manifestations of the spread of scientific knowledge among the farming population of the United States. Nearly every county has some sort of agricultural society; in 1899 there were about 1500 of these organizations, some of which, especially those holding annual fairs, received state aid.

With the improvement in technical processes of production came the conquest of the arid regions of the western states. Irrigation was first employed in the west by the Mormons in 1847; but as late as 1870 only about 20,000 acres had been irrigated. In 1880 the irrigated area was approximately i,000,000 acres, and in the decade from 1889 to 1899 it increased from 3,631,381 to 7,539,545 acres> a gain of 107-6 %. By 1902 there had been a still further increase to 9,478,852 acres, a gain of 2 5 • 7 % in three years. As many of the streams available for irrigation purposes lie within more than one state, the control of water supply is a proper matter for federal jurisdiction, and in June 1902 Congress provided for an extensive system of irrigation works in thirteen states and three territories. The cost of the work is defrayed from the proceeds of the sales of government lands within the states and territories affected by the act. The measure is not paternalistic; the settlers on the lands, which are divided into farms of not less than 40 nor more than 160 acres, are required to make annual payments to the government in proportion to the water service they have received, until the original cost of the works has been met. The first of these works, the so-called Truckee-Carson project, of Nevada, was completed in June 1905, and at the end of that year eight projects, in as many different states, were under

construction; bids had been received for three more, and the seven others had received the approval of the secretary of the interior. With these initial undertakings it was estimated that i ,000,859 acres could be reclaimed. In addition to supplying the soils with water, means have been found of ridding them of their alkali, or of rendering it harmless; and this is an element of reclamation hardly less important than irrigation itself. A third step in the reclamation of desert lands is arid farming—that is, the adapting to the soils of crops that require a minimum amount of moisture, and the utilization, to the fullest possible extent, of the meagre amount of rainfall in the region. Experiments conducted in this direction in Utah produced promising results.

The development of farming machinery has kept pace with the general progress in scientific agriculture. Although numerous patents were issued for such machinery before 1850, its use, with the exception of the cotton gin, was very restricted before that date. Even iron ploughs were not in general use until 1842, and a really scientific plough was practically unknown before 1870. Thirty years later the large farms of the Pacific states were ploughed, harrowed and sowed with wheat in a single operation by fifty-horse-power traction engines drawing ploughs, harrows and press drills. Since 1850 there has been a transition from the sickle and the scythe to a machine that in one operation mows, threshes, cleans and sacks the wheat, and in five minutes after touching the standing grain has it ready for the market. Hay-stackers, potato planters and diggers, feed choopers and grinders, manure-spreaders, check-row corn planters and ditch-digging machines are some of the common labour-saving devices. By the 28th of August 1907 the United States Patent Office had issued patents for 13,212 harvesting machines, 6352 threshers, 6680 harrows and diggers, 9649 seeders and planters, and 13,171 ploughs. In the manufacture of agricultural machinery the United States leads the world. The total value of the implements and machinery used by farmers of the United States in 1880 was $406,520,055; in 1890 $494,247,467; in 1900 $761,261,550, a gain in this last decade of 54%. The total value of the implements and machinery manufactured in 1850 was $6,842,611; in 1880 $68,640,486; in 1890 $81,271,651; in 1900 $101,207,428. These figures, however, are a very poor indication of the actual use of machinery, on account of the rapid decrease in prices following its manufacture on a more extensive scale and by improved methods.

The effects of the new agriculture are apparent from the following figures: By the methods of 1830 it required 64 hours and 15 minutes of man-labour and cost $3-71 to produce an acre of wheat; by the methods employed in 1896 it required 2 hours and 58 minutes of man-labour and cost 72 cents. To produce an acre of barley in 1830 required 63 hours of man-labour and cost $3-59; in 1896 it required 2 hours and 43 minutes and cost 60 cents. An acre of oats produced by the methods of 1830 required 66 hours and 15 minutes of man-labour and cost $3-73; the methods of 1893 required only 7 hours and 6 minutes and cost $1-07. With the same unit of labour the average quantity of all leading crops produced by modern methods is about five times as great as that produced by the methods employed in 1850, and the cost of production is reduced by one half. From 1880 to 1900 the average number of acres of leading crops per male worker increased from 23-3 to 31-0, or 34%; the number of horses per worker from 1-7 to 2-3, or 35%; and the value of agricultural product per person employed from $286-82 to $454-37, or 58-4%.

There are numerous other factors that have operated to the benefit of the agriculturist. Increased transportation facilities and lower freight charges have widened his market. The processes of canning, packing, preserving and refrigerating have produced a similar effect, and have also provided a means for the disposal of surplus perishable products that otherwise would be lost. The utilization of by-products, as, for example, the conversion of cotton seed into oil, fertilizers and food for live stock, has become another source of profit.

Great economic and social changes have resulted from this

progress. There has been a great division of labour in agriculture. Makers of agricultural implements, of butter and cheese, cotton ginners, grist and wheat millers, are now classed in the United States census reports as manufacturers, but all their work was once done on the farm. The farmer is now more of a specialist and more dependent on other industries than formerly. He has changed from a producer for home consumption or a local market to a producer for a world market. Unfortunately, his knowledge of economic laws has lagged behind his progress in scientific agriculture. The farming class at times have experienced periods of great depression, largely on account of their inability to adjust their crops to changing conditions in the world's markets, and in such cases have been prone to seek a remedy in radical legislation. Periods of agricultural discontent at different times have been marked by the political activity of the " Grangers " and of the " Farmers' Alliance." and even by the formation of new political parties such as the Greenback party in 1874 and the Populist or People's party in 1892—whose strength lay mainly in the agricultural states. The new industrial conditions that produced combinations among manufacturers were much slower in their effect upon the farming element, but gradually led to increasing co-operation and to the organization of the growers of various commodities for marketing their crops. The fruit growers of California and the tobacco growers of Kentucky have furnished interesting examples of such organizations. Under the improved conditions there is less drudgery on the farm; the farmer does more work, produces more, and yet has more leisure than formerly. Better roads, rural free mail delivery, telephone and electric lines are removing the isolation of country life, and to some extent are diminishing the attractions of the cities for th<> rural population.

Covering as it does the breadth of the North American continent, with 3,000,000 sq. m. of land surface, not including Alaska and the islands, of which over 800,000,000 acres are in farms and over 400,000,000 in actual cultivation, representing every variety of soil and all the climatic life zones of the world, except the extreme boreal and the hottest tropical, the United States affords an important subject of study in respect of agriculture. Its cotton, wheat and meat are large factors in all markets, and its many other agricultural products are distributed throughout the civilized world. To the student the equipment and methods of agriculture in the United States form as interesting a subject of examination as do its resources and production. In quantity, distribution and inter-relation of heat and moisture —the chief factors in agricultural production—the United States is greatly blessed. We find in this vast territory all the agricultural belts mapped by the biologist, producing all varieties of cereals, fruits and breeds of live stock, whilst all kinds of soils, adapted to different crops, are spread out at all altitudes from 8000 ft. down to sea-level.

