The above imports are staggering in their magnitude, 

 and show that we are far from producing what we require 

 for Home Consumption. Some of this is certainly due to 

 our failure to compete successfully with Foreign importations 

 of Food stuffs. Why should this Country be lagging behind 

 in this respect ? 



It is because Agriculture has been allowed to go on, as 

 if Home Food production were not of vital importance to 

 the Nation. There has been practically no National Agri- 

 cultural Policy^ in this Country and we are now paying the 

 price. 



The great thing which Professor Middleton appears 

 to emphasize in his valuable treatise called " The Recent 

 Development of German Agriculture," is that the German 

 Government has a National Agricultural Policy, which aims 

 at producing the maximum amount of essential Food stuffs 

 for its own Country : it has not allowed Agriculture to be 

 neglected ; but has fostered it and moulded it for the benefit 

 of the Nation, and this has no doubt enabled Germany to 

 hold out against the Allies for so long. 



STATE GUIDANCE ESSENTIAL. 



The Farmer can never feel that he is part of the common 

 organisation for safe-guarding the Food Supply of the 

 Country, unless the State makes it perfectly clear what 

 Food crops it is that they wish him to grow, and at the same 

 time encourage him to grow the crops or produce the Stock 

 required, by fixing prices for these commodities at figures 

 that will be fair and reasonable and which will give the Far- 

 mer confidence in carrying out the work. 



Farmers have already demonstrated that they are wil- 

 ling and anxious to support a National Agricultural pro- 

 gramme, when the requirements have been made plain and 

 definite. 



Lord Selbourne as President of the Board of Agriculture 

 asked the Farmers during 1915 (i.e., the year after the out- 

 break of war), to increase the number of cattle in the countty, 

 and in England alone the response was clearly discernable 

 as will be seen in the following Agricultural Returns : 



