Sir A. Daniel Hal 



[April 26, 



and above all economised in labour by laying down to grass all land 

 that was costly in labour or speculative in yield. Rents had, of course, 

 been reduced, but men had to make a saving that was far greater 

 than all the rent ; the labour bill was the big item of expenditure 

 which could be cut at, and grass land needs but a quarter or even a 

 tenth of the labour that is used on the arable. A few^ men brought 

 science and skill to bear and cheapened their production by intensify- 

 ing it, but such men were rare because they could find in other 

 industries a better market for their enterprise ; for the majority 

 Lawes' dictum holds, " High farming is no remedy for low prices." 

 The chart (Fig. 1) shows the trend of events during these fateful 



1870 



Fig. 1. 



years — here is the line showing the cause — the cash returns from 

 the corn and meat produced from an average acre of arable land, 

 dechning from Si. 10s. in 1875 to bl. in 1895. Here is the line 

 showing the area of arable land in England and Wales, declining 

 from a maximum of 14 million acres in 1872 to lOi millions 

 in 1913. Here are the number of men engaged in agriculture, 

 1,270,000 in 1871, 950,000 in 1901, just over 1 million in 1911. 

 Lastly, here is the w^ages curve ; in spite of the diminishing returns 

 from the industry the competition of the towns for workers had caused 

 the average weekly rate of cash wages to rise from 12s. 6d. in 1870 

 to 15s. in 1900, and over 16s. in 1913. Here (Fig. 2) are the live- 



