Superstitions

"All things change; they come and go;The pure unsullied soul alone remains in peace."

Thousands of years ago our ancestors prayed to Waruna, the father in heaven; thousands of years later the Romans entered their temple and worshippedJupiter, the father in heaven, while the Teutonic races worshipped the All-father. After the lapse of centuries now we turn in all our sorrow and adversities to our Father which is in heaven. In the thousands of years which may pass we shall not have grown beyond this central point of religion.

"Our little systems have their day;They have their day and cease to be;They are but broken lights of Thee,And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.We have but faith; we cannot know;For knowledge is of things we see;And yet we trust it comes from Thee,A beam in darkness, let it grow!"

"Our little systems have their day;They have their day and cease to be;They are but broken lights of Thee,And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.

We have but faith; we cannot know;For knowledge is of things we see;And yet we trust it comes from Thee,A beam in darkness, let it grow!"

In his masterly work on "Hero-Worship," Carlyle traces the growth of the "Hero as Divinity" from the Norse Mythology in the following words: "How the man Odin came to be considered a god, the chief god? His people knew no limits to their admiration of him; they had as yet no scale to measure admiration by. Fancy your own generous heart's love of some greatest man expanding till it transcended all bounds, till it filled and overflowed the whole field of your thought.

Then consider what mere Time will do in such cases; how if a man was great while living, he becomes tenfold greater when dead.

What an enormous 'camera-obscura' magnifieris Tradition! How a thing grows in the human memory, in the human imagination, when love, worship, and all that lies in the human heart, is there to encourage it. And in the darkness, in the entire ignorance; without date or document, no book, no Arundel marble: only here and there some dumb monumental cairn. Why! in thirty or forty years, were there no books, any great man would grow 'mythic,' the contemporaries who had seen him, being once all dead: enough for us to discern far in the uttermost distance some gleam as of a small real light shining in the centre of that enormous camera-obscura image: to discern that the centre of it all was not a madness and nothing, but a sanity and something.

This light kindled in the great dark vortex of the Norse mind, dark but living, waiting only for the light, this is to me the centre of the whole. How such light will then shine out, and with wondrous thousand-fold expansion spread itself in forms and colours, depends not onit, so much as in the National Mind recipient of it. Who knows to what unnameable subtleties of spiritual law all these Pagan fables owe their shape! The number twelve, divisiblest of all, which could be halved, quartered, parted into three, into six, the most remarkable number, this was enough to determine the Signs of the Zodiac, the number of Odin's sons, and innumerable other twelves.

Odin's Runes are a significant feature of him.Runes, and the miracles of "magic" he worked by them, make a great feature in tradition. Runes are the Scandinavian alphabet; suppose Odin to have been the inventor of letters as well as "magic" among that people. It is the greatest invention man has ever made, this of marking down the unseen thought that is in him by written characters. It is a kind of second speech, almost as miraculous as the first.

You remember the astonishment and incredulity of Atahaulpa the Peruvian king; how he made the Spanish soldier, who was guarding him, scratch Dios on his thumb nail, that he might try the next soldier with it, to ascertain whether such a miracle was possible. If Odin brought letters among his people, he might work magic enough! Writing by Runes has some air of being original among the Norsemen; not a Phœnician alphabet, but a Scandinavian one.

Snorro tells us farther that Odin invented poetry; the music of human speech, as well as that miraculous runic marking of it.

Transport yourself into the early childhood of nations; the first beautiful morning light of our Europe, when all yet lay in fresh young radiance, as of a great sunrise, and our Europe was first beginning to think,—to be!

This Odin, in his rude semi-articulate way, had a word to speak. A great heart laid open to take in this great universe, and man's life here, and uttera great word about it. And now, if we still admire such a man beyond all others, what must these wild Norse souls, first awakened with thinking, have made of him! The rough words he articulated, are they not the rudimental roots of those English words we still use? He worked so, in that obscure element. But he was as a light kindled in it, a light of intellect, rude nobleness of heart, the only kind of lights we have yet: he had to shine there, and make his obscure element a little lighter, as is still the task of us all.

We will fancy him to be the type Norseman; the finest Teuton whom that race had yet produced. He is as a root of many great things; the fruit of him is found growing, from deep thousands of years, over the whole field of Teutonic life. Our own Wednesday, is it not still Odin's day? Wednesbury, Wansborough, Wanstead, Wandsworth: Odin grew into England too, these are still the leaves from that root. He was the chief god to all the Teutonic peoples; their pattern Norsemen.

