CYRUS HALL McCORMICK 



France is second as an eater, and third as 

 a grower, of wheat. But it is not an important 

 factor in the international market, as there is 

 usually almost an even balance between what 

 it grows and what it eats. It has very little 

 either to buy or to sell. Its crops are steady and 

 large, and by intensive cultivation the thrifty 

 French are obtaining the same amount of grain 

 from less and less land. 



There are two countries only, Great Britain 

 and Holland, that impose no tariff upon either 

 wheat or flour. Neither the British nor the 

 Dutch will tolerate a bread tax. Both countries 

 have barely enough land to grow one-quarter 

 as much wheat as they need, although there was 

 a period in the early history of England when 

 it was nicknamed "the Granary of the North," 

 because of its many wheat-fields. To-day the 

 bread on three British tables out of four is 

 made of wheat brought in a British ship from 

 some foreign country; and the total amount of 

 wheat consumed in the United Kingdom is so 

 great that it requires an army of 93,000 men 

 with self-binders to cut it and tie it into sheaves. 



[240] 