The story of the vast and varied agriculture of the United States can be outlined by extracts from the figures published by the Census, the Agricultural and other government departments.

As a result of the great supply of available land the number of farms in the United States increased between 1850 and 1900 from 1,449,073 to 5,739.657; their total acreage Panas increased from 293,560,614 to 841,201,546 acres; their improved acreage increased from 113,032,614 to 414,793,191 acres; and their unimproved1 acreage from 180,528,000 to 426,408,355 acres. Table XXVII. exhibits the increases of number of farms, total and improved acreage by decades.

The largest percentage of increase of improved land was 5°'7> from 1870 to 1880; the lowest was in the decade 1860 to 1870, the period of the Civil War, and was 15-8. The chief cause of this wonderful development of agriculture is the large area of cheap public lands which has been available for immigrants and natives alike. Up to 1906, under the Homestead Act of the 2Oth of May 1862, the number of entries, both final and pending, covered 185,385,000 acres. Between 1875 and 1905 the public and Indian lands sold for cash and under homestead and timber culture laws, as well as those allotted by scrip, granted to the colleges of agriculture

1" Unimproved" land includes land which has never been ploughed, mown or cropped, and also land once cultivated but now overgrown with trees or shrubs.

and mechanic arts and other institutions, and by military bounty land warrants, and selected by states and railroad corporations, covered about 430,000,000 acres. In addition to this, the states and railroad corporations sold a large amount of land to farmers of which we have no accurate record. This vast territory, greater

TABLE XXVII.—Percentage of Increase of Number and Acreage of Farms by Census Decades.

1850 to 1860 i860 ,, 1870 1870 „ 1880 1880 „ 1890 1890 ,, 1900

41-1 30-1 50-7 13-9

44'3 15-8 50-7 25-6 16-0

in extent than Germany and France combined, was added to the farms of the country in thirty years. In many cases railroad building has made the settlement of the public lands possible for the first time, and the building of branch lines, by providing means for transporting products to market, has greatly facilitated the acquisition of other lands. The mileage of railways increased 310-7 % between 1870 and 1905. The interesting fact is that this increase corresponds geographically to the increase in farms.

The agricultural statistics do not include any farm of less than three acres unless it produced at least $500 worth of prqducts in the preceding year. The census of 1900 showed that the average size of farms was 146 acres, or nine acres more than in 1890 and 57 acres less than in 1850. This fact, however, does not indicate a general tendency toward the consolidation of holdings. The increase in the average size of farms in the whole country is due to the extension of grazing lands in the Rocky Mountain region and in Texas, and to the enlargement of the wheat fields in the Mississippi valley. On the other hand, in the southern states there has been a steady breaking up of holdings and decrease in the average size of farms since the close of the Civil War. In the New England states, where dairying has become the leading agricultural industry, there was an increase of 2-2 acres in the size of farms during the decade 1890—1900. This increase was more than offset by the decrease in the Atlantic states from New York to Maryland inclusive (2-8 acres), where there has been a subdivision of farms following the increased attention given to the growing of fruits and vegetables for cities. The same tendency is noted in the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. As will be seen from Table XXVIII., the average farm, which steadily diminished in size from 1850 to 1880, increased between 1880 and 1900.

TABLE XXVIII.—Average Acreage of Farms and Proportion of Improved Land therein.

Statisticians usually put it at 40 %, and this is probably more nearly correct (Table XXX.).

The wages paid farm labourers, as ascertained by the Department of Agriculture, are rather low compared with the average wages of labour, but not lower than the wages of other unskilled labour. The average monthly wage of the agricultural labourer, without board, was #19-50 in 1870, $16-42 in 1880, $18-33 in l89O, $17-70 in 1895, and $20-23 in J899, when the maximum for any state was $45-10 in Nevada, the minimum $10-06 in South Carolina. The wages of the American farm labourer were at this last date named (1899) higher than for any other farm labourer save in Canada and the British colonies of Australasia; though lower than wages paid in American cities, they have greater purchasing power. J. R. Dodge, in " Farm Labour in the United States " (vol. xi., Report of Industrial Commission on Agriculture, &c., 1901), says: " In addition to wages the married labourer has a house free of rent, a garden, firewood, pasturage and other perquisites. The enterprising labourer usually becomes a tenant and afterwards a farm-owner."

The figures for farm capital and the value of agricultural products are so vast that it is extremely difficult to put them in an intelligible form. The farm capital of the United States reported by ya]ae o/ the census of 1900 reached $20,514,002,000, a sum more fgrms aaa than four times the capital invested in manufactures, products. the main classes being, in round numbers:—Land, fences and buildings, $16,674,690,000; machines and implements.

TABLE XXIX.—Number of Farms of Specified Tenure.

• Df farms o Cash Tenants.
• re of farms c Cash Tenants.
• >perated by Share Tenants.
• Proportion of Improved Land.
• 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900
• 199-2 153-3 133-7 136-5 146-6
• 46-3 53-i 57-4 49-3

The acreage of North Atlantic farms decreased from 112-6 in 1850 to 95"3 m 1890, and increased in 1890-1900 to 96-5 acres. In the South Atlantic states the average was 376-4 acres in 1850, and there has been steady decrease, so that in 1900 it was 108-4, or one-third less than the average for the entire country. In the north central states the averages of 1850 and 1900 were nearly the same (143-3 and 144-5 respectively), with the minimum (121-9 acres) in 1880. The south central states averaged 291 acres in 1850, 321-3 in 1860, 144 in 1890, and 155-4 m }9°°.- The maximum decade for the western states was that ending in 1850 (694-9 acres),and the minimum 1880 (312-9); and the average in 1900 was 386-1 acres.

Table XXIX. gives the number of farms, together with their distribution, under different forms of tenure in the years 1880, 1890 and 1900.

The steady drift towards farm tenancy of late is believed to be injurious to production; but it is impossible to prove this, so great has been the aggregate increase in products.

The number of persons engaged in agriculture as a business in . . 1900 was 10,381,765, or 36 % of all persons in gainful occupations. It is interesting to note that 977,336 of these were women. This is an increase of 2,667,890 persons over 1880. Thus, if the farm family is the same size as that of the remainder of the population—it is probably slightly larger—the agricultural population would be 36 % of the whole.