The essence of the Scandinavian, as indeed of all Pagan mythologies, we found to be recognition of the divineness of nature; sincere communion of man with the mysterious invisible powers, visibly seen at work in the world around him.

Sincerity is the great characteristic of it. Amid all that fantastic congeries of associations and traditions in their musical mythologies, the main practical belief a man could have was of aninflexible destiny, of the valkyrs and the hall of Odin, and that the one thing needful for a man was to be brave. The Valkyrs are choosers of the slain, who lead the brave to a heavenly hall of Odin: only the base and slavish being thrust elsewhere, into the realms of Hela, the Death goddess. This was the soul of the whole Norse Belief. Valour is still valour. The first duty of a man is still that of subduing Fear. Snorro tells us they thought it a shame and misery not to die in battle; and if a natural death seemed to be coming on, they would cut wounds in their flesh that Odin might receive them as warriors slain. Old kings about to die had their body laid into a ship, the ship sent forth with sail set and slow fire burning in it; that once out at sea, it might blaze up into flame, and in such a manner bury worthily the old hero, at once in the sky and in the ocean."

THE DESCENT OF ODIN.(From the Norse Tongue.)ByThomas Gray.

Up rose the king of men with speed,And saddled straight his coal black steed.Down the yawning steep he rodeThat leads to Hela's drear abode.Him the Dog of Darkness spied;His shaggy throat he opened wide,While from his jaws with carnage fill'd,Foam and human gore distill'd;Hoarse he bays with hideous din,Eyes that glow and fangs that grin,And long pursues with fruitless yellThe father of the powerful spell.Onward still his way he takes,(The groaning earth beneath him shakes)Till full before his fearless eyesThe portals nine of Hell arise.Right against the eastern gateBy the moss grown pile he sate,Where long of yore to sleep was laidThe dust of the prophetic maid,Facing to the northern clime,Thrice he traced the Runic rhyme,Thrice pronounced in accents dread,The thrilling verse that wakes the dead.Till from out the hollow groundSlowly breathed a sullen sound.What call unknown, what charms presumeTo break the quiet of the tomb?Who thus afflicts my troubled spriteAnd drags me from the realms of night?Long on these mouldering bones have beatThe winter's snow, the summer's heat.The drenching dews, and driving rain,Let me, let me sleep again.Who is he with voice unbless'dThat calls me from the bed of rest?Odin:A traveller to the unknownIs he that calls; a warrior's son,Thou the deeds of light shall know;Tell me what is done below.For whom yon glittering board is spread,Dress'd for whom yon golden bed?Proph:Mantling in the goblet seeThe pure beverage of the bee,O'er it hangs the shield of gold:'Tis the drink of Balder bold:Balder's head to death is given:Pain can reach the sons of heaven!Unwilling I my lips unclose:Leave me, leave me to repose.Odin:Once again my call obey;Prophetess! arise and sayWhat dangers Odin's child await,Who the author of his fate?Proph:In Hoder's hand the hero's doom;His brother sends him to the tomb,Now my weary lips I close,Leave me, leave me to repose.Odin:Prophetess! my spell obey;Once again arise and sayWho th' avenger of his guilt,By whom shall Hoder's blood be spilt?Proph:In the caverns of the west,By Odin's fierce embrace compress'd,A wondrous boy shall rind a bear,Who ne'er shall comb his raven hair,Nor wash his visage in the stream,Nor see the sun's departing beam,Till he on Hoder's corpse shall smile,Flaming on the funeral pile.Now my weary lips I close,Leave me, leave me to repose.Odin:Yet awhile my call obey;Prophetess awake and sayWhat virgins these in speechless wo,That bent to earth their solemn brow,That their flaxen tresses tear,And snowy veils that float in air?Tell me whence their sorrows rose,Then I leave thee to repose.Proph:Ha! no traveller art thou:King of Men I know thee now:Mightiest of a mighty line.Odin:No boding maid of skill divine,Art thou, no prophetess of good,But mother of a giant brood!Proph:Hie thee hence, and boast at home,That never shall enquirer comeTo break my iron sleep again,Till Lok his horse his tenfold chain,Never till substantial Night,Has re-assumed her ancient right,Till wrapped in fumes, in ruin hurl'd,Sinks the fabric of the world.

