EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. 38. April, 1918. No. 5. 



In the midst of tlie storm and stress of war active attention is al- 

 ready being given in Europe to the subject of reconstruction after its 

 close. It is natural that agriculture should figure prominently in 

 these plans, for the events of the past three years have given it a new 

 place in the life of nations and have brought a new realization of its 

 relationship to national welfare and security. The necessity for a 

 definite national policy which will stimulate and promote that in- 

 dustry has been impressed upon the public mind in those countries 

 as never before. 



Furthermore, the unusual steps which have been taken toward pro- 

 duction as a war measure have prepared the way for future changes 

 of a radical character. The precedents of hundreds of years have 

 been swept aside almost over night. There has been a remarkable and 

 convmcing demonstration of the effects of past neglect, and the idea 

 of the interest of the whole people in the use made of the land as a 

 national asset has developed out of stern experience and found speedy 

 recognition. 



British statesmen have declared that no government would again 

 neglect agriculture as it had been neglected in the past; and the 

 change of attitude has been well put by the secretary of the Board of 

 Agriculture for Scotland, who said : " In short, a new outlook has 

 been compelled by the war. The essential value of agriculture and 

 forestry to the country is at last realized. The national danger in- 

 volved in their neglect is at last appreciated; their complementary 

 character is at last understood." 



In a book entitled Agriculture after the War, published about a 

 year ago, Mr. A. D. Hall, former director of the Rothamsted Station, 

 frankly expressed the need for the adoption by the State of a con- 

 sidered agricultural policy for the better utilization of the land. His 

 text was the need for an increased production of food at home, and 

 the greater employment of men upon the land as essential to tlie 

 security of the nation as a whole. This need was made independent 

 of the particular interests of either landowners or farmers, and em- 

 bodied the rather novel conception that a man owes responsibility to 

 the community for the way he conducts his business in farming. 



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