$761,262,000; live stock $3,078,050,000. The products of the farms in the census year 1899 were valued at $4,739,119,000. Between 1850 and 1900 the aggregate farm capital increased 416 %. The greatest increase of farm capital was between 1850 and 1860, 101 %; the next was the decade 1880-1890, when the increase was 32 %. Between 1890 and 1900 the increase was 28%.

TABLE XXX.—Number of Persons of Ten Years of Age and over in the different Agricultural Pursuits in 1900.

Dairymen and women ..... Farmers and farm superintendents . Farm labourers ..... Gardeners, nurserymen and viticulturists Lumbermen and raftsmen .... Stock-raisers, herders, &c. .... Turpentine-farmers and labourers . Wood-choppers ..... Other pursuits .....

5,674,875 4,410,877 61,788 72,020 84,988

The growth of farm area and of capital invested in agriculture was followed by a proportionate increase in the chief crops (TableXXXL).

The distinguishing feature of the period 1870-1880 was the rate of increase of barley, Indian corn, wheat and oats. Since 1870 the production of nearly all of the farm crops increased more rapidly than the population, the most absolute proof of the substantial prosperity of the people. The increase in population for the fifty years from 184010 1890 was 267 %; from 1870 to 1880, 30 %; from 1880 to 1890, 25 %; from 1890 to 1900, 21 %; but the food and other supplies far exceeded the demands of even this great population.

TABLE XXXI.—Production of certain Farm Crops from 1870 to 1905 —Millions of Bushels.

1870 1880 1890 1900

1094 1717 1489 2105 2707

235 498 399 522

Table XXXII. gives important facts with regard to the cereal production of the United States between 1870 and 1905.

The average farm price of wheat declined, as is shown in that table, from $1-05 per bushel for the decade 1870-1880 to 65-3 cents for the period 1890-1899. The farm prices of the other

1 Includes farms operated by owners, part-owners, owners and tenants, and managers.

1 Tenants of farms rented for a share of the products.

cereals declined less during the thirty years. Corn declined from an average farm price of 42-6 cents per bushel for 1870-1880 to 34-4 cents in 1890-1899. The average production per acre shows nothing conclusive with regard to the fertility of the soil of the country. The expansion of the crop area usually causes a lowering of the average yield per acre by distributing the culture, fertilizers, &c., over more surface. Likewise the contraction of crop area will usually increase the average yield per acre of the entire country.

TABLE XXXII.—Average Yield and Value of Cereal Crops in the United States, by Periods

• Average Farm Price per Bushel.
• Average Yield per Acre.
• Average Farm Price per Bushel.
• Average Yield per Acre.
• Average Farm Price per Bushel.
• Average Yield per Acre.

1870 to 1880 . . 1880 1889 • • 1890 1899 . . 1906 1905 . .

1870 1880 . . 1880 1889 . . 1890 1899 . 1900 1905 . .

Dollars. 0-426 •393 •344 .440 Bai 0-738 •589 •433 •433

Bushels. 27-1 24-1 24-1 24-9 •ley

•653 •706 R 0-701 •622 •522 •57°

ye 14-1 ii-9 14-0 15-7

Dollars. 0-353 •309 •277

•318 Buck 0-715 •642 •507 •588

Bushels. 28-4 26-6 26-2 30-7 wheat I7'7

The average yield of wheat per acre was 12-4 bushels in the decade 1870-1880, and 13-1 in the period 1890-1899; of Indian corn, 27-1 in 1870-1880, and 24-1 in 1880-1899 continuously. Oats fell off from 28-4 in 1870-1880 to 26-2 bushels per acre in 1890-1899. The averages for the years 1900-1905 show an increase over the previous decade both in yields and (with the exception of the price of barley) in prices of all the cereals.

The agricultural returns for 1890-1905 may be taken as an

illustration of the cereal production of the United States. The figures for wheat, oats and Indian corn are presented in Tables XXXIII., XXXIV. and XXXV.

The acreage and production of wheat have steadily increased. The acreage in Indian corn, the great American crop, reached its highest in 1902, 94,043,613 acres, and its production its highest figure in 1905, 2,707,993,540 bushels.

Producing as the United States does so much more than its people can consume, its exports form a large percentage of some of the crops, as Table XXXVI. shows.

Large portions of some of these crops, like Indian corn and oats, are exported in the form of animals and animal products (meats, lard, hides, &c.). The hay crop is almost entirely used in this way, and the tendency is to convert more and more of these crops into these higher-priced products. Still, the time is far distant when domestic consumption will come anywhere near overtaking domestic production, especially of wheat and the other cereals. The certain extension of acreage with the growth of demand and price, the increased use of agricultural implements, and the improvement of methods will be sure to keep up a large surplus for export for many years to come. The Department of Agriculture has found that for

home use there were required per head 5-5 bushels of wheat, 28-6 bushels of Indian corn, and 10-7 bushels of oats, the computations being made from the figures for population, production and exports for 1888-1892; in 1905, 6-15 bushels of wheat and wheat-flour, 28-59 bushels of Indian corn and corn-meal. The following number of acres in these crops was required, therefore, to supply the home demand for 1888-1892:—0-43 of an acre in wheat, 1-15 acre in corn, and 0-43 acre in oats per head of the population. Taking the year

TABLE XXXIII.—Acreage, Production, Value, Prices and Exports of Wheat in the

United States in 1890-1905.

Average Yield per Acre.

Average Farm Price per Bushel, 1st Dec.

Farm Value, 1st Dec.

Domestic Exports, including Flour, Fiscal Years beginning 1st July.

TABLE XXXIV.—Acreage, Production, Value, Prices, Exports and Imports of Oats in the United States

Average Yield per Acre.

Average Farm Price per Bushel, ist Dec.

Farm Value, ist Dec.

Domestic Exports, including Oatmeal, Fiscal Years beginning 1st July.

Imports during Fiscal Years beginning 1st July.

TABLE XXXV.—Acreage, Production, Value, Prices and Exports of Indian Corn in the United Stales in 1890-1905.

Average Yield per Acre.

Average Farm Price per Bushel, 1st Dec.

Farm Value, 1st Dec.

Domestic Exports, including Corn-Meal, Fiscal Years beginning ist July.

1890 as an illustration, this gave a surplus area in wheat of 11,264,478

acres, of 2,648,404 acres in Indian corn, and of 238,162 acres in oats.

Tables XXXVII. and XXXVIII. give the number, total value

and average price of farm animals in 1880, 1890, 1900 and 1906.

animals. The fluctuation in prices of mules has been parallel to that for horses.

The returns for milch cows show an increase throughout the period 1880-1899 in every year, with the exception of 1895-1899,

TABLE,XXXVI.—Percentage of Crops Exported.

Wheat . . Indian corn Rye . . Oats . . Barley Potatoes . Cotton

27-84 4-82 10-30 •37 1-55 •37 72-80

12-21 2-22 12-96 •30

6-4 19-5 37 12-15 0-31 66-31

TABLE XXXVII.—Number and Value of Farm Animals in the United Slates, 1880-1906.