The most remarkable instance of the tenacity of superstitions is the survival of the practice of "bringing in the New Year." Not only does it exist among the poor and uneducated, but even amongst educated people at this festive season. It is considered an omen of misfortune if the first person who enters your house on New Year's morning has a fair complexion or light hair. This popular prejudice has never been satisfactorily accounted for, says the late Mr. Charles Hardwick, in his "Traditions and Superstitions." He says: "I can only suggest that it most probably arose from the fact that amongst the Keltic tribes, who were the earliest immigrants, dark hair prevailed. This dark characteristic still prevails amongst the Welsh, Cornish, and Irish of the present day. When these earlier races came in contact with the Danes and Norse as enemies, they found their mortal foes to possess fair skins and light hair. They consequently regarded the intrusion into their houses, at the commencement of the year, of one of the hated race, as a sinister omen. The true Kelt does not only resent, on New Year's Day, the redhair of the Dane, but the brown and flaxen locks of the German as well." An old writer, Oliver Matthew, of Shrewsbury, writing in the year 1616, at the age of 90 years, says it was the custom of the Danes to place one of their men to live in each homestead of the conquered race, and this was more resented than the tribute they had to pay. This affords another proof that these fair-haired men were the cause of this present superstition. It is also considered unlucky to allow anything to be taken out of the house on New Year's Day, before something had been brought in. The importation of the most insignificant article, even a piece of coal, or something in the nature of food, is sufficient to prevent this misfortune, which the contrary action would render inevitable. This sentiment is well expressed in the followingrhyme:—

Take out, and then take in,Bad luck will begin.Take in, then take out,Good luck comes about.

It would be rash to speculate how long superstitions of this kind will continue to walk hand in hand with religion; how long traditions from far-off heathen times will exercise this spell not only in our remote country places but in enlightened towns. In the realms of folk-lore, many were firm believers in witchcraft, in signs and omens, which things were dreaded with ignorant awe, while the romantic raceof gipsies look upon occult influences from the inside, as a means of personal gain.

The prophetic character of the weather during this period is a superstition common to all the Aryan tribes. So strongly is this characteristic of the season felt in Lancashire at the present day, that many country people may be met with who habitually found their "forecast" on the appearances of the heavens on Old Christmas Day. The late Mr. T. T. Wilkinson relates a singular instance of this superstition, which shows the stubbornness of traditional lore, even when subjected to the power and influence of legislative enactments. He says: "The use of the old style in effect is not yet extinct in Lancashire. The writer knows an old man of Habergham, near Burnley, about 77 years of age, who always reckons the changes of the seasons in this manner. He alleges the practice of his father and grandfather in support of his method, and states with much confidence that 'Perliment didn't change t' seasons wen they chang'd day o't' month.'" A work named "The Shepherd's Kalender," published in 1709, soberly informs us that "if New Year's Day in the morning opens with dusky red clouds, it denotes strife and debates among great ones, and many robberies to happen that year."

In the neighbourhood of Kirkoswald, on the Eden in Cumberland, a district prolific in Arthurian legends, it is said that a "peculiar wind called the 'Helm Wind,' sometimes blows with great fury in that part of the country. It is believed by some persons to be an electrical phenomenon." This fact may have some remote connection with the superstition under consideration. Sir Walter Scott's version of the legend is as follows: "A daring horse jockey sold a black horse to a man of venerable and antique appearance, who appointed the remarkable hillock upon the Eildon Hills, called the Lucken Hare, as the place where at twelve o'clock at night he should receive the price. He came and his money was paid in ancient coin, and he was invited by his customer to view his residence. The trader in horses followed his guide in the deepest astonishment through several long ranges of stalls, in each of which a horse stood motionless, while an armed warrior lay equally still at the charger's feet. 'All these men,' said the Wizard in a whisper, 'will awaken at the battle of Sheriffmoor.' At the extremity of this extraordinary depôt hung a sword and a horn, which the Prophet pointed out to the horse dealer, as containing the means of dissolving the spell. The man in confusion, took the horn and attempted to wind it. The horses instantly started in their stalls, stamped and shook their bridles; themen arose, and clashed their armour; and the mortal terrified at the tumult he had excited, dropped the horn from his hand. A voice like that of a giant, louder even than the tumult around, pronounced these words:

"Woe to the coward that ever he was bornThat did not draw the sword before he blew the horn!"

