DAIRY PRODUCE n 



to be made on this account, bringing the value of the 

 home production down to £6y millions. Again, if 

 we wish to compare quantities, we must make allowance 

 for the fact that home-grown meat is sold at a higher 

 price than foreign ; a deduction of one-seventh can be 

 made on this account. However, the general conclusion 

 remains that we produce at home considerably more 

 than half of our normal consumption of meat, and of 

 the total imports rather less than one-quarter comes 

 from British Possessions. Thus the situation as regards 

 meat is safe enough. Three-quarters of our supplies 

 originate within the Empire, and in a time of real stress 

 the consumption could be diminished in this ratio with- 

 out harm to the community, while the breeding stocks, 

 equal to at least a year and a half's normal consump- 

 tion, form an ultimate reserve in case of an absolute 

 blockade. 



The figure given for dairy produce originating in 

 the United Kingdom is for various reasons a very 

 doubtful one. In the first place the estimate of the 

 amount of milk produced has to be founded only upon 

 the recorded number of milch cows, and the value to be 

 attached to that milk can only be roughly guessed at, 

 for that which is sold as milk by the British farmer 

 obtains nearly double the price of that which the Irish 

 farmer has to sell in the form of butter. The whole 

 fresh milk consumption is supplied by the home pro- 

 ducer ; but approximately the cost of the imports of 

 dairy produce (one-third of which come from British 

 Possessions) amounts to about 40 per cent, of the total 

 expenditure of the nation on milk, cheese and butter, 

 though the nutritive value of the imports would be more 

 nearly equal to that of the home produce. Eggs and 



