THE RURAL PROBLEM. 



15 



compulsion ; inducement ; and education and persuasion. During 

 the war period a slight amount of comiDulsion has been applied by 

 the Government through the Orders and the Act dealing with the 

 maintenance of live stock. Repeated efforts have been made to 

 secure the offer of financial inducements in the form of a bounty 

 or guaranteed prices for cereals ; but this offer has been steadily 

 refused. During the whole period the Boards of Agriculture have 

 been attemiDting to maintam, if not increase, production bj^ means 

 of education and persuasion. These efforts brought some returns 

 m the last cereal year, for some mcrease in total area under all 

 crops, and especially of arable, was made. However, this is more 

 important in its portent than in its immediate effect. Slight 

 changes in the nature of production have been made since 1914, 

 but the real mcrease in production is small. 



INCREASE AND DECREASE IN CROPS AND STOCK DURING THE 



WAR PERIOD. 



! ENGLAND AND WALES. 



♦ Preliminary Returns. 



Prior to 1914 efforts were being made to increase the facilities 

 for technical instruction in agriculture, particularly m the develop- 

 ment of Farm Institutes for counties, or groups of counties, and 

 in increasing the local work of itinerant instructors and advisers. 

 These schemes have been relinquished for the time being, but on 

 the return of peace no effort or money must be sj)ared in their 

 development. It is primaril}^ upon the education of managers 

 and workers that the future of agriculture rests. There is some- 

 times a tendency to la}' too much stress on the necessity for 

 technical education when the need of general and business education 