The mistletoe was supposed to protect the homestead from fire and other disaster, and, like other mysterious things, was believed to be potent in matters relating to courtship and matrimony. It is to this sentiment we owe the practice of kissing under the bush formed of holly and mistletoe during Christmas festivities. This matrimonial element in the mistletoe is artistically presented in the Scandinavian mythology. Freigga, the mother of Baldr, had rendered him invulnerable against all things formed out of the then presumed four elements, fire, air, earth, and water. The mistletoe was believed to grow from none of these elements. But she overlooked the one insignificant branch of the mistletoe, and it was by an arrow fashioned from it that the bright day-god Baldr, the Scandinavian counterpart of Apollo and Bel, was killed by the blind Hodr or Heldr. The gods, however, restored him to life, and dedicated the mistletoe to his mother, who is regarded as the counterpart of theclassical Venus. Hence its importance in affairs of love and courtship. It is not improbable that the far-famed dart of Cupid may have some relation to the mistletoe arrow, to which the beautiful Baldr succumbed.

The medicinal qualities of the mistletoe tree were also in high repute. Its healing power was shared by the ash tree, which was the "Cloud tree" of the Norsemen. The ash (Norse "askr,") was the tree out of which the gods formed the first man, who was thence called Askr. The ash was among the Greeks, an image of the clouds, and the mother of men.

Other Christmas customs and superstitions are peculiar to Lancashire. The white thorn is supposed to possess supernatural power, and certain trees of this class, in Lancashire called Christmas thorns, are believed to blossom only on Old Christmas Day. Mr. Wilkinson says that in the neighbourhood of Burnley many people will yet travel a considerable distance "at midnight, in order to witness the blossoming." The Boar's Head yet forms a chief object amongst the dishes of Christmas festivities. Among the impersonations of natural phenomena, the wild boar represented the "ravages of the whirlwind that tore up the earth." In all mythologies the boar is the animal connected with storm and lightning. There yet exists a superstition prevalent in Lancashire to the effect that pigs can "see the wind." Dr. Kuhm says that in Westphaliathis superstition is a prevalent one. The tradition is at least three or four thousand years old. Lancashire has many stories of the pranks played by the wild boar or demon pig, removing the stones in the night on the occasion of the building of churches. Stories of this nature are to be found respecting Winwick, where a rude carving resembling a hog fastened to a block of stone, by a collar, is to be seen built into the tower of the present Church. Burnley and Rochdale Churches, and Samlesbury Church, near Preston, possess similar traditions.

All Celtic nations have been accustomed to the worship of the Sun. It was a custom that everywhere prevailed in ancient times to celebrate a feast at the Winter Solstice, by which men testified their joy at seeing this great luminary return again to this part of the heavens. This was the greatest solemnity of the year. They called it in many places "Yole," or "Yuul," from the word "Hiaul" and "Houl," which even at this day signifies sun in the language of Cornwall. "Heulo" in modern Welsh means to "shine as the Sun." And thus we may derive our word halo. Some writers, including the Venerable Bede, derive Yule from "hvoel," a wheel, meaning the return of the Sun's annual course after the Winter Solstice.

A COMPARISON OF PROGRESS BETWEEN DANISH AND BRITISH

While the Scandinavian element is regarded by modern writers as the predominating feature in the composition of Englishmen, the Danish has been the pre-eminent force in forming the character of the race which dominates the Lancashire people of to-day. In our survey of the progress of the race, from the earliest settlement of the Danes, we find the impression of their footprints in the place-names of the county, which are our oldest and most enduring monuments. Following their character of daring and venture, we have established a maritime power which is the envy of the world. The same spirit which formed our early settlements in Lancashire has founded colonies in every quarter of the globe. The enterprise of the early "copemen" has developed into our mercantile fleet, which controls the carrying trade of the seas. The voice of their language still resounds in the names of our laws, the "hundreds" of the county, and in our system of administration, and also in the political freedom which has established the saying that "What Lancashire says to-day, England will say to-morrow."

In the earliest record of agricultural progress we find the Danes have given us the name of "husbandry," and the modern implement called the "plough." Therefore, in forming an estimate of the benefits which have resulted from our intercourse with the Danes, the primary industry of agriculture and dairy produce must not be omitted. In all other branches of commercial activity, by the application of scientific methods, unbounded progress has been achieved. Has the oldest industry of the county had a share in this attainment of wealth, or its rural population derived advancement? For a period of half-a-century our agricultural leaders have held competitions known as agricultural shows, where valuable prizes have been given for live stock of all descriptions, and rewards for every design of mechanical appliance for agriculture. To a stranger visiting these shows, it would appear that we brooked no rival in the production of dairy produce. What are the facts disclosed by the figures for the past 25 or 50 years? In the "Year Book of the Lancashire Past Agricultural Students' Association" we are told that Parliament handed over, in the year 1890, to local authorities, large sums of money for purposes of technical instruction, and that "this marks the really substantial beginning of agricultural education in Lancashire."

