interest, however, was not satisfied yet. In 1804 foreign corn was practically prohibited1 from importation if English wheat was less than 63s. a qr.; in 1815 the prohibition was extended 2 till the price of English wheat was 80s. a qr. Then came the agitations and riots of 1817-19, after which the country sank into despair till the formation 3 of the Anti-Corn Law League in 1839. During the operation of these laws the landlords received enormous rents, so high, in fact, that with all the aid of artificial legislation, farmers, except in good years, could hardly pay them, and agriculture was often much distressed.5 But meanwhile the mass of the people was frequently on the verge of starvation, and at length the country perceived that things could not be allowed to go on any longer in this way. The manufacturing capitalists of the day supported the leaders of the people in their agitation, for they hoped that cheap food might mean low wages." By their aid the landed. interest was overcome, and in 1846 the Corn Laws, by the efforts of Cobden and his followers, were finally repealed. Nevertheless the British farmer and his landlords, forgetting, it seems, the days when they got high prices by the starvation of the poor, still frequently clamour for the re-imposition of the incubus of protection. $245. Agriculture under Protection. These years of Protection (1812-1845) comprised, in fact, one of the most disastrous periods through which British agriculture has ever had to pass. The inflated prices created by the Continental War not only caused an enormous rise in rent, but also a more luxurious and com 1 By the 44 Geo. III., c. 109. 2 By the 55 Geo. III., c. 26. By the 3 Geo. IV., c. 60, the price for duty was reduced to 70s. a qr. 3 For this, see Morley's Life of Cobden, ch. vi. Porter, quoted above, p. 428. 5 The distress of agriculturists in this period is carefully detailed in various Reports, and the whole subject has been ably dealt with by I. S Leadam in his book, What Protection does for the Farmer and Laboure (1893). For the period 1812-1845 see also Prothero, Pioneers of Englis Farming, p. 87 sqq. 6 • Cf. Toynbee, Industrial Revolution, p. 207. fortable mode of living among the higher agricultural classes; but when the war was finally brought to a close by the Peace of 1815, there was a sudden fall in prices that caused widespread trouble. The majority of landowners refused to reduce their rents, and many farmers were in consequence ruined. Hence arose the cry for more stringent Protective laws, and these were duly passed.1 Encouraged by these enactments, farmers went on growing more corn than was necessary, in hopes that the former high prices would now be kept up artificially; and, of course, they were inevitably doomed to the disappointment that awaits all ill-considered legislation. Rent was paid, but it was paid out of capital, not out of profits; and agricultural distress grew more and more bitter. Select Committees and Commissions sat to inquire into it in 1814, and in 1821 and 1822; they sat again in 1835 and 1836; and terrible evidence of the widespread ruin of many farmers was brought before them.2 It was shown that since 1790 rents had increased some 70 per cent., and yet distress was prevalent in all agricultural districts. The last ten years of this unfortunate period, however, were more prosperous than those which had gone before, partly because of the action of the New Poor Law and the Tithe Commutation Act, but chiefly, no doubt, owing to the marked improvements that were made in farming. Of these improvements it is now time to speak. § 246. Improvements in Agriculture. The advance made between the years 1812 and 1845 is remarkable, in view of the great distress which undoubtedly prevailed among agriculturists at the time.® The first, and possibly the most important, of these was the greater attention paid to the drainage of agricultural land, a subject 1 Especially in 1815 by the 55 George III., c. 26. 2 This evidence is conveniently summarised in What Protection does for the Farmer and Labourer, by I. S. Leadam, pp. 5, 33, and passim. See also Prothero, Pioneers, p. 87. 3 Prothero, u. s., p. 87. 4 The 4 and 5 William IV., c. 76 (1834). 5 The 6 and 7 William IV., c. 71 (1836). 6 See Prothero, Pioneers of English Farming, pp. 95, 96, for the folowing. discussed as far back as 1641 by Blith, and strongly recommended by Arthur Young. One of the first farmers to appreciate the importance of proper drainage was James Elkington, a Warwickshire man, whose services were so markedly useful to his county that the Government gave him a grant of £1000 in recognition thereof. But it was Smith of Deanston 2 who proceeded in a really scientific manner, and from 1823 and 1834 onwards his suggestions were widely followed. The importance of the subject was recognised by Parliament, and loans for drainage purposes were allowed by the Act of 1846. Next to drainage comes the introduction of science into the use and application of manures. The chemical nature of the various soils, and the fertilisers which are most suitable for them, were now more carefully studied. From about 1835 nitrate of soda and guano began to be used. In 1840, Liebig, the great German chemist, recommended the use of superphosphate of lime, and Sir J. B. Lawes in England showed how this could be obtained by dissolving bone-dust in sulphuric acid. Then phosphates and ammoniacal manures were gradually introduced; and marked strides were made by the beneficial action and inter-action of good drainage and suitable fertilising agents. Nor must we omit the advance made in agricultural implements and machines, such as Small's plough, the sub-soil plough, Meikle's threshing machine, and the drilling machine 6. of which have greatly assisted agricultural operations. More attention was also paid now to the proper cultivation of artificial grasses, agricultural plants, and the selection of seeds. The rearing and breeding of stock was carried on more scientifically, and the oil-cakes and other artificial foods, formerly introduced by Coke of Holkham,7 were more 1 Prothero, Pioneers of English Farming, p. 96. p. 97. 