154 A NEW AGRICULTURAL POLICY 



depends, not so much on the value of the 

 beasts, as on the rings of dealers who may 

 or may not be present. Indeed, prices may 

 depend on whether these gentlemen have had 

 their lunch or whether they have a train to 

 catch. In any case, the consumer does not 

 benefit by the losses incurred by the producer. 



Transport service must be linked up from 

 John o' Groat's to Land's End by a national 

 system, and particular attention should be paid 

 to the utilisation of canals and the short trans- 

 port distances in which motor lorries should 

 be employed in the collection and delivery of 

 goods from and to the nearest railway station or 

 market town. It is in these short distances that 

 the greatest waste takes place. A tremendous 

 saving might be effected in the repeated hand- 

 ling of heavy material like fertilisers. 



Municipal markets should be immediately 

 established, where goods should be sold by 

 salaried auctioneers who are neither farmers 

 nor market gardeners, nor have shops of their 

 own to supply. When agricultural organisa- 

 tion becomes complete, these salaried salesmen 

 will naturally evolve into distributing agents 

 for the whole community. As things stand 

 to-day, there should be no difficulty in the 

 Government being supplied with farm produce 

 from county farms in order to feed the Army 

 and Navy. 



But before the land can be properly culti- 