With this statement, made at the opening of the twentieth century, it may be interesting to noticethe increase of our imports of Danish dairy produce for a period of elevenyears:—

During the past ten years, says Mr. Consul L. C. Liddell in his report for 1908, Denmark has witnessed a considerable increase.

The exports of agricultural produce, which in 1904 were worth £18,400,000, reached £22,400,000 in 1908. The amount of butter exported to the United Kingdom reaches 96.1 per cent. of the total; of bacon, 97.5 per cent.; and of eggs, 98.8 per cent. The remainder of the butter and bacon goes principally to Germany. Nearly the entire export of horses and cattle is absorbed by the German market, whilst three-fifths of the beef also finds its way thither, the remainder going to Norway.

The labour question has, as in other years, attracted much attention. The number of Swedishand Finnish labourers is decreasing, and it is from Galicia that Denmark would now appear to recruit her farm hands. The number of Galician "season" labourers in 1908 reached 8,000, or about 1,000 more than in 1907. The co-operative organisations approached the Prime Minister with the proposal that free passes should be granted on the State railway system to any unemployed at Copenhagen having a knowledge of field work to help in farming. This attempt to organise a "back to the land" movement is not expected to be attended with success.

These figures show an increase of nearly double in eleven years, or an increase of eight millions, and an increase of two millions from 1906 to 1907.

It must be remembered that the bulk of Danish produce comes to the Manchester market, and is distributed from that centre. An analysis of the 1907 imports from Denmark gives the following details:—Butter £10,192,587, eggs £1,774,319, fish £91,031, lard £17,723, bacon £5,385,275, pork £200,000. The item of bacon for 1907 shows an increase of one million pounds over the year 1906.

The import of Danish produce began in the early sixties of last century, and the quality was so indifferent that we are told it was fortunate if two casks of butter were good out of every five. Even then the quality was superior to Irish butter in its taste and appearance. The population of Denmark is two and a half millions, and the cultivated area ofland is seven million acres. The yield of crops to the acre is 28 bushels of wheat, while in England it is 33 bushels. In barley the yield is 30 bushels to our 35 bushels, and in oats it is 33 bushels to our 42. These figures show the comparative fruitfulness of the land to be in favour of England. The live stock per 1,000 population in Denmark is 711 cattle to our 267, and pigs 563 to our 82. The total imports for twenty years show that our dairy produce from abroad has doubled, and is increasing at a rapid rate.

Comparisons of Danish methods of farming to-day cannot be made with the present conditions existing in Lancashire or Yorkshire, but can only be made by the modern conditions now obtaining in Essex under Lord Rayleigh.

What has been the course of our agriculture for the past sixty years? Mr. Cobden maintained that Free Trade would do no injury to agriculture. The following is a comparison of prices in the years 1845 and1907:—

Sixty years ago home-grown wheat produced flour for twenty-four millions of ourpopulation.GTo-day it produces flour for four and a half millions. The acreage under wheat has been reduced in the last thirty years to one-half in England, to one-third in Scotland, and to one-fifth in Ireland. The same is true of green crops. Nine hundred thousand acres less are under crops than were thirty years ago. The same may be said of the area under hop cultivation, which has been reduced every year. The only bright spot in the review of our agricultural position, extending over many years, is to be found in the growth of fruit, although this has not increased as rapidly as foreign importations.

The result of these changes during the last thirty years has been an increase of imports of agricultural produce of eighty millions. Our imports of wheat have increased by thirty-two millions, our imports of dairy produce have increased by twenty-one millions, and eggs alone have increased by four millions sterling a year; while fruit and vegetables have increased by ten and a half millions. The effect of this must be the increased dependence of our population on foreign supplies. Agriculture finds employment for a million less than it did sixty years ago. These are facts and not opinions, and we are compelled to use the figures of the general national imports, as the details of the counties are not available.

Statesmen tell us that the Post Office Savings Bank deposits are a fair indication of the industrial prosperity. In the report of these Post Office Savings Banks we find that Denmark heads the list with £15 11s. per head of the population, while the United Kingdom comes ninth in the list with a sum of £4 11s. per head of the population.

The economy of waste has been the keynote of wealth to many industries, and the adaptability of labour to changed conditions has marked the survival of more than one centre of commercial activity. Individual cases are not wanting to prove that men who have been found unfit to follow their work in mills and town employments through weak health or the effect of accidents, have succeeded, by the aid of a small capital, in becoming model farmers, and have demonstrated the variety of crops and stock which can be raised on a single farm. The bye-products of the manufacturers are often the source of success, and these are the most neglected in the itinerary of the farmer.

