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considering the policy of industrial development which is suggested 

 here as the means of giving agriculture its proper place amongst our 

 national industries. But whilst the utmost care would be needed in 

 steering clear of the many pitfalls which would beset the path of the 

 organiser for big-scale production in farming as in other things, the 

 farm manager would have the advantage of the experience of the great 

 trades and trades unions to draw upon, and to help him to set his course 

 fair. Moreover it must be remembered that agriculture, however 

 highly organised and scientifically managed, would of its very nature 

 be free from the monotony which tends to become inseparable from 

 ' scientific management ' in industry. The work in the open field, 

 changing with the seasons, the daily association with the live-stock, 

 in fact, the close contact with nature in every form, all these things will 

 make it impossible for the farm worker ever to lose that personal 

 interest in his work which every man must feel if he is to make the 

 best use of his training and of the qualities born in him. 



The industrialisation of agriculture has therefore possibilities such 

 as no other industry can afford, for while the development of large- 

 scale production would allow full scope for the brains and energy of 

 the business man, it would not be attended by the disadvantages 

 which follow upon industrialisation in large towns. The moment 

 has come when the inadequate production of the country, and the 

 pressing need for improvement, have been brought home not only 

 to those concerned in agriculture but to every man and woman in 

 England ; and if full advantage is taken of the opportunities which 

 this realisation brings, the whole organisation of farming will be so 

 reconstructed as to make it one of the most profitable, as well as one 

 of the most attractive of professions. 



In speaking on his paper. Mr. Orwin emphasised once more the two 

 points : (1) that it was for the nation as a whole to consider the questions 

 relating to the increase of our home-grown food supply ; (2) that a 

 complete reorganisation of the industry itself was essential for its success. 

 He urged that both these points are a matter of national policy, and 

 that particularly in regard to the former it rests with the people to 

 decide upon the form of policy which is to be the solution of the agri- 

 cultural problem. The country can only become self-supporting in 

 time of war if the tillage area is extended, and this will not be undertaken 

 unless the market outlook for cereals is more attractive to the farmer 

 in the future than it has been in the past. In ordinary times the farmer 

 would not produce sufficient food, but in the face of a situation like 

 that of to-day it would be possible, if we had the extra tillage, quickly 

 to inaugurate a system of national farming by which we could maintain 

 ourselves for several years. We should give up to a large extent 

 producing foods consumed by stock to make meat, and produce more 

 food directly consumable by the population, living largely upon our 



