THE 



TRANSITION IN AGRICULTURE 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY: AN ECONOMIC 

 TRANSFORMATION 



IT is open to consideration whether the bitter cry of 

 the distressed British agriculturist has not been per- 

 sisted in with undue energy of late years whether, on 

 the one hand, a certain amount of the actual distress 

 has not been attributable to a lack of initiative and of 

 adaptability to changing circumstances; and whether, 

 on the other, the public, who have heard so much con- 

 cerning the unprofitableness of cereals, have been told 

 sufficiently of what producers in other directions are 

 doing in order to meet the demand for commodities in 

 regard to which new or greatly improved markets have 

 sprung up, with widespread possibilities of still further 

 development under suitable conditions, and especially, 

 I would say, under conditions which favour the smaller 

 type of cultivator, and should, therefore, naturally tend 

 to an increased land settlement. 



The extreme gravity of the changes brought about 

 in the first instance is undeniable. They were changes 



i 



