England, almost be mass terest has borne abiens England for the be off are mine de sa prodamat country in the wild bed the money of sagus givi and the quantes sooned pay form the sel

We foi by the Trostics of the Bath Armani Society, for the year 1901, thu there were then = Great Britain besides the Board of Aprivaloare, of which Sur Pie Sinclair was President and no less & person than Amhar

Young, Esq., Secretary) eighty-one Agricultural Societies in regular working order; and to show that they believed, also, in women's rights, we might point to the fact that one of them, the Badenach and Strathspey Society, had a woman for President, in the person of the celebrated Duchess of Gordon.

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY AND PRESENT ORGANIZATIONS OF ENGLAND.

The Royal Agricultural Society, which has exerted so wide-spread and beneficial an influence upon agriculture throughout the civilized world, was founded in 1838, and adopted for its motto, "PRACTICE WITH SCIENCE." Within seven years it had established, or had been the means of establishing, four hundred other societies; one hundred and fifty of these being practical Farmers' Clubs. Ten years later (in 1855), the societies and clubs amounted to over seven hundred. The most important of these clubs, the London Central Farmers' Club, became so firmly rooted, was so thoroughly supported, and its influence was so widely felt, that it received the appellation of the "Bridge Street Parliament," and gave rise to the aphorism by a celebrated English statesman, that "neither our fleets, however well manned, nor our armies, however valorous, nor our diplomacy, however successful, can do so much as the plow."

The Royal Agricultural Society owes much of its popularity to the deep interest manifested in it by the late Prince Consort" the Farmer Prince"-who, indeed, always appreciated the fact that the welfare of the farmer meant the welfare of the nation at large. The Society yet continues to hold its annual exhibitions, which are peripatetic in their nature, and the distinction of being selected as the place for the yearly show is a much coveted one.

In most of the counties of England, there are County Agricultural Societies, which, also, hold annual exhibitions. These societies, as a rule, are in a healthy condition, and of great value to the farmers; but, now, the recognized representatives of the farming interests are the Chambers of Agriculture, composed of landlords, farmers, grain merchants, and others concerned in interests connected with the soil,

CONDITION OF ENGLISH FARMERS.

55

There is a Central Chamber, subordinate to which are County Chambers; and these, in turn, are the superiors of the local or district Chambers. These organizations are of quite recent growth, and the interest taken in them is im

mense.

CONDITION OF ENGLISH FARMERS.

It must be borne in mind that, in England, the relation of the farming class to the community at large is widely different from that which exists in our own country. There, the greater proportion of the farming land is in the hands of a few large proprietors, who rent their farms to a class of men, in nearly every case, possessing considerable capital. It is an actual fact that one hundred and sixty families own. more than half of England, four-fifths of Scotland, and an immense proportion of Wales and Ireland.

The farmers of England, as a class, do not themselves work, but confine their personal share in the farm details to superintending the small army of laborers, (as an American farmer would consider them), who are the actual workers.

The parts of England which are suitable for modern, scientific farming, are few in number and not large in area. The smallness and irregular shapes of the inclosures, the diversified surface of the country, and the closeness with which each foot of ground has to be worked in order to realize a profit, in many cases preclude the employment of machinery. Hitherto, there has been little inducement to the English farmer to adopt the latter. Labor has been plentiful and cheap, and the prices of produce have generally been good.

Still, the present condition of most English farmers is very far from being satisfactory. Ground down by rent,

THE FARM LABORERS OF ENGLAND.

57

rates, and taxes, oppressed by that vexatious and iniquitous remnant of feudalism, the game laws, and dictated to by their landlords at elections and elsewhere, their position is by no means enviable. Nor, as a class, do they now make a profit out of their business. There are many wealthy tradesmen and retired manufacturers who want a farm for purposes of pastime, and who care but little how much they lay out upon their hobby. The consequent competition for farms runs rents up to a figure that makes it impossible to obtain a living and fair interest for the capital invested. As a proof of the wide-spread discontent existing among English farmers, may be mentioned the immense and increasing numbers who annually expatriate themselves, and in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South America, seek that subsistence which unjust laws and extortionate landlords deny them at home.

With unlimited capital, a long lease of a good farm (which is not frequently obtainable), and a situation adapted for all modern appliances and improvements, a man of energy and education can still make farming pay in England; but so far as the mass of small farmers is concerned, the tendency of the age is to drive them to the wall and improve them out of existence. Small farms, as the tenancies expire, are lumped together and let to some pushing man of capital, to the exclusion of that class of tenant farmers who have heretofore been England's boast.

THE FARM LABORERS OF ENGLAND.

The condition of the farm laborers in England has for ages been a burning scandal. It is a natural consequence of the land laws of that country, that the village 'Squire and the parson (whose income is mainly derived from the