The greatest problem which confronts our municipal authorities is the profitable disposal of sewage. Where sewage farms are maintained they are invariably conducted at a heavy loss to the ratepayers, while the adjoining farm tenants often succeed in making profits. To reclaim the land which has gone out of cultivation, by the applicationof unemployed labour and the disposal of waste and sewage, provides the solution of a difficulty which may become a source of wealth, and restore the prosperity of a lost industry.

A White paper just issued by the Board of Education gives particulars as to the amount spent by County Councils in England and Wales on agricultural education.

The amounts vary considerably in the different counties for the year ending March, 1908. In England, Lancashire takes the lead with £7,485, and in Wales the county of Carmarthen is prominent with £597.

The gross total amounted to £79,915, of which £21,662 was in grants to schools and colleges, £9,876 for scholarships, and £12,433 for dairy instruction.

The figures are approximate owing to the difficulty of analysing education accounts.

There are not wanting those who say that farming cannot be made to pay in England. Essex has quite a different experience. For here farms, varying in size from 250 acres to 5,000 and over, have been made to return very good profits. The whole secret lies in the work being conducted on scientific principles, and the careful watching of every penny expended, as well as giving the labourers a direct interest in getting good results.On Lord Rayleigh's estate, Terling, which comprises about 5,000 acres, striking results have been obtained during the past twenty years, his successes being attributed to the use of business and scientific methods. For many years past his lordship's brother, the Hon. E. G. Strutt—probably one of the most experienced practical farmers in England—has had the management of the property, and has shown that farming can be carried on with a profit in this country.

Essex is described as flat, but in the neighbourhood of Terling, which abuts on the Great Eastern Railway line at Witham, there are numerous gently undulating plains, and even at this time of the year a stroll along the lanes in the neighbourhood reveals many pleasant surprises. Here and there the hedgerows are already bursting into delicate green buds, and in some places the crops sown during the early winter for spring are showing above the rich dark brow soil. And many are the birds which are already, as it were, getting into voice for the spring. The county hereabouts is heavily wooded, the chief trees being oak, ash, and elm. Many of these are veritable giants and monarchs of the forest, now standing out alone on the sky-line in all their nakedness of winter outline, then in small groups, again in such numbers as to become forests. On every hand are signs of activity. Ploughing for the moment is all over, though there are still fields of stubble which have to be turned over and preparedfor crops in the near future. Fields which have already been ploughed are being heavily manured in readiness for sowing. And herein lies one of the secrets of the successful farming prevailing in this favoured neighbourhood. Everyone knows, but not everyone acts upon the knowledge, that as the fertility of the soil is exhausted fresh nutriment must be given. The observance of this rule brings its own reward, as many have learned to their advantage. Hedging and ditching are in progress, and by the time that all hands will be required on the land for ploughing, scarifying, harrowing, and sowing, hedges will have been trimmed and ditches cleaned.

Some eighteen or twenty years ago Lord Rayleigh decided to offer all his farm labourers, who number about 250, bonuses on the profits of their industry. This scheme proved eminently successful; so much so, indeed, that Lord Rayleigh has now gone a step further and offered to give every man who cares to invest his savings in his farms 4 per cent. interest on such money, and a share in any profits which may accrue after that dividend has been paid. A very large proportion of the men employed have taken advantage of this offer, which gives them close upon 2 per cent. more than they were getting from the Post Office Savings Bank, where they had been in the habit of putting their money, for they are a thoroughly respectable, self-respecting, and frugal community. It is now just a year since this offerwas first made, and the employees put up over £1,000, in sums ranging from £1 to £100, the latter sum coming from a man who had banked all the bonuses he earned, along with savings from twenty-five years' earnings.

Lord Rayleigh's idea was to get the men not only to study thrift, but to take a keener interest in their daily work. It has been said that that man is a public benefactor who gets two blades of grass to flourish where but one grew before. His lordship has a far higher satisfaction in advancing the position of the men in his employment. In effect this is what he said to them: "My farms represent so much money to me; now for every £1 which you put in I will guarantee you 4 per cent. After we have all had our 4 per cent., such surplus profit as may be left, if any, will be divided between uspro rata." The result of the first year's farming under this form of co-partnership has been very satisfactory. Everyone has not only been paid the guaranteed 4 per cent., which was distributed recently, but each labourer has also received a share in the sum which was over after paying out that amount. While Mr. Strutt declined to disclose the exact amount of the remaining profit, he hinted that the extra interest might quite possibly be as much as a further 4 per cent. Whatever it is, every labourer who put his savings into Lord Rayleigh's hands is congratulating himself upon his good fortune, and, as saving begets saving, there is a prospect that noneof these beneficiaries will ever need the old age pension.