2 Ib., 3 Ib., p. 98. 4 Ib., p. 99. -all Ib., p. 100. The value of bones for manure is said to have been discovered as early as 1772 by a Yorkshire foxhunter when clearing out his stables (Prothero, Pioneers, p. 80). According to Porter (Progress of the Nation, i. 149), bones were occasionally used for this purpose about 1800, but did not come into general use till 1820. • Prothero, Pioneers of English Farming, p. 100. ? Prothero, Pioneers, p. 80. and more widely used for cattle. This general advance in care and skill was greatly assisted by the work of the Royal Agricultural Society, which was founded in 1838, and held its first meeting the following year in Oxford,1 the home of movements which have usually been of a somewhat different character from the operations of agriculture. The greater facilities of transit afforded by the introduction of railways, canals, and steam navigation should also be noted as contributing to the success of the farmer, by enabling him to bring his produce more readily to market, and it became no longer necessary for one parish to starve, while another in a different part of the country had to allow its surplus produce to rot.2 Altogether, therefore, English agriculture made great strides in the years before the repeal of the Corn Laws (1846); and although after that repeal many persons predicted ruin to the farmer, he continued to prosper. The fact was that the enormous development of trade and population, the stimulus given to all kinds of commerce by the use of steam, not only as a locomotive power but also for driving machinery, and the greater interchange of products due to modern facilities of transit, all had a beneficial effect upon the farmer. He shared also, in another way, in the general increase of trade and prosperity, for the population of England since 1840 has not only increased in actual numbers, but has taken to eating far more of the farmers' produce than ever it did before. The consumption of butter per head of the United Kingdom was only 1.05 lbs. in 1840, whereas in 1892 it was 6.14 lbs.; of cheese the figures are 0.92 lbs. in the earlier date, and 5.86 lbs. in the later; of bacon 0.1 lbs., as compared with 13.11 lbs. in 1892.3 Of course large quantities of produce now come from abroad, but, even allowing for this, it will be seen that a tremendous increase must have taken place in the consumption of the produce of British farms. In fact, English agriculture was in a very flourishing condition in the "fifties and sixties," reaching its most favourable point. 1 Prothero, Pioneers, p. 101. 2 Tb., 78. * Leadam, What Protection does for the Farmer and Labourer, about the time of the Franco-German war (1871-73). But after that it began to decline, and has continued to do so for a period of twenty years, though it is to be hoped that now (1895) the depression has passed its most acute stage. § 247. The Depression in Modern Agriculture. The causes of this modern collapse in English agriculture are many and varied, and it must be remembered that to a large extent agriculture has only suffered in common with the other industries of the country, from which it is impossible to separate it altogether. Yet, we may distinguish two causes, which, more than any others, have tended to this depression, and these are, in the first part of the period, unfavourable seasons, and, in the second, low prices and foreign competition. The autumn of 1872 was inclement, and the following spring unfavourable, so that the good effects of the fine harvest weather of 1873 were neutralised.1 The year 1874 was the last of a cycle of prosperous seasons. From 1875 to 1877 the farmer had to contend against a succession of bleak springs and rainy summers,2-weather that produced short cereal crops of inferior quality, causing mildew in wheat, mould in hops, and blight in other cases, while sheep-rot and cattle disease became very prevalent. The British farmer, thus enfeebled by bad seasons, was further attacked by an alarming increase in foreign competition, due partly to the increase of the wheat area in India and America, and perhaps even more largely to the constantly growing facilities for transport of agricultural produce from distant lands. Meanwhile, his own harvests were going from bad to worse. The summer of 1879, sunless and ungenial, caused the worst harvest of the century; and though since 1882 the seasons have been less uniformly unfavourable, the effects of the previous lean years have been hard to neutralise. Moreover, the stress of foreign competition has been very 1 Prothero, in Dict. Pol. Econ., 8. v. Agricultural Depression, Vol. I., 2 Ib. p. 564. 3 For the above, see Prothero, u. s. |