CHAPTER I 

 INTRODUCTION 



EVEN before the war there were some who realized the differ- 

 ence between the process of " stealing from the land" and the 

 operations of farming; and among this small minority there 

 were many who saw that land kept under permanent grass was 

 more suitable material for the thief than for the honest producer. 



But since August, 1914, very many perhaps the majority 

 have come to realize that their comfort in life is, to a very great 

 extent, more dependent upon food than upon luxury; and that, 

 without farming, the produce of this island-home of ours is not 

 sufficient to keep the inhabitants decently fed even for a fairly 

 large part of the year. So from both sides there has lately been 

 a clamour for the plough; it has been maintained, quite rightly, 

 that fields which are worked deeply, manured skilfully, and 

 seeded properly are likely to yield food in greater abundance 

 than land left to cover itself with a herbage whose quality varies 

 with the natural fertility of the soil and with the bountifulness 

 of our uncertain seasons. Further, some of the majority are now 

 inclined to join a small section of the minority who never tired 

 of insisting that, if the British farmer would but make an imaginary 

 journey across the Channel or the North Sea and emulate the 

 agriculturists of Eastern and Central Europe, many difficulties 

 of his situation would vanish. 



That those who insisted upon the good that might come of 

 a study of the arable husbandry of Denmark, Holland, Belgium 

 and Germany had much reason upon their side is obvious to 

 all who have investigated the subject of food-production ; but 

 the fact that the conditions which favoured success on the conti- 

 nent were widely different from our 'own was not sufficiently 

 kept in view. Many enthusiasts, indeed, spoilt a good case by 

 exaggerating it, but their contentions, though somewhat ex- 

 travagant, were especially valuable when expressed in the worst 