Lord Rayleigh has made only two stipulations with his men, both aimed at unity of administration. One is that they cannot have any voice in the management of the estate, which Mr. Strutt naturally works to the best advantage, and the other is that only the savings of the labourer himself and his wife may be offered for investment in the farms.

Probably there is no farm where such intricate or such useful books are kept as on the Terling estates. Practically every field is treated as a separate farm in itself. Say, for instance, a field is to be sown with wheat. It has to be ploughed, the cost of which is charged in the book against that field, as also the value of the manure used, the price of the seeds sown, and all the time occupied in preparing the land, and, later on, in cutting the wheat, threshing, and sending it to market. On the opposite page of the ledger is put the amount obtained for the grain, and the value of the straw, whether sold or used on the farms. A balance can then be struck, and the profit or loss shown at a glance. On the profit shown, those who did the various necessary labours receive their bonus. So with every field. But the system does not end here. A most careful record is kept, for example, of every cow—the original cost, if bought, the amount of milk she yields per year, of her calves, and what they fetch when sold, or their value if retained onthe estate. Every Friday, the morning and evening milkings are accurately measured, and at the end of the year these figures are added up and multiplied by seven for the seven days of the week. In this way it is known exactly how much milk each cow gives. The annual average should be about 800 gallons, which is regarded as a very fair amount. There is, however, one cow, Lilac by name, which seems to despise that average. Last year her yield of milk was no less than 1,457 gallons, which is a big record, even on the Terling estates.

Mr. Strutt reckons that a cow should give on an average 650 gallons of milk per year, and the cowmen get a bonus when the yield of the cows in their charge average that amount. The advantage of such records are enormous. If a cow does not give 650 gallons of milk per annum, she is at once sold, as she does not pay for her keep. As there are no less than 800 cows on the estate, the keeping of such records involves an enormous amount of work, but it is work which has a profitable result, facilitating, as it does, the weeding out of poor dairy stock.

The same attention is paid to other departments. Records are kept of the sheep, of which there are considerable flocks scattered over the fifteen farms comprised in the estate. It is the same with poultry, of which there are thousands roaming about the farms, grubbing much of their food, but, of course, some is thrown down for them in the various poultryyards. No hens are penned up on the estate. While that course is necessary where prize-show birds are reared, in the case of table poultry and poultry kept for eggs pens are neither essential nor profitable. With freedom the birds lay more regularly, and are generally in better condition for the table.

Asked as to whether eggs were not lost owing to the hens laying in the hedges, Mr. Isted, who is in charge of the office where all the various books of record are kept, said that few, indeed, if any, are overlooked by those responsible, because of the system of bonuses given by Lord Rayleigh, to which reference has already been made. Those in charge of the hens receive a reward on every score of eggs brought in. Every head of poultry reared also means a monetary benefit to the workers.

Daily between 60 and 80 17-gallon churns of milk are despatched to London. It is said that from no station along the Great Eastern Railway line is more milk sent to the Metropolis than from Witham. At present about 100 of these churns leave the station every day, all the milk coming from the immediate neighbourhood. Eggs are also sent to the Rayleigh Dairies in vast quantities. Every egg is carefully tested before it leaves the estate. The poultry is disposed of through middlemen. Other produce is sold in the Essex markets—at Chelmsford, Colchester, Witham, and Braintree. This would includeall the cereals not used on the farm, and such hay as was not required for the stock during winter.

Down in Essex wages are regarded as generally good by the farm labourers. At least there is a distinct tendency on the part of the men to remain on the soil. Horsemen receive 14s. a week, cowmen 14s. and 15s., the head cowmen getting generally 18s. and 20s., while other farm hands earn from 13s. to 15s. Living is very cheap, and rents are low. A good, comfortable cottage, with a decent bit of garden, where vegetables can be grown, can be had for £4 or £5 a year. Should a man require more ground he can get it at a nominal annual rent of 3d. per rod—that is, a piece of ground measuring 5½ yards each way. Quite a number of men avail themselves of this offer, and as they knock off work at five p.m., they put in their evenings on their own "estate."

