Land Problems and National Welfare 



two or even three white crops are grown in 

 succession. 



Mr. Prout's figures are not estimates ; they 

 express actual results, averages over a period of 

 years : even taking the bad years, or rather a 

 group of bad years with low yields and poor 

 prices, a profit is still shown on wheat. 



It is noteworthy that Mr. Prout never sold 

 wheat at 17s. a quarter, or at 15s., as an old agri- 

 culturist with much pride told me he had done ; 

 from which unique experience he argued that 

 wheat could never pay again ! The question of 

 wheat-growing is of such vital national import- 

 ance that we must consider every possibility of 

 increasing the amount produced at home. 

 Wheat is the all-essential from a defence point 

 of view. If we were growing at home every 

 ounce of foodstuff required, except wheat, it 

 would avail little ; the masses of the people de- 

 pend upon wheat, and last year we grew only 

 sufficient for about one-fifth of our population ; 

 or, to put it in this way : last year we grew 

 6,000,000 quarters of the 32,000,000 quarters of 

 wheat required. I shall now show that it would 

 be possible for us to grow a much larger quantity 

 of wheat than we actually produce. I shall put 

 the case in three different ways, and I think 

 even the most sceptical will accept the first case. 



(i) Mr. K. J. J. Mackenzie, of the Agricultural 

 Department at Cambridge, works out the fol- 



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