40 THE LAND WE LIVE ON 



Of all tlie primeval instincts hunger — the craving for 

 food — is the most powerful and far-reaching one, and 

 the supply of the necessary food to mankind is the principal 

 object of agriculture. Nothing perhaps empliasises this 

 necessity better tlian the humble prayer of everj^ Christian : 

 " Give us this day our daily hread^ We do not ask for 

 clothes, or habitation, or other needs of life, but beg for 

 bread only. 



How beautifully Ruskin, in his immorta^l work " JJnto 

 This Last,'''' shows us the importance of agriculture and the 

 intimate connection of it with the wealth and welfare of 

 a nation : — 



" So long as men live by bread, the far away valleys 

 must laugh as they are covered with the Gold of GOD." 



" The wealth of a nation is only to be estimated by 

 what it consumes." 



" There is no wealth but Life, Life including all its 

 powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country 

 is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble 

 and happy beings," and finally, 



" There are two kinds of true production always going 

 on in an active State : one of seed, and one of food ; or 

 production for the ground, and for the mouth." 



The great importance of the food Supply Of the world 

 was the leading feature of the epoch-making lecture 

 delivered by Sir William Crookes ten years ago, at Bristol, 

 in his inaugural address as President of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, in which he 

 clearly showed that the world's consumption of wheat is 

 rapidly overtaking the supply. 



Professor Sylvanus P. Thompson, again, declared 

 about two 3^ears ago that a shortage of the wheat supjjly 

 is already imminent, and that in 1910 the demand will 

 be barely covered by the production. 



Sir William Crookes' lecture is particularly interesting 

 to us, as Queensland is specially mentioned in the address, 

 and the extracts of a few of the data will be of value. Tlie 

 world's wheat crop for 1897-8 was about 2,000 million 

 bushels, to whicli Australia, with its very vast areas, only 

 contributes 33 million bushels, or about 1|% ; the United 

 States produced 510 million bushels or 27%, and the two 

 countries Italy and Spain together 178 million bushels 



