AN ENQUIRY. 19 



compete on fair terms with the American or 

 other producer? And how long v/ill the public 

 consider this a right state of things?" 



With regard to barley, it would appear that 

 while there has been, until quite recent years, 

 relatively little or no expansion in the supply 

 of foreign barley, one important change which 

 has been in progress has been the diversion of 

 the import abroad towards those centres of pro- 

 duction whence the cheaper varieties of barley 

 are now obtained, a notable instance being the 

 rise in the imports from Russia and the decline 

 of those from the countries of Western Europe. 

 In connection with this change, there has, no 

 doubt, been a growing demand for low-priced 

 foreign barley by stock-feeders, but it is difficult 

 to account in this way for the apparent displace- 

 ment of the dearer against the imported malting 

 barleys, and the facts would appear to point 

 to a material change having taken place in the 

 nature of the materials used in the brewing 

 industry.* 



Regarding oats, the imports have undoubtedly 

 increased from, sq,j, thirty years ago, but the 

 proportion of foreign oats relatively to the total 

 supply available for consumption in the United 

 Kingdom has not been so seriously felt as in the 

 case of either barley or wheat. 



Concerning meat, it does not seem unreason- 

 able to suppose that with the enormous importa- 



* Royal Commission on Agriculture. 



B 2 



