198 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [25 April, 1917. 



THE GERMAN CHALLENGE TO BRITISH AGRICULTURE. 



What will be the Response ? 



A. E. V. Bichardson, M.A., B.Sc, Agricultural Superintendent. 



German agriculture has made extraordinary progress during the 

 past 25 years, the net result of which has been to make the 

 German Empire nearly self-supporting as regards toed supplies during 

 the present war. 



Had it not been for the enormous increase in agricultural production, 

 which was a natural development of the economic policy of the country 

 and the organization of its agricultural forces, the German Em,pire would 

 have exhausted its food resources long before the end of the second year 

 of the war, and would have been compelled to sue for peace. 



Germany has brought all the resources of science and organization 

 to bear on her agricultural problems, and on an ai-ea two and a half 

 times the size of Victoria, or two-thirds the size of New South Wales, 

 has siicceeded in feeding a population of 68,000,000. Germany's agri- 

 cultural development has been so remarkable that we would do well to 

 examine it, endeavour to determine the factors responsible for it, and 

 see whether organized British effort cannot surpass it. 



I.— THE RENAISSANCE OF GERMAN AGRICULTURE. 



It is generally supposed that the British farmer is unexcelled in his 

 craft, and that British farming :s the best in the world. If we judge 

 the success of a system of farming by its capacity to produce high 

 average yields of all classes of crops, and produce the best types of live- 

 stock, it must be admitted that the British farmer holds a high rank 

 among the farmers of the world. But if we judge British farming on 

 the basis of the aggregate volume of output per unit of area, it must be 

 confessed that it compares unfavorably with that of German)'. 



In an excellent article on " The recent development of German 

 Agriculture," T. H. Middleton, Assistant Secretary of the British 

 Board of Agriculture, brings out this point very strikingly. He shows 

 that on each 100 acres of cultivated laud — 



" (1) The British farmer feeds 45 to 50 persons, Avhilst the 

 German farmer feeds from 70 to 75 persons. 



(2) The British farmer grows 15 tons of corn, whilst the 



German farmer grows 33 tons. 



(3) Thfi British farmer grows 11 tons of potatoes whilst the 



German farmer grows 55 tons. 



(4) Thfe' British farmer produces 4 tons of meat whilst the 



German farmer produces 4J tons. 



(5) The British farmer produces 17-i tons of milk, the German 



farmer 28 tons. 



(6) The British farmer produces a negligible quantity of sugar, 



whilst the German farmer produces 2f tons." 