• 1880 1890 1900 1906
• $613,296,611 978,516,562 603,969,442 1,510,889,906
• $105,948,319 182,394,099 111,717,092 334,680,520
• 12,027,000 15,952,883 16,292,360 19,793,866
• Total Value of Farm Animals.
• 1880 1890 1900 1906
• 21,231,000 36,849,024 27,610,054 47,067,656
• $341,761,154 560,625,137 689,486,260 746,171,709
• 40,765,900 44,336,072 41,883,065 50,631,619
• $90,230,537 100,659,761 122,665,913 179,056,144
• 34,034,100 51,602,780 37,079,356 52,102,847
• $145,781,515 243,418,336 185,472,321 321,802,571
• $1,576,917,556 2,418,766,028 2,228,123,134 3,675,389,442

TABLE XXXVIII.—Average Value of Farm Animals in the United States on ist January, 1880-1906.

• 1880 1890 1900 1906
• $54-75 68-84 44-61 80-72
• $61-26 78-25 53-56 98-31
• $23-27 22-14 . 31-60 29-44
• $16-10 15-21 24-97 i5'85
• $4-28 4-72 5-00 6-18

After the Civil War the number of horses increased and prices gradually declined. In 1893 the number of horses reached 16,206,802 (an increase of over 5,005,002 or 44-6 % over the number in 1880), and in 1906, 18,718,578. The average farm price of horses increased from $54-75 in 1880 to $74-64 in 1884, after which there was a decrease to $31-51 in 1896, followed by a rise to $80-72 in 1906. The extension of street-car lines, and the substitution of cable and electric power for that of horses, the use of bicycles and, later, of automobiles, and the improvement of farm-machinery, in which horses are less and less used as power-producers and steam is more common, have been factors in decreasing the demand for these

1 For 1899-1900 to 1904-1905

after which there was a steady rise in numbers. For the first ten years the numbers increased 32-6 %, and from 1890 to 1899, -2 %. The, total value of milch cows increased each year until. 1884, then decreased until 1891, with a gradual increase until the end of the period. The farm price of milch cows rose from $23-27 in 1880 to $31-37 in 1884, then fell to $21-40 in 1892, after which there was a steady increase to $31-60 in 1899, and afterwards a slight fall, $29-44 being the average farm value on the ist of January 1906.

No marked changes in the numbers of sheep have taken place. During the period 1880-1890 there was an increase in numbers amounting to about 8-8 %. After 1893 there was a rather steady decrease, with

fluctuations amounting to a marked depression after 1894. This industry is very susceptible to adverse influences, and felt keenly a depression in the price of wool. The increase began again in 1898, and in 1903 the figure of 63,964,876 was reached; in 1906 it was 50,631,619.

The numbers and values of swine constantly fluctuate with the movement and value of the Indian corn crops. The returns for 1890 (51,602,780) showed a numerical increase of 51-6% over those of 1880; then followed a steady decrease in numbers down to 1900 (37,079,356), since which time there has been considerable increase, so that in 1906 there were 52,102,847—the maximum excepting 1901, when there were 56,982,142 swine on farms. The movement in values was similar to that in numbers. From $4-2_8 in 1880, the average farm price of hogs increased steadily to $6-75 in 1883. The lowest figure, $4-15, was reached in 1891, and after numerous fluctuations it became $4-40 in 1899 and $7-78 in 1903; in 1906 it was$6-i8.

The total value of farm animals showed a steady increase from 1880 to 1890, with slight variations in 1885 and 1886. Following 1890 there was a steady decrease with the exception of slight increases in 1892 and 1893. In 1880 the total value of farm animals in the United States Was $1,576,917,556. In 1890 it had increased to $2,418,766,028, or 53-4 %. In 1806 the value had diminished to $1,727,926,084—a decrease of 28-6 % from the 1890 values, and an increase of 9-6 % over those of 1880. The value in 1906 showed an increase of 133 % over that of 1880.

The exports of live stock and its products have increased enormously in recent years, both in quantity and value. This is especially true of the exportation of beef, cattle and meat products. The exports ot cattle increased from 182,750 in 1880 to 331,720 in 1895, or 8iJ %, and to 567,806 in 1905 or 210 % over 1880, and values

from $13,340,000 in 1880 to $30,600,000 in 1895, an increase of 129 %, and to $40,590,000 in 1905 or 204 %. The average value of cattle exported increased from $19 in 1870 to $73 in 1880 and $92 in 1895, decreasing to $71-50 in 1905. Only the best and heaviest cattle are exported, these, of course, commanding a much higher price than the average of the country.

The total value of farm animals exported from the United States has fluctuated greatly. On the whole, however, the value increased from $16,000,000 in round numbers in 1880 to $46,500,000 in 1905, or 190 %. Table XXXIX. shows the number and value of live animals exported between 1880 and 1905.

Since 1890 there has been a great development in the production of fruit and vegetables. Local market gardens are numerous in the

vicinity of all cities, and highly specialized " truck gardening," that is, the growing of early fruits and vegetables for transportation to distant markets where the seasons are later, has made rapid progress in the South Atlantic states. The census reports of 1900 use the potato acreage in these states as an index of the rate of development of truck gardening; the southern potato being largely a truck garden crop. In seven counties of Virginia the increase in acreage from 1889 to 1899 was 100%; in eleven counties of North Carolina, 314 %; in five counties of South Carolina, 134 %; in nine counties of Georgia, III %; in six counties of Florida, 309 %; in five counties of Alabama, 277 %. Irish and sweet potatoes are the most important vegetables raised; the North Central states leading in the production of the former and the South Atlantic states in

TABLE XXXIX.—Number and Value of Farm Animals exported from the United States, 1880-1905.

the production of the latter. The growth of the Irish potato industry is shown by the following table:—

1870 1880 1890 1900 1905

ii4,775,ooo 167,659,570 148,289,696 210,926,897 260,741,294

The production of sweet potatoes, as reported in census years, was as follows:—

1869 1879 1889 1899

21,709,824 33,378,693 43,950,261 42,526,696

The total acreage in vegetables reported in 1899 was 5,753,191 or 2 % of the acreage in all crops; the value of the yield was $242,170,148 or 8-3 % of the value of all crops.

The value of the fruit crop of 1899 was $131,423,517; the value of orchard fruits was $83,751,840; of grapes, $14,090,937; of small fruits, $25,030,877; of sub-tropical fruits, $8,549,863. The development of fruit-growing during the decade 1889-1899 appears from the following table:—

Apples Apricots Cherries Peaches Pears Plums and Prunes

175,397,626 2,642,128 2,873,499 I5,433,6232 6,625,417 8,764,032

% of the fruit crop; New ihio, 6-8%; and Michigan

In 1899 California contributed 21.5 York, 12-1%; Pennsylvania, 7-5%; O 4-5 Jo-Agricultural Education.

