PRODUCTION 87 



determined tliat the urban side of their civilization should 

 not be developed at the cost of the rural side ; and that 

 urban industry should not be over-capitalized while 

 the agricultural industry remained without sufficient 

 capital to develop it. 



France has had a protective tariff for generations ; 

 with such a large proportion of her population producers 

 of primar)' wealth it could not well be otherwise. And 

 during certain periods of the nineteenth century her 

 increase in national wealth, due to the development of 

 her agriculture, exceeded any record which we can show. 

 Conversely, no other nation can show so large a drop in 

 the capital value of any industry as that which resulted 

 from our agricultural depression. 



It is a matter of histor\' that it was the French agricul- 

 turists who paid the indemnity to Germany after the 

 war of 1870-71. 



Before 19 14 France produced practically all the 

 wheat she consumed ; and the annual value of the wheat 

 crop was about ^(^ 100,000,000, or five times that of our 

 wheat crop. It is interesting to note that during the 

 nineteenth century the price of wheat in France did 

 not fluctuate at all to the extent that it did in this 

 country. 



But in regard to actual treatment of the land and 

 methods of husbandry, in general terms we have not 

 much to learn from France ; co-operation is not highly 

 developed, and the subdivision of farms has passed 

 economic limits. There are some very good farm in- 

 stitutes in F"rance, but French farmers are not easily 

 influenced. 



The French peasantry lead a very hard life, and it is 

 not desirable to build up a class of such peasant pro- 

 prietors in England ; we want something much better 



