ENGLISH LAND CULTIVATION. 57 



dustrialism, there would still have been a grave 

 agricultural crisis, because of the withdrawal of 

 labour and capital from the fields for the fac- 

 tories and the mines. England's landowners 

 had to face, on a very much larger scale, the 

 same difficulty as Australian landowners when 

 the gold discoveries were announced — a transfer 

 of agricultural labour to more profitable spheres. 

 (It is interesting to note that the authorities in 

 Australia attempted for some time to suppress 

 the news of gold discoveries, for the reason 

 " that the reports would take away the settlers 

 and their labourers from the farms.") 



The withdrawal of labour and capital from 

 agriculture in England, and the quick growth of 

 an industrial population demanding to be fed 

 from the products of the land, but not helping 

 to produce from the land, were responsible 

 largely for the dear food conditions which led 

 up to the abolition of the Corn Laws and the 

 adoption of a general Free Trade system. The 

 remedy for dear local food was sought in the 

 throwing down of all barriers against imports 

 of food from foreign sources. That was a hard 

 blow ; but it is necessary to keep in mind that 



