Vol. XVII. No. 422. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



199 



RESULTS OF FOOD PRODUCTION 



CAMPAIGN IN ENGLAND AND 



WALES. 



The Director-General of Food Production for England 

 and Wales, -Mr. A. Lee, has just issued an interim report 

 which is of great interest to the whole of the Empire, as 

 showing the wonderful response that has been made by the 

 farmers of the mother country to the demand for increased 

 food production . 



The report ttates that an official and compulsory censu.s, 

 obtained on April "27, 1918, from occupiers of land in 

 England and Wales, shows the following total acreages up to 

 that date: — 



Corn and Potatoes. 



Total acreage 8,302,000 2,042,000 



Complete returns of the acreage of grass land ploughed 

 are not yet available, but a compulsory census, taken on 

 March 11, 1918, showed that over 1,800,000 acres of per- 

 manent grass in England and Wales had been broken up by 

 that date, and it is estimated that a total addition of not less 

 than 2,500,000 acres to the tillage area of England and 

 Wales (as compared with 1917) has now been made. 



If, as may be anticipated from the recent forecast of the 

 PJoards of Agriculture for Scotland (300,000) and Ireland 

 (1,500,000), the corresponding addition to the tillage area in 

 those two countries will approximate to 1,800,000 acres, the 

 total for the United Kingdom will be well over 4,000,000 

 acres. 



The foregoing figures indicate that the total acreage in 

 the United Kingdom under wheat, barley, and oats in 1918 

 will be the highest ever recorded in the history of British 

 agriculture. The acreage under potatoes will be the greatest 

 since 1872. Particulars of other crops are not yet available. 



It is, of cousse, not possible to foretell the quality of the 

 coming harvest, but, speaking generally, the present condition 

 of crops is very promising, and gives reasonable hope of at 

 least an average yield. 



Proceeding upon this assumption, and further assuming 

 that (after deducting seed and light corn) the whole of the 

 wheat and barley crop, one-fifth of the total oat crop, and 

 one-quarter of the potato crop (i.e. the surplus above normal 

 consumotion) could be made available for bread-Hour in case 

 of need, it may be reckoned that the United Kingdom harvest 

 of 1918 could provide forty weeks' supply of breadstuffs for 

 the entire population at the present scale of consumption, 

 and on the existing basis of milling. 



The Engli.-^h and Welsh harvest would further provide 

 concentrated feeding-stuffs for animals (in exce.ss of the 

 normal home productions of oats reserved for this purpose) 

 to the amount of some 500,000 tons, besides additional oat 

 straw equivalent to at least 350,000 tons of hay. 



Reckoned in tonnage, the net saving in shipping result- 

 ing from the increased production of corn and potatoes in 

 England and Wales alone, should amount in the coming 

 year to 1,500,000 tons. 



The foregoing figures relate only to holdings of 1 acre 

 and upward, and take no account of the increased produce 



from allotments and gardens. These, however, contribute very 

 largely to the supply of home-grown food. The increase in 

 the number of allotments alone since 1915 is not less than 

 800,000 in England and Wales, or 140 per cent. The addi- 

 tional weight of foodstuffs produced by this expansion may be 

 reckoned at not less than 800,000 tons above the normal. 



Whereas the production of home-grown breadstutFs in 

 the United Kingdom was only sufficient for supplying the 

 population with food for one-fifth of the year in 1915-17, it is 

 estimated that in the present year, 1918-19, the production 

 will suffice for the provision of food for four-fifths of the year. 



These results, so far as Great Britain is concerned, have 

 been achieved under exceptional difficulties created by short- 

 age of labour. In England and Wales alone there are ovec 

 200,000 fewer male labourers on the land to-day than in the 

 year before the war, even after crediting all military and 

 prison labour furnished by the Government. This fact by 

 itself is a sufficient proof of the eaergy, resource, and 

 patriotism with which all sections of the agricultural commun- 

 ity have devoted themselves to the service of their country. 



COURSES OF READING AND EXAM- 

 INATIONS IN PRACTICAL 

 AGRICULTURE. 



On the occasion of the presentation at the Antigua 

 Grammar School on June 4, of certificates awarded by the 

 Imperial Commissioner of Agriculture to three successful 

 local candidates fur the Intermediate Examination in Practical 

 Agriculture, Mr. Collens, the Acting Superintendent of 

 Agriculture for the Leeward Islands, remarked that these 

 certificates, issued to successful candidates, were evidences of a 

 certain amount of proficiency, which he was pleased to state 

 was well recognized and acknowledged by the planters in that 

 island. In the local Department of Agriculture all junior 

 officers and cadets are expected to graduate in this course. 



In this connexion it may be well to draw again the atten- 

 tion of readers of the Ai^rkul/iiraf A^e7vs to the courses of 

 Reading and Examinations in Practical Agriculture, which 

 are annually conducted under the auspices of the Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture. 



They were established in the year 1909 for the purpose 

 of enablinz overseers on estates, and others engaged in the 

 practice of agriculture, to acquire, from reading, knowledge 

 which they can apply to their practicil work. The syllabus 

 and suggested courses of reading were revised in 1913. 



Examinations are held during October and November 

 each year at the Agricultural Stations of the various islands. 

 There are three examinations in the series — Preliminary, 

 Intermediate, and Final. Each examination consists of two 

 parts, written and oral. 



Persons who wish to take the examinations must be 

 registered as students, and the examinations must be taken 

 in order. 



Candidates who are successful in passing the prescribed 

 examinations are awarded certificates by the Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture. 



It is intended that the possession of the three certificates 

 shall be a guarantee of a sound, general knowledge underly- 

 ing the practice of agriculture, and also a practical knowledge 

 of at least two of the principal crops grown in any particular 

 district. 



Information concerning these Reading Courses and 

 Examinations can be obtained from local Agricultural 

 Departments. 