The agricultural schools of the United States owe their origin to the movement against the old classical school and in favour of technical education which began in most civilized nations about the middle of the igth century. A rapidly growing country with great natural resources needed men educated in the sciences and arts of life, and this want was first manifested

1 The demand for horses for the British troops in South Africa affected these years.

8 Decrease due to a severe frost in the winter of 1898-1899, which destroyed the peach crop in most of the states.

in the United States by a popular agitation on behalf of agricultural schools. A number of so-called agricultural schools were started between 1850 and 1860 in the eastern and middle states, where the movement made itself most felt, but without trained teachers and suitable methods they accomplished very little. They were only ordinary schools with farms attached. The second constitution of the state of Michigan, adopted in 1850, provided for an agricultural school, and this was the first one established in the United States. The General Assembly of the state of Pennsylvania incorporated the Farmers' High School, now the State College, in 1854. Maryland incorporated her agricultural college in 1856, and Massachusetts chartered a school of agriculture in the same year. The agitation, which finally reached Congress, led to the establishment of the so-called " land-grant" or agricultural colleges. The establishment of these colleges was due chiefly to the wisdom and foresight of Justin S. Morrill, who introduced the first bill for their endowment in the House of Representatives on the i4th of December 1857, saw the latest one approved by the president on the 3oth of August 1890, and is justly known, therefore, as the father of the American agricultural colleges. The first act for the benefit of these colleges, passed in 1862, was entitled " An Act donating public lands to the several states and territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts," and granted to each state an amount of land equal to 30,000 acres for each senator and representative in Congress to which the state was entitled at that time. The object of the grant was stated to be " the endowment, support and maintenance of at least one college " (in each state), " where the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts ... in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." The total number of acres of land granted to the states under this act was 10,320,843, of which by far the greater part is sold. This grant has produced an endowment fund amounting to $12,045,629. The land still unsold in 1905 amounted to 844,164 acres, valued at $4,168,746. The invested land-grant funds yielded these colleges a total annual income of $855,083 in 1905. Including the United States appropriation under a supplementary act of 1890, commonly known as the Second Morrill Act, which now gives each college $25,000 a year, the interest on the land-grant and all other invested funds, all state appropriations and other sources of revenue, these colleges had in 1904-1905 a total income of $11,659,955- Sixty-six

The first mention of agriculture is found in the writings of Moses. From them we learn that Cain was a "tiller of the ground;" that Abel sacrificed the "firstlings of his flock;" and that Noah "began to be a husbandman and planted a vineyard." The Chinese, Japanese, Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Phoenicians appear to have held husbandry in high estimation. The Egyptians were so sensible of its blessings that they ascribed its invention to superhuman agency, and even carried their gratitude to such an excess as to worship the ox, for his services as a laborer. The Carthaginians carried the art of agriculture to a higher degree than other nations, their contemporaries.

Mago, one of their most famous generals, wrote no less than 28 books on agricultural topics, which, according to Columella, were translated into Latin by an express decree of the Roman Senate.

Hesiod, the Greek writer, supposed to be contemporary with Homer, wrote a poem on agriculture, entitled "Weeks and Days," which was so denominated because husbandry requires an exact observance of times and seasons. Other Greek writers wrote on rural economy, and Xenophon, among the number, but their works have been lost in the lapse of ages. Co- AGRICULTURE lumella, who flourished in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, wrote 12 books on husbandry, which constituted a complete treatise on rural affairs. Pliny ascribes the invention of manures to the Greek King Augeas, and Theophrastus not only mentions six kinds of manures, but declares that a mixture of soils produces the same effects as manures. Cato, the Roman censor, equally celebrated as a statesman, orator, and general, derived his highest and most durable honors from having written a voluminous work on agriculture. In the "Georgics" of Vergil, the majesty of verse and the harmony of numbers add dignity and grace to the most useful of all topics. Varro, Pliny, and Palladius were likewise among the distinguished Romans who wrote on agricultural subjects.

It is interesting to note here that irrigation had an influential advocate as long ago as the time of Vergil, who in his "Georgics" advises husbandmen to "bring down the waters of a river upon the sown corn, and, when the field is parched and the plants drying, convey it from the brow of a hill in channels."

To the credit of the Romans let it be remembered that, unlike many conquerors, instead of desolating they improved the countries which they subdued, and first of all in agriculture.

Recent Progress. From the details of primitive agricultural methods given in ancient writings and represented in monumental inscriptions, it is evident that not till the 19th century had anything very material been done toward the creation of a distinctive agricultural science. The original arts of husbandry, practiced ages ago, have simply been adapted, with little improvement till very lately, to modify conditions. Most of the mechanical appliances to which our ancestors were restricted-the plow, roller, hoe, sickle are found pictured in the Egyptian inscriptions and paintings. It is also known that the Egyptians were familiar with the advantages of rotation in crops, and that they were exceedingly intelligent and systematic in the administration of estates and the regulation of all rural concerns.

Within the last hundred years, however, the foundations of an entirely new agriculture have been securely laid. The two active agencies in this change have been chemical science and invention.

Chemical science, as applied to agriculture, is based on very simple elements. The arable surface soil becomes exhausted if grain is sown upon it in successive years, this exhaustion being occasioned by the removal of the mineral substances necessary to the life of the grain. By AGRICULTURE the system of rotation, a cereal crop is its generous provisions for the founding followed by a so-called green crop, the roots of which penetrate deep into the subsoil and extract from it a fresh supply of the needful minerals; thus the vigor of the surface soil is renewed and it again produces an abundant grain crop.

AGRICULTURE of agricultural colleges, and by its admirable system of agricultural experiment stations. The latter, like the agricultural colleges, are modeled upon the technical institutions originated in Europe for scientific investigation concerning all the branches of agriculture. The Federal Government makes an annual grant for experiment station purposes to each State and Territory in which an agricultural college is in operation, and some of the States also contribute to the support of the stations. The Department of Agriculture of the National Government is excellently equipped for the promotion of agricultural interests in both practical and experimental aspects. Its Weather Bureau, Bureau of Animal Industries, and various divisions, are constantly performing work of much value, and a great variety of useful information is systematically disseminated. The fundamentals of the new rural economy are to secure maximum productiveness on the agricultural lands, as a whole, by a comprehensive utilization of a great variety of fertilizers, and, by studying the needs of the soil, to apply to them the particular fertilizers best adapted to their nature. The demonstrations of experimental chemistry in these directions have been so effective that agricultural science has become one of the leading subjects of practical investigation, receiving the actual encouragement of all civilized governments. The energetic spirit stimulated by the latest teachings of chemical science has reflected constant advance in all other departments of scientific agriculture, such The following tables give the acreas drainage, irrigation, the improvement age, value, and production (000 omitted) of breeds and plants, meteorology, etc. of the principal agricultural crops in Agricultural Interests and the Govern- 1919:

• State Maine...
• New Hampshire.
• Vermont.
• New York...
• Maryland.
• Virginia.
• Indiana.
• Illinois..
• Michigan...
• Wisconsin..
• Minnesota Iowa..

