INCREASED CROP PRODUCTION 



109 



when a crop is looking bad scientific advice is more 

 likely to be taken than when it is looking well. And, 

 moreover, the new varieties tend to excel the old 

 ones in a bad season even more than they do in a 

 good one. Thus by levelling up the bad years we 

 may hope to achieve a distinct gain in crop produc- 



in- Bushels jier acre. 



5i-o6 



iat5 7 8 <? 9 ' 2-34-567S9 1500 i a * 4-56 7 8 <j 10 11 12, 13 i\ 15 16 17 



Wheat grown in England. Yield per acre in bushels each year for 



the past 33 years 



tion. It is in this direction, I think, that lie our best 

 hopes for increased crop production. 



Turning now to the good years, we seem to have 

 got into an impasse, and, in spite of all our experi- 

 ments, we have not improved on our average wheat 

 yield of about 34 bushels. Germany has made greater 

 advances than we have during the past thirty years, 

 but only because she began at a lower level; she has 

 not exceeded this yield. 



