NA TURE 



49: 



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1923. 



M. 

 G. 



Resources. 



N. van der 



By J. McL. T. 



-W. H. Dines, 



of 



CONTENTS. 



The Imperial Conference and Natural 



By Prof. L. W. Lyde . 

 Aitken's Scientific Papers. By A. C 

 A Zoological Tribute. 15y Dr. W. 



Sleen ..... 

 American Chemical Monographs 

 Characters and History of the Ferns. 

 Our Bookshelf .... 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Correlation of Upper Air Variables. 



F.R.S 



Greek Orthography in Scientific Names. — Right 



Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., F.R.S. 

 X-Rays and Crystal Symmetry. — T. V. Barker 

 Some Curious Numerical Relations. — Dr. N. Ernest 



Dorsey . 



Lichens and their Action on the Glass and Leadings 

 of Church Windows. — Noel Heaton ; Dr. E 



Mellor 



Painted Pebbles from the North - East Coast 



Scotland.— M. C. B 



Science and Progress in Australia. By Sir David 



Orme Masson, K.B.E., F.R.S 

 Science and the Agricultural Crisis. By Dr. Charles 



Crowther .... 

 The Structure of the Great Rift Valley. ( With Dia 



grams.) By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. 

 Obituary :— 



Mr. F. J. H. Jenkinson, Hon. D.Litt. (Oxon.) 

 By H. S. 

 Current Topics and Events 

 Our Astronomical Column 

 Research Items 

 The Liverpool Meeting of the British Association 



By Dr. Alfred Holt 

 The International Meteorological Conference at 



Utrecht 



The Emerald Table. V>y E. J. Holmyard 

 University and Educational Intelligence 

 Societies and Academies . . 



Official Publications Received . 

 Diary of Societies . . . . . 



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NO. 2814, VOL. I I2J 



The Imperial Conference and Natural 

 Resources. 



AMONG the problems being discussed at the 

 Imperial Conference, now being held in London, 

 one of the most important is the development of the 

 natural resources of the British Empire, and this is 

 a question which can no longer be approached on old- 

 fashioned empirical lines. On the contrary, a success- 

 ful solution can be expected only if the whole matter 

 is put on a rigidly scientific basis. 



The first need is for a scientific survey of each area 

 of the Empire as a possible home of man. The result 

 of such a survey would be a store of definite knowledge 

 as to (i) the various raw materials (food and other) 

 to be expected from each area, and (2) the extent to 

 which any area at present contributes its proper 

 share of such raw materials. 



Two facts must, however, be faced before entering 

 on any such survey for any part of the Empire. One 

 is that the Empire is, politically and economically, 

 oceanic. We depend on the ocean not only for strategic 

 security, but also for economic and commercial pro- 

 sperity ; and our consciousness of this has tended 

 or tempted towards excessive dependence, in the 

 form of neglect of the tiny, but vital, home supplies, 

 until we no longer attempt to grow bread enough for 

 our needs during even a quarter of the year. Indeed, 

 Mr. Churchill's famous motor park is still a wilderness 

 of hulks cumbering some of the best wheat land in 

 England ; and across the Middlesex border from 

 Slough a housing authority thought that the best 

 " brick earth " in Middlesex was a good foundation 

 for brick cottages. We may agree entirely that 

 " working men had as much right as any one else 

 to the best land in the parish," and yet question the 

 suitability of " brick earth " for any house-sites and 

 resent its being alienated from its proper work of 

 providing food by intensive culture. 



Space forbids detailed treatment of the homeland, 

 but the fundamental factors must be kept in mind. 

 In the first place, we ought to add 8,000,000 acres to 

 our arable area, and put 250,000 men on them ; then, 

 in any emergency, we could guarantee four-fifths of 

 the adequate minimum of wholesome and nourishing 

 food for all our people. Then literally some millions 

 of our people never taste a drop of fresh English milk ; 

 and the way to increase and cheapen the supply is to 

 increase our arable area. Denmark is so small and so 

 highly specialised that it scarcely gives a fair comparison. 

 But in 1913 even Germany produced 485 lb. of " bread " 

 per head of population (against our 90 lb.), and so had 

 only 25 per cent, of her farm area under grass (against 

 our 60 per cent.), and was able to rear one head of cattle 

 to the acre, while we reared only one to three acres. 



Lastly, our method of raising meat is appallingly 