Missouri. ment. The growth of agriculture and the evolution of enlightened governmental administration have uniformly gone hand in hand. The great distinguishing characteristic of the Dark Ages in Europe was the crushing oppression of the rural population. The lifting of the arbitrary burdens resting on the agricultural class has in all countries marked the beginning Pennsylvania.... of the era of enlarged civil liberty and of diffused intelligence. The marvelous progress of the United States is above Ohio.... all the result of the rapid absorption of lands by its own native citizens and by industrious immigrants from Europe.

From the earliest period the Federal Government, having enormous tracts of unoccupied lands at its disposal, pursued an extremely liberal policy to encourage settlement. Thus, in a brief time, every section of the country was peopled and the foundations of a great commonwealth were laid. With the vigorous revival of enterprise and thrift after the Civil War, and the steady advance of immigration, the epoch of abundant, fertile lands obtainable for a nominal price was brought Montana. to its close; and the intense rivalry witnessed at the opening of Oklahoma Territory was a demonstration of the practical termination of the era of settlement. In a new country, the soil of which has been accessible to all, the farmers have not been prompt to turn their attention to the strictly scientific aspects of agriculture, yet the government has manifested appreciation of the spirit of the age and the needs of the future by pects North Dakota...

• South Dakota.
• Nebraska...
• Kansas..
• Kentucky.
• Tennessee.
• Texas...
• Oklahoma....
• Wyoming.
• Colorado..
• New Mexico.
• Nevada..
• Arizona.
• Utah.
• Idaho..
• Washington.....
• Oregon..
• California...
• United States..

BARLEY Acreage Production farm value Total Acres Bushels Dollars 6 168 286 1 25 47 14 420 630 113 2,486 3,381 16 392 502 6 198 244 15 375. 488 125 3,150 3,938 55 1,430 1,687 212 5,724 6,926 280 5,320 6,278 512 13,568 16,417 910 18,200 21,112 315 8,032 8,996 11 330 429 1,300 14,950 16,146 875 19,250 22,138 217 5,577 5,577 600 16,200 16,200 4 100 157 8 176 317 25 875 980 50 1,500 1,830 90 540 756 35 525 919 200 3,900 4,680 20 680 748 29 1,102 1,543 24 720 1,015 12 420 630 120 3,360 4,704 4,140 5,589 1,886 2,829 1,000 30,000 42,300 7,420 165,719 200,419 AGRICULTURE CORN Acreage Production AGRICULTURE WHEAT State Total farm value State Acreage Production Total farm value Acres Bushels Dollars Acres Bushels Dollars Maine. 20 1,100 2,145 Maine.. 12 228 502 New Hampshire. 21 1,050 1,785 Vermont. 12 252 572 Vermont. 40 2,120 3,710 New York.. 524 11,178 24,032 Massachusetts.. 44 2,640 4,541 New Jersey. 109 1,962 4,316 Rhode Island.... 11 495 921 Pennsylvania. 1,664 29,055 62,758 Connecticut..... 55 3,300 5,940 Delaware. 145 1,740 3,706 New York... 820 35,260 58,532 Maryland.... 790 10,665 22,930 New Jersey.. 270 10,800 16,524 Virginia.. 1,060 12,508 28,018 Pennsylvania... 1,536 72,192 106,122 West Virginia... 400 5,400 11,880 Delaware. 230 6,900 10,005 North Carolina.. 850 7,225 16,834 Maryland. 693 28,413 39,778 South Carolina. 204 1,836 4,737 Virginia. 1,600 44,800 75,712 Georgia... 240 2,520 6,628 West Virginia... 735 24,990 40,984 Ohio.... 2,860 54,440 115,413 North Carolina.. 2,900 55,100 101,935 Indiana. 2,886 46,020 96,642 South Carolina.. 2,340 37,440 73,757 Illinois.. 4,150 65,675 137,918 Georgia. 4,820 69,890 111,824 Michigan.... 1,035 20,237 42,497 Florida. 840 12,600 17,640 Wisconsin. 549 7,355 15,814 Ohio... 3,700 162,800 196,988 Minnesota 4,015 37,710 94,276 Iniana. 4,750 175,750 219,688 Iowa.. 1,700 23,675 47,350 Illinois. 8,600 301,000 391,300 Missouri. 4,296 57,886 120,982 Michigan. 1,650 64,350 88,803 North Dakota... 7,770 53,613 129,207 Wisconsin 1,820 85,540 106,925 South Dakota.. 3,725 30,175 72,420 Minnesota 2,950 118,000 141,600 Nebraska. 4,384 60,675 122,564 Iowa... 10,000 416,000 499,200 Kansas.. 11,624 151,001 324,652 Missouri. 5,756 155,412 214,469 Kentucky. 1,046 12,029 25,381 North Dakota... 508 16,764 23,470 Tennessee. 810 7,290 16,184 South Dakota. 3,200 91,200 108,528 Alabama. 138 1,242 3,043 Nebraska. 7,030 184,186 224,707 Mississippi. 36 504 1,260 Kansas.. 4,475 69,362 97,107 Texas. 1,900 31,350 62,700 Kentucky. 3,300 82,500 127,875 Oklahoma. 3,760 52,640 107,912 Tennessee. 3,250 74,750 117,358 Arkansas. 340 3,230 6,525 Alabama. 4,334 62,843 99,920 Montana. 2,221 10,729 25,214 Mississippi. 3,980 Louisiana. 1,850 59,700 95,520 32,375 48,562 Wyoming. 284 4,008 8,497 Colorado.. 1,459 17,645 35,643 Texas. 6,760 202,800 239,004 New Mexico..... 283 6,100 12,200 Oklahoma. 3,100 74,400 94,488 Arizona. 43 1,204 2,709 Arkansas. 2,707 48,726 79,911 Utah.. 304 3,682 7,732 Montana.. 128 1,728 2,851 Nevada. 29 668 1,429 Wyoming. 48 768 1,267 Colorado. 671 11,206 15,913 Idaho... 1,030 18,705 38,345 Washington.... 2,440 40,100 85,814 New Mexico..... 240 7,200 10,872 Oregon... 1,126 20,495 43,449 Arizona. 39 1,287 2,574 California....... 900 16,335 33,323 Utah.. 24 432 648 Nevada. 3 90 126 United States.. 73,243 940,987 2,024,008 Idaho.. 24 840 1,386 Washington. 45 1,620 2,997 COTTON Oregon.. 71 1,860 2,883 California. 87 2,871 5,139 Acres Bales Dollars United States. 102,075 2,917,450 3,934,234 Virginia...... 42 22 3,850 North Carolina.. 1,568 875 154,000 South Carolina. 2,881 1,475 263,288 FLAXSEED Georgia. 5,288 1,730 309,670 Florida... 117 17 3,570 Acres Bushels Dollars Alabama. 2,621 715 124,410 Wisconsin... 6 63 271 Mississippi... 2,950 946 177,375 Minnesota. 320 2,880 12,816 Louisiana. 1,532 300 52,500 Iowa... 16 152 638 Texas. 10,346 2,700 472,500 Missouri. 5 48 215 Arkansas. 2,563 830 151,060 North Dakota 760 3,800 16,758 South Dakota... 145 1,160 4,930 Tennessee. 775 298 49,915 Missouri. 111 60 10,200 Nebraska.

