408 AGRICULTURE [GENERAL circumstances of the occupiers of their land, has obviously a direct tendency to render them less cautious than they would otherwise be, and to induce them, when tempted by the promise of high rents, to trust more to this legal security than to the moral character, business habits, pro fessional skill, and pecuniary competency of candidates for their farms. Section 2. Capital required for working a Farm. The amount of capital that is required in order that the business of farming may be conducted advantageously, is largely determined by the nature of the soil, &c., of each farm, the system of management appropriate to it, the price of stock and of labour, and the terms at which its rents are payable. In the case of land of fair quality, on which the alternate husbandry is pursued, and when the rents are payable as the produce is realised, 10 per acre may be regarded as an amount of capital which will enable a tenant, to prosecute his business with advantage and com fort. In letting a farm, a landlord not only does a just and prudent thing for himself, but acts as a true friend to his proposed tenant, when he insists upon being shown that the latter is possessed of available funds to an amount adequate to its probable requirements. The importance of the topics to which we have thus referred is happily expressed by Mr Pusey, when, after enumerating various agricultural desiderata, he says, " In some degree none of us carry out all that is in our power ; but want of capital and want of confidence in the tenure of farms are, I suppose, the two principal causes of this omission." Section 3. Education of Farmers. But the mere possession of capital does not qualify a man for being a farmer, nor is there any virtue inherent in a lease to insure his success. To these must be added probity, knowledge of his business, and diligence in pro secuting it. These qualifications are the fruits of good education (in the fullest sense of that term), and are no more to be looked for without it than good crops without good husbandry. Common school instruction will, of course, form the groundwork of a farmer s education ; but to this should be added, if possible, a classical curriculum. It has been the fashion to ask, " Of what use are Greek and Latin to a farmer?" Now, apart from the benefit which it is to him, in common with other men, to know the structure of language, and to read with intelligence the literature of his profession, which more and more abounds in scientific terminology, we believe that no better discipline for the youthful mind has yet been devised than the classical course which is in use in our best public schools. Of this discipline we desire that every future farmer should have the advantage. But the great difficulty at present lies in finding appropriate occupation for such youths between their fifteenth and twentieth years. In many cases the sons of farmers are during that period put to farm labour. If they are kept statedly at it, and are made proficient in every kind of work performed on a farm, it is a good pro fessional training as far as it goes. The more common one at least as regards the sons of the larger class of farmers which consists of loitering about without any stated occupation, attending fairs and markets, and pro bably the race-course and hunting-field, is about the most absurd and pernicious that can well be imagined. Such youths are truly to be pitied, for they are neither inured to bodily labour nor afforded the benefits of a liberal educa tion. It need not surprise any one that such hapless lads often prove incompetent for the struggles of life, and have to yield their places to more vigorous men who have enjoyed the benefit of "bearing the yoke in their youth." Unless young men are kept at labour, either of mind or of body, until continuous exertion during stated hours, confinement to one place, and prompt obedience to their superiors have ceased to be irksome, there is little hope of their either prospering in business or distinguishing themselves in their profession. Owing to the altered habits of society, there is now less likelihood than ever of such young persons as we are referring to being subjected to that arduous training to bodily labour Avhich was once the universal practice ; and hence the necessity for an appropriate course of study to take its place. Many Scottish farmers en deavour to supply this want by placing their sons for several years in the chambers of an attorney, estate-agent, or land surveyor, partly in order that they may acquire a know ledge of accounts, but especially for the sake of the whole some discipline which is implied in continuous application and subjection to superiors. It is also common for such youths to be sent to Edinburgh for a winter or two to attend the class of agriculture in the University, and perhaps also that of chemistry, and the Veterinary College classes. This is well enough in its way ; but there is wanting in it an adequate guarantee that there is real study the actual performance of daily mental work. The agricultural college at Cirencester appears to come more fully up to our notion of what is needed for the professional training of farmers than any other institution which we yet possess. We shall rejoice to see such opportunities of instruction as it affords multiplied in Great Britain. After enjoying the benefits of such a course of training as we have now indicated, young men would be in circumstances to derive real advantage from a residence with some ex perienced practical farmer, or from a tour through the best- cultivated districts of the country. We are well aware that what we have now recommended will appear sufficiently absurd to the still numerous class of persons who believe that any one has wit enough to be a fanner. But those who are competent to judge in the case can well afford to smile at such ignorance. They know that agriculture is at once an art, a science, and a business ; that the researches of naturalists, chemists, geologists, and mechanicians are daily contributing to the elucidation of its principles and the guidance of its practice ; and that while its pursuits afford scope for the acutest minds, they are relished by the most cultivated. As a business it shares to the full in the effects of that vehement competition which is experienced in every other branch of industry, and has besides many risks peculiar to itself. The easy routine of the olden time is gone for ever; and without a good measure of tact, energy, and industry, no man can now obtain a livelihood by farming. It is desirable that all this should be known, as nothing has been more common than for parents who have sons too dull to be scholars or too indolent for trade, to put them to farming; or for persons who have earned a competency in some other calling to covet the (supposed) easy life of a farmer, and find it to their sorrow a harassing and ill-requited one. Section 4. Farm Labourers. The agriculture of a country must ever be largely affected by the condition and character of the peasantry by whom its labours are performed. An acute observer has shown that in England a poor style of farming and low wages that good farming and high wages, usually go together ; and that a low rate of wages is significantly associated with a high poor-rate. The worst paid and worst lodged labourers are also the most ignorant, the most prejudiced, the most reckless and insubordinate. The eminence of the agriculture of Scotland is due in large measure, to the moral worth and intelligence of her
peasantry. For this she is indebted to the early establish-
