HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 17 



devoted to lucerne being in 1890 iS.ooo acres, in 1910 

 28,000 acres. 



As has been stated the great use of the leguminous 

 plants is that they put nitrogen into the soil in the 

 least expensive manner ; farm-yard manure also provides 

 a certain amount of nitrogen and of phosphates and 

 potash. 



Science has placed these substances at the disposal 

 of the farmer in another form — in that of artificial or 

 chemical manures, but the use of these should be 

 complementary ; they do not replace the use of farm- 

 yard manure and leguminous plants. 



The progress begun in 1730 was continuous, and 

 carried British agriculture up to its zenith (in the middle 

 of the nineteenth centur}-) when the yield from our 

 soil far exceeded that of any other country in terms 

 per acre. Foreign agriculturists flocked to England, to 

 study our methods, up to about i860 ; then a change 

 began to be noticed. 



Other countries, having benefited by our experience, 

 then began not only to catch us up but to surpass us ; 

 they developed a superior organization of the industry 

 and they made far greater and more intelligent use of 

 the discoveries of scientists, particularly in regard to 

 the application of chemical manures. 



Finally it is only in the quality of our pedigree 

 live stock that we have been able to maintain our 

 supremacy ; and even in the handling of our live stock 

 there is much room for improvement. 



In 1875 the great agricultural depression began, due 

 to the competition of the new world, and there resulted 

 a disastrously retrograde movement in our primary 

 industry' ; production decreased and land even went 

 out of cultivation, farmers went bankrupt, and the 