Oklahoma. 2,341 163,680 Kansas..

Montana. 3,067 California. 21,930 Wyoming.

Arizona. 19,125 Colorado.

Other. 1,250 United States.. 1,683 8,919 39,145 United States.. 33,344 11,030 1,967,148 State AGRICULTURE OATS Acreage Production farm value AGRICULTURE POTATOES-Continued Total State Acreage Production farm value Total Acres Bushels Dollars Acres Bushels Dollars Acres 169 5,746 5,286 North Carolina.. 58 4,930 8,036 New Hampshire.. 33 1,221 1,038 South Carolina. 27 2,295 4,590 Vermont..... 110 3,960 Georgia Massachusetts... 15 570 Florida Georgia.... 23 1,610 3,494 Rhode Island.... 2 68 Ohio Florida. 24 1,824 3,830 Ohio... 150 9,300 17,856 Connecticut. 20 620 Illinois Indiana. 100 4,400 8,580 New York... 1,160 29,580 24,551 Illinois. 155 8,060 15,798 New Jersey.. 82 2,460 Michigan Pennsylvania. 1,189 36,859 Wisconsin Michigan.. 326 28,688 38,729 Delaware. 36,859 115 Minnesota Wisconsin. 300 28,200 39,480 Minnesota. 300 26,100 39,933 5 65 1,820 Iowa Iowa.... 115 4,945 9,494 Virginia... 240 5,280 Missouri Missouri... 110 8,250 15,180 West Virginia.. 190 4,750 4,322 North Carolina. 322 3,767 3,993 North Dakota... 9.0 5,670 9,072 South Carolina.. 510 11,730 12,903 South Dakota. 90 4,500 8,550 Nebraska... 115 6,325 12,018 Georgia..... 540 10,800 Kansas Kansas.. 68 5,168 9,819 Florida. 60 1,140 1,368 Kentucky.. 72 5,040 10,584 Ohio... 1,548 51,858 37,338 Indiana. 1,825 60,225 41,555 Tennessee. 48 3,120 5,366 Illinois. 4,102 123,060 86,142 Alabama.. 44 3,520 7,568 Mississippi 18 1,530 2,830 Michigan. 1,475 36,875 26,181 Louisiana. 25 1,600 3,520 Wisconsin.. 2,339 78,123 54,686 Texas. 52 3,796 7,972 Minnesota. 3,220 90,160 57,702 Iowa.. 5,670 196,182 125,556 Oklahoma. 44 3,520 7,216 Missouri. 1,417 38,259 27,164 Arkansas. 41 3,321 6,808 Montana. 47 2,820 4,512 North Dakota... 2,400 38,400 25,728 Wyoming. 33 2,640 5,016 South Dakota. 1,850 53,650 33,800 Montana Wyoming 92 11,040 18,768 Nebraska. 2,133 69,962 45,475 Kansas.. 1,574 44,229 32,287 New Mexico. 11 495 940 Kentucky... 440 9,900 9,009 Arizona. 5 350 682 Utah 17 2,397 3,284 Tennessee... 400 9,200 8,556 Nevada. 17 900 1,350 Alabama.. 372 6,696 7,031 Mississippi. 278 5,282 5,446 Idaho.. 36 5,400 8,154 Louisiana. 75 1,650 1,650 Washington. 58 7,250 10,512 Texas. 2,250 94,500 60,480 Oregon 45 4,230 6,345 California... 88 11,352 19,412 Oklahoma... 1,500 49,500 34,650 Arkansas. 420 9,240 8,131 United States. 4,013 357,901 577,581 Montana.. 612 6,120 6,569 Wyoming. 315 5,670 6,350 Colorado.. 249 6,524 5,872 BUCKWHEAT New Mexico.... 65 2,340 2,223 Arizona. 13 533 533 Acres Bushels Dollars Utah... 72 2,448 2,399 Maine.... 17 408 Dollars Nevada.. 12 384 384 New Hampshire.

Acres Bushels 81 Vermont... 9 225 382 Wyoming Colorado 220 7,700 7,546 Massachusetts... 2 44 70 Washington. 320 12,800 11,904 Connecticut. 5 100 200 Oregon.... 347 11,104 10,216 New Mexico 175 5,250 5,040 Vermont 233 5,126 7,433 New Jersey 11 198 297 United States. 42,400 1,248,310 895,603 Pennsylvania. 256 5,530 7,742 Delaware. 6 108 173 New York 14 322 499 POTATOES New Jersey 25 475 736 Acres Bushels Dollars West Virginia... 42 882 1,499 Maine. 102 24,480 34,272 North Carolina.. 11 209 293 New Hampshire. 20 2,400 4,200 Ohio... 26 621 963 Vermont. 25 3,125 4,906 Indiana 14 231 346 Massachusetts.. 33 2,970 5,643 Rhode Island....

POTATOES 425 765 Illinois.. 4 72 130 North Carolina 48 662 907 Connecticut..... 24 Bushels 3,276 Wisconsin 31 502 753 New York..

Acres 39,567 57,372 4,200 Ohio 15 240 312 New Jersey.. 10,560 17,846 Pennsylvania. 25,400 39,116 Iowa....

Delaware. 1,141 Missouri.

Nebraska.

Vermont Massachusetts 5,170 6,721 Tennessee.

