A Farmer's Year

H. Rider Haggard (1856–1925) is best known as the successful writer of adventure stories with exotic backgrounds such as King Solomons Mines and She. However he also served on a number of royal commissions and in managing his wifes Norfolk estate became a recognised expert on agricultural matters. A Farmers Year is his diary for 1898 recounting the work of the farm month by month together with observations on rural life and the state of agriculture in general which was suffering due to the population drift to the towns and competition from cheaper imported food. His descriptions of country life are beautifully written with many illustrations: he clearly loves the land and is concerned for its future but does not ignore the hardship faced by many farmers and their workers. The book is a fascinating mixture of anecdote and natural history as well as depicting late Victorian agricultural methods.