INCREASED CROP PRODUCTION 



99 



a still further increase of food production in the near 

 future. 1 



There is a second direction in which increase of crop 

 production is possible. The yield obtained by ordin- 

 ary farmers is a long way below that obtained by the 

 best farmers, as is shown in the following table: 



PRODUCE OF CROPS IN ENGLAND AND WALES 



Several factors are involved: the best farmer has, 

 of course, a much better knowledge of crops and of 

 soil management than the ordinary farmer, and also 

 he has usually managed and quite rightly to take 

 possession of the best types of soil. It is a common- 

 place that high-rented land is well farmed, while low- 

 rented land is badly farmed. There may be a slight 

 causal connection between these factors: a man may 

 work harder when he has to pay more rent, and 

 slacken his efforts when his rent is lowered. But, in 

 the main, the high rent and the good farming both 

 arise from the circumstance that the land is good, 



1 The Report of the Director-General of Food Production up to ist June, 

 1918, shows how much was achieved in this direction. 



