1920] 



on British Crop Production 



63 



gives the community an abundant production of food per acre, and, 

 best of all, while retaining- the best features of our present arable 

 and grass systems, it allows of considerable further development. 



I shall not venture any opinion as to how far we could go 

 in feeding ourselves. The following table shows what we did before 

 the War, and what, on our present technical knowledge, we could do 

 now, assuming that the insurance problem of covering the extra risks 

 of arable farming were solved, and assuming also a reasonable 

 increase in the efficiency of labour : — 



Consumption and Production of Human Food in the United 

 Kingdom. Million Tons per Annum. 



In this country we can certainly hope to find the solution of the 

 insurance problem, and I hope and believe of the labour problem 

 also. Our output per acre of the arable crops is distinctly above that 

 of many other countries, though we no longer lead as we did in the 

 'sixties. Our output per man, however, is not particularly good and 



Mr. McCurdy gives the following details for 1919 (see Times, Feb. 18, 



1920) :- 



Consumption and Production of Food in the United Kingdom, 1919. 



Commodity 



Wheat 



Barley 



Oats .. 



Beef and veal 



Mutton and lamb 



Bacon and hams 



Butter.. 



Cheese.. 



Estimated 



Total 



Consumption 



Tons 



7,395,000 

 1,956,000 

 4,297,000 

 995,000 

 368,000 

 447,000 

 180,000 

 145.000 



Proportion of Home Grown and 

 Imported Produce included 



Home Grown 



Per cent. 

 27 



64 



Imported 



Per cent. 



Notes.— Cereals : The quantities are given after deduction for seed, and in the case of 

 wheat for tailings also. Bacon : The quantities given are for bacon as smoked or dried. 



