well when I saw it, chiefly owing to the great drought following that of 1900, which had caused a maggot-like grub to attack the roots of the strawberries, and more especially those of the older plants. The raspberries also had died back very much; indeed, I do not consider that this soil is suitable to raspberries, and big-bud was playing havoc with the black currants. On the other hand, the small scarlet strawberry, supposed to be the best for jammaking purposes, does very well indeed.

It is pleasant to be able to record that, as the published balance-sheets show, Mr. Wilkin's skill and energy have been rewarded with complete success. In 1901 the company supplied jam to 9,700 customers, and if the preserve-loving public could see, as we did, the freshness of the fruit, the purity of the added sugar, and the care and cleanliness of the manufacture carried out by the aid of the most improved machinery, I am sure that this number would be considerably increased. Incidentally also this industry is of the greatest benefit to the neighbourhood, as will be easily understood when I state that even during the month of May 1901 the average amount paid away in wages was £145 per week, and that women can earn from 5s. to 8s. a day strawberry-picking, and about 1s. 4d. a day at strawing beneath the plants-puggling' is, I believe, the local term-an occupation in which we found gangs of them engaged.

Another result has been to encourage the establishment of small-holders, about eighty of whom owned or rented plots of land in the immediate vicinity. Some of these men have done exceedingly well; indeed, Mr. Wilkin instanced one to me who had risen from the position of a ploughman, and then possessed a capital of several hundreds of pounds; and another, once a labourer, who had bought a holding. Also they were a great help to the fruit farm, upon which they were always willing to work during the busiest time. Mr. Wilkin is strongly in favour of small holdings, and informed us that had it not been for them the folk would have gone, as they are going, from the surrounding parishes.

The farmers, he said, complained that the fruit works drew the labourers from the land, but he answered that they brought people into the neighbourhood and prevented others from leaving it altogether. He thought that deserving men should be assisted to a small-holding, and instructed in its skilful cultivation. Indeed, he went further. I believe,' said Mr. Wilkin, 'that the remedy for the rural

exodus is that

the labourer should be enabled to acquire a piece of land,'

a sentiment with which some of us will be inclined to agree.

I asked Mr. Wilkin if he thought that this fruit

growing could be indefinitely extended; he replied that there was still room, but if largely taken up there might be times when there would be a glut and consequent failures. There was, however, place for many more growers, so long as they did not establish themselves in districts where the industry already existed on a large scale. Thus in that neighbourhood there was only sufficient labour to deal with the fruit grown by his company. Still if he were to build twenty or thirty more cottages, they would let readily enough to a good class of man, but he did not care to sink so much capital.

I believe the Hon. Edward Strutt, who manages the large Essex estates of his brother, Lord Rayleigh, to be one of the most skilful farmers in England. Certainly in the course of my somewhat extended experience I have met no one who impressed me as being quite so thoroughly master of his business, or, I may add, so successful in combating the difficulties of the times and prices. Of course there are

reasons for this success. To begin with, he farms an enormous extent of land, in all some 10,000 acres, most of which is in excellent heart; there are, I believe, 3,000 acres in the neighbourhood of Witham alone. Further, there is

no lack of capital; also London, which lies within thirty miles, furnishes a ready market for all sorts of produce, and especially for that of the cows, of which about 700 are kept.

Its true inner cause in my opinion, however, is to be found in the agricultural talent-if I may use the term-of

༢་༢

Mr. Strutt himself, with which he combines a business ability that is really remarkable. Never before had I seen such books as those that he keeps. One of them, which he had playfully christened the 'Bailiff Tormentor'—a tillage book-actually treats each field as if it were a separate farm. By this I mean that every expense, including proportion of rent, tithe, taxes, labour, manure, &c., is charged against that field and deducted from the value of what it produces, so that the farmer can tell at a glance whether the crop has or has not been profitable, and the exact extent of the gain or loss. So beautifully is all this done that when the expenses and receipts on the various fields are added up, the results tally with the general profit and loss account of the farm concerned, thus showing that there can be no mistake in detail and apportionment. I doubt if there is another farmer in England who keeps such books as these, and still more whether one in a thousand would be capable of keeping them. Upon their value it is unnecessary to dwell, especially as they include distinct volumes devoted respectively to cows, cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry, and a summary book of milk sold and food bought.

It is the practice on these farms to measure the milk of each cow once a week, so that all unprofitable animals can be weeded out; also the milk is frequently analysed. This system of analysis has revealed to Mr. Strutt a curious fact, for which he is unable to account; viz. that the evening milk is considerably richer in fatty matter than that yielded by the same cow in the morning. The reader will observe that the interesting figures given to me by Mr. Mathews of Potter's Bar in Middlesex, which will be found in my chapter on Hertfordshire, entirely bear out Mr. Strutt's experience in this matter of morning and evening milk. I do not know whether agricultural chemists can give a satisfactory explanation of the circumstance.

Strangely enough, in face of the prevailing view to the contrary, Mr. Strutt's experience was that, even at the prevailing prices, in Essex wheat pays better than any other crop,