Virginia. 11,495 18,047 West Virginia.. 5,130 8,978 United States.. 16,301 24,026 AGRICULTURE RYE AGRICULTURE HAY (TAME) - Continued State Acreage Production State Total Acreage Production farm value Total farm value Acres Bushels Dollars Acres Tons Dollars Vermont. 1 17 26 Iowa... 3,140 5,181 90,149 Massachusetts. 5 115 201 Missouri. 2,810 3,794 73,983 Connecticut... 11 220 440 New York. 120 1,932 2,898 North Dakota... 605 908 12,803 New Jersey..... 81 1,296 2,074 South Dakota 890 1,558 21,033 Nebraska. 1,769 4,299 60,186 Pennsylvania... 228 3,648 5,727 Kansas.. 1,832 4,507 71,211 Delaware... 2 26 42 Kentucky. 1,115 1,561 39,649 Maryland....... 30 420 685 Virginia.. 72 828 1,408 Tennessee... 1,280 1, 2 48,384 West Virginia... 20 260 429 Alabama. 1,367 1,367 30,484 Mississippi. 405 648 13,284 North Carolina.. 90 810 1,701 Louisiana. 250 450 10,350 South Carolina. 17 170 502 Texas.. 662 1,258 22,644 Georgia. 33 294 800 Ohio.. 115 1,886 2,735 Oklahoma.... 700 1,540 23,254 Indiana. 380 5,320 7,448 Arkansas.... 550 770 15,785 Montana. 752 827 19,021 Illinois.. 25 4,125 5,362 Wyoming. 605 853 19,619 Michigan... 900 13,500 17,280 Colorado. 1,065 2,396 44,326 Wisconsin 525 8,295 11,032 Minnesota. 522 7,830 10,179 New Mexico..... 235 646 11,757 Iowa...... 70 1,113 1,469 Arizona.. 169 676 13,520 Utah... 453 938 20,542 Missouri. 60 720 1,080 Nevada. 225 526 10,310 North Dakota. 1,945 15,560 18,828 South Dakota. 500. 6,500 8,125 Idaho.... 650 1,625 35,750 Nebraska.. 408 6,650 7,648 Washington. 794 1,906 43,838 Kansas... 200 2,520 3,553 Oregon.. 854 1,452 27,733 California. 2,352 4,257 73,220 Kentucky. 62 744 1,302 Tennessee. 31 279 558 United States. 56,348 91,326 1,839,967 Alabama. 4 38 99 Texas. 7 119 199 Oklahoma. 25 350 525 TOBACCO BY TYPES AND DISTRICTS I. CIGAR TYPES Arkansas...... 3 28 56 Montana. 68 272 503 District Wyoming. 28 252 454 Acreage Production farm value Total Colorado. 143 1,258 1,635 Acres Pounds Dollars Utah... 18 126 252 New England.... 35.0 54,400 25,187 Idaho. 9 135 236 New York. 3.7 3,483 784 Washington 20 240 444 Pennsylvania.... 41.0 54,120 9,200 Oregon.. 60 582 1,106 Ohio-Miami Valley... 40.0 40,000 6,000 United States. 7,063 88,478 119,041 Wisconsin... 48.0 60,960 13,533 Georgia and Flor- HAY (TAME) ida. 6.2 5,890 3,210 Acres Tons Dollars Total cigar types. 172.9 218,853 57,914 Maine. 1,120 1,456 27,227 New Hampshire. 450 675 16,200 Vermont. 910 1,456 29,266 II. CHEWING, SMOKING, SNUFF, AND EXPORT Massachusetts.. 410 656 17,712 TYPES Rhode Island.... 57 86 2,752 Burley... 313.0 262,920 146,609 Connecticut.... 340 544 16,429 Paducah... 137.8 110,240 26,458 New York... 4,386 6,579 134,870 Henderson... 106.5 87,330 17,466 New Jersey. 325 488 14,201 One-sucker. 47,5 37,050 6,132 Pennsylvania... 2,978 4,318 103,632 Clarksville and Delaware... 82 105 2,730 Hopkinsville.. 126.0 100,800 26,006 Virginia sun- Maryland. 450 630 15,120 cured. 13.0 8,320 2,271 Virginia.. 1,100 1,650 39,105 Virginia dark... 70.0 47,600 14,280 West Virginia... 810 1,215 31,104 Old Bright. 395.0 201,450 114,020 North Carolina.. 800 1,040 25,168 New Bright..... 463.0 277,800 118,065 South Carolina.. 275 358 11,098 Maryland and eastern Ohio ex- Georgia. 557 613 15,509 port. 33.5 24,120 6,874 Florida 113 141 3,243 Louisiana Perique .4 174 113 Ohio. 2,879 3,973 86,611 Indiana. 2,200 3,080 66,528 Total chewing, Illinois. 3,250 4,810 102,934 smoking, snuff, and export types 1,705.7 1,157,804 Michigan...... 2,650 3,180 74,412 All other.. 12,801 478,294 6,339 Wisconsin....

Minnesota.... 2,677 4,738 96,181 2,000 3,800 55,100 Total. 1,901.2 1,389,458 542,547 State AGRICULTURE RICE North Carolina..

South Carolina.

Georgia..

AGUINALDO born in 27 A. D. During his reign he enlarged Cæsarea Philippi and named it born in 27 A. D. During his reign he en- Acreage Production farm value larged Cæsarea Philippi and named it Total 28 270 80 Neronias, in honor of Nero. He remained faithful to the Romans, and tried to dissuade the Jews from rebelling. After the fall of Jerusalem he retired to Rome, where he died in 100 A. D. Before him the 55 Apostle Paul made his memorable de- 43 Acres 1 Bushels Dollars2 400 10 3,700 90 1,200 29 Florida. 2,000 42 110 Missouri. 600 23 Alabama.. 600 16 Mississippi 3,300 96 182 Louisiana. 560,000 19,712 53,420 Texas.. 218,000 6,998 19,594 Arkansas.. 158,000 6,162 14,789 California. 142,000 7,881 21,042 United States.. 1,089,800 41,059 109,613 1 Figures in full (000 not omitted). 2 (000 omitted).

Statistics of other products not included in the tables above are as follows: peanuts, 1,251,400 acres, production 33,263,000 bushels, value $79,839,- 000; ; beans, 1,018,000 acres, production 29,- 11,488,000 bushels, value $49,181,000; sweet potatoes, 1,029,000 acres, production 103,579,000 bushels, value $138,085,- 000; hops, 23,900 acres, production 29, 346,000 pounds, value $22,656,000. The total value of thirteen crops in all the States in 1919 was $12,421,342,000. The total value of live stock on the farms in 1920 amounted to $8,566,313,000. fense (Acts xxvi).

AGUAS CALIENTES (ag'waz kalyān'taz), a town of Mexico, capital of a central State of the same name, with an area of 2,900 square miles and a population of about 125,000, stands on a plain Pop. about 6,000 feet above the sea-level, 270 miles N. W. of the City of Mexico. The environs abound in hot springs, from which the town takes its name. 50,000.

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