Hozu to Increase our Food SitppUes 



253 



its operation, and so the path is made 

 straight and easy for the reaping machine, 

 thus effecting a great saving in the cutting 

 of crops. Another matter of importance in 

 connexion with the apphcation of steam to 

 the cultivation of the soil which Lord Dun- 

 more appears to have overlooked, is the 

 fact that the treading of the horses' feet is 

 done away with. No sodden hoof prints are 

 left upon the ground to the detriment of the 

 seeds therein deposited. In fact , in every 

 particular, steam surpasses horse-power in the 

 way of culture, and the cost of the better 

 work it does is much smaller. 



Lord Dunmore estimates that by the grub- 

 bing out of hedge-rows the amount of land 

 reclaimed, as it were, would be about an acre 

 in every forty, which, say on a 200-acre farm, 

 would be 5 acres. Supposing this land to 

 yield 4 qrs. of corn per acre at jQ2 per qr., 

 we should have an increase of ;z^4o per 

 annum, or in the case of a 21 years' lease a 

 gain of ;,^84o. 



To prove that by the use of steam instead 

 of horses in agriculture, we should effect an 

 immense amount of saving, Lord Dunmore 

 adduces an elaborate array of figures regard- 

 ing our home-grown produce, dividing this 

 into two heads, " breadstuffs " and "live 

 stock." His lordship takes the year 187 1 for 

 his basis. He says (we take a summary of 

 his figures from the Times) : " Wheat at 3 

 quarters per acre, and deducting seed, 

 yielded 10,993,162 quarters, worth, at 47s., 

 ;^24,658,43o ; barley, at 4 [quarters per 

 a.cre, and deducting seed, yielded 9,467,860 

 quarters, worth, at 34s. 6d., ;:/^i6,332,o58 ; 

 oats, at 4 quarters per acre, and deducting 

 seed, yielded 15,448,556 quarters, which, at 

 23s., were worth ^17,765,839. But taking 

 three-fourths as consumed by horses, there 

 was left ;;^4,44i,462-worth as food for the 

 people. Rye, at 4 quarters per acre, and 

 deducting seed, yielded 306,888 quarters, 

 worth, at 35s., ;^537, 054; so that the total 

 value of the home-grown cereals directly 

 furnishing human food (bread, beer, (Sec.) 

 was, according to this estimate, ^45,969,504. 

 From this sum must be deducted the exports 

 — namely, .^1,878,452-worth of barley as malt 



or beer, i^543,597-worth of wheat, ^163,197- 

 worth of flour, and ;i^42 9,2 72-worth of other 

 corn. Potatoes, reckoned at 6 tons per acre 

 and ^4 per ton, gave a value of ^40,65 1,800. 

 Green crops, as mangolds, turnips, &c., at 

 10 tons per acre and _;^i per ton, were worth 

 ;^3 5,000,000 ; and taking half these crops 

 as furnishing food to the people indirectly, 

 as milk, butter, cheese, and meat (the other 

 half going to maintain the breeding stock of 

 the country), the value of food from root 

 crops is set down at ^17,500,000. Adding 

 ;^5,ooo,ooo for peas and beans, Lord Dun- 

 more considers that the total value of our 

 cereal and green crops available for consump- 

 tion by the population of the United King- 

 dom is ^106,106,786." 



With regard to live stock, Lord Dunmore 

 reckons that one-third of the total number of 

 cattle is annually slaughtered, the value per 

 head being ;^2o. This gives a consumption 

 of beef equal to ;^62,3o8,ioo. Of the whole 

 stock of sheep, one-half are yearly made into 

 meat, worth at £,2 per head, ;;^3 1,403,500. 

 Of pigs, two-thirds are slaughtered, worth at 

 J[^2 per head, ;^5, 5 15,488. From the total 

 of ^^99,227,088 must be deducted ;^888,i43- 

 worth of exports, leaving the value of the 

 live stock annually butchered ;!^98,338,945. 

 Thus, the value of our available home-grown 

 food, " breadstuffs " and " live stock " 

 together was, in 187 1, ^^204,445,731; 

 and, reckoning the value of the imports in 

 the year at ;^44, 7 1 4, 2 89, andthe requirements 

 of the nation amounted to a value of 

 ;^249, 160,020. The writer says : — 



The home supply, therefore, falls short of the re- 

 quirements by ^44,714,289 ; or, in plain language, 

 we grow at home enough for 22,000,000 people only, 

 and yet we have 31,000,000 to supply. Can we find 

 a remedy for this deficit, and thus render ourselves 

 independent of these foreign importations? We 

 might surely find a partial remedy, at any rate, if not 

 an entire one ; and it is to deep cultivation by steam 

 and the utilization of sewage that we must look as our 

 two most important auxiliaries. The general intro- 

 duction of steam cultivation would make a very 

 material increase in our home products, as we know 

 by practical experience that steam culture increases 

 the produce of the land to the extent of one-fourth, 

 some people say to one-third. But, allowing only 

 for the partial introduction of steam, and allow"^g 