It is true that Lord Rayleigh has only tried his new system of investment, as well as interest in the farms, for a year, but the results amply justify the experiment. So satisfied are the men themselves that many have asked to be allowed to invest their share of the interest earned and their new bonuses in the estate. It would seem that here, at least, is a possible project for checking the ever-increasing rush of young men to the towns, where, while wages may be higher, the conditions are not conducive to either personal or patriotic well-being. The great feature of Lord Rayleigh's plan is that it is adistinctly profit-sharing one, for no reform, however attractive, can be economically good unless it is financially sound.

With wheat in a rising market at 50s. a quarter, the granaries of the world holding back supplies a considerable proportion of which are already cornered in America—and bread dearer than it has been for many years, the question of the moment is, Can England become her own wheat grower?

Fourteen weeks after harvest the home supplies are exhausted. Britain needs altogether, both home and foreign, 30,000,000 quarters of wheat per annum to provide her people with bread. Out of the total area of 32,000,000 acres under crops of all sorts in the country only 1,625,000 acres are devoted to the growth of wheat. English climatic conditions can be relied upon to allow an average production of three and a half quarters per acre.

The solution of the problem, therefore, is simplicity itself. A matter of 8,000,000 acres taken from those devoted meantime to other crops, to pasturage (to say nothing of deer forests, grouse moors, golf links), or even lying waste, and developed for wheat growing would produce, roughly speaking, the extra 28,000,000 necessary to our annual national food supply.

Millions of acres of the land at present in other crops has grown wheat at a profit in the past. In the sixties and seventies the staple commodity wasat its most remunerative price. In 1867 it touched the enormous average of 64s. 5d. per quarter, while later, in 1871 and 1873, it stood at 56s. 8d. and 58s. 8d. per quarter.

With the countries of the East—India, China, Japan—awakening to the potentialities of wheat as a food in place of rice, with America's prairies becoming used up and her teeming millions multiplying, and with Canada, Australia, and Argentina remaining at a standstill as regards wheat production, it is clear that England ought to become self-sufficing.

To attain the desired end the vast possibilities of the agricultural science of to-day must be appreciated and developed by every possible means.

What can be done within England's own borders is the chief point to be considered, and some experiments and experiences may point the way.

The first question is, would home produced wheat pay? Farmers tell us that at 30s. a quarter wheat is just worth growing, but that each shilling over 30s. means about 5s. clear profit. Would not wheat at 40s. an acre be worth cultivating?

As to the practical ways and means of obtaining this sum out of the soil, I must detail some of the more modern scientific methods in agriculture.

I have said that 8,000,000 acres of the present area under crops could make us independent of foreign supplies. By applying certain simple rulesof selection regarding seeds, a much smaller area of land would give the same result.

Instead of 3½ quarters per acre—the present average—the yield could be doubled, or even trebled. Thirty years ago, in France, three quarters an acre was considered a good crop, but the same soil with improved methods of cultivation nowadays yields at least four quarters per acre; while in the best soils the crop is only considered good when it yields five quarters to six quarters an acre.

The work of the Garton brothers and of Professor Biffen, of Cambridge University, has clearly shown that by careful selection and crossing of the best breeds of wheat the yield can be actually quadrupled.

Hallet's famous experiments in selection demonstrate that the length of the wheat ear can be doubled, and the number of ears per stalk nearly trebled. The finest ear he developed produced 123 grains, as against 47 in the original ear, and 52 ears to one plant, as against ten in the original.

In agriculture, as in other matters in which England claims to take a leading part, we have something to learn from the Continent. France, Belgium, and Germany have adopted a system of co-operation which has reduced the cost of farming to the smallest possible limit. From a fund supplied partly by the Governments of these countries and partly by the farmers themselves, small farms,manures, seeds, machinery, etc., are provided on a co-operative basis. Would not a system on similar lines have far-reaching results in this country?

Perhaps the most interesting suggestion, the newest in the fields of scientific agriculture research, is the inoculation of the soil with bacteria. Through these wonder-working germs which live in the nodules of plant roots multiplication of the free nitrogen in the air goes on with great rapidity, and this, united with other elements, forms valuable plant food.

Recent experiments, the results of which have not yet been made public, show that good crops of wheat may be grown in the poorest soil; indeed, the Scriptural injunction about sowing seeds in waste places no longer bears scientific examination. On an area which was little more than common sand crops inoculated with bacteria gave an increased yield of 18 per cent.

Wheat grown on the lines I have touched upon within the United Kingdom, and paying the grower 40s. per quarter, would go far to solve every social and economic problem known. There would be work for all in the country districts, and consequently less poverty in the towns, and to the nation's resources would be conserved the enormous annual expenditure on foreign wheat of £67,000,000.

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