1918J EDITORIAL. 107 



position and unit values. No one may purchase potash except on 

 license procured of the Ministry of Munitions. 



The shortage of gasoline for a time threatened to seriously handi- 

 cap the operating of farm machinery, but in the summer of 1917 

 arrangements were made to insure every consideration to farmers 

 and others engaged in food production — even at a time when coal 

 gas had largely taken the place of gasoline in the operation of motor 

 buses and private cars, the supply of the gas being carried in large 

 bags on top of the car or in a trailer. 



Last year the Board of Agriculture arranged for a scheme of 

 credit for farmers, which has lately been simplified in procedure 

 and enlarged so as to apply to a great variety of supplies. Credit is 

 extended by the local executive committees, through the applicant's 

 banker, purchases of supplies being made by the farmer in the 

 usual way and settled for by his bank, which submits the receipted 

 invoice to the committee. 



The fixing of prices of farm crops and supplies has covered an in- 

 creasingly wide range of products. This was first undertaken as a 

 means of stimulating production of certain crops, notably cereals 

 and potatoes, by insuring minimum prices, but has been extended to 

 other products to protect the farmer and the public, and as a part 

 of the machinery of food control. In addition to the products men- 

 tioned, maximum prices have been fixed for most feeding stuffs, in- 

 cluding feeding cakes, meals, and offals, representing an appreciable 

 reduction over prevailing prices, and the Minister of Munitions last 

 fall fixed maximum prices for fertilizers. Dairy products, including 

 milk, butter, and cheese, have also been the subject of price regu- 

 lation. 



The government has also made arrangement for the manufacture 

 of binder twine in England, to be sold to farmers at a fixed retail 

 price for the season of 1918. It has determined upon and put into 

 effect a minimum wage for farm labor, partly as a measure to hold 

 people on the land. While this minimum wage of twenty-five 

 shillings a week will seem low to us in this country, it illustrates 

 the difference in standards, for it insures more favorable conditions 

 than farm workers had enjoyed. 



The most radical and fundamental measure affecting British agri- 

 culture is an order relative to the cultivation of land, issued early in 

 1917. This makes the Board of Agriculture responsible for the 

 proper and effective use of the land for agricultural purposes, and 

 confers upon it very broad and autocratic powers. 



Under this order the board is authorized to take possession of any 

 land not being so cultivated as to afford the largest practicable food 

 40111°— 15— No. 2 2 



