212 PLANT PRODUCTS 



cultivation should, as yet, have happened, but it must not 

 be forgotten that the conduct of the business of agriculture 

 is essentially different from the conduct of a retail shop. 

 The shopkeeper may buy in a stock of goods one day, and 

 sell most of them within a few days' time, and he can 

 practically close his books as far as that transaction is 

 concerned in a very short space of time. In agriculture, 

 however, no business affair of any particular importance 

 will happen in less than twelve months, and a farmer is 

 compelled to think more in terms of four yearly rotations 

 than in shorter periods of time. As is known, there is far 

 too little capital, and far too little labour for the land. 

 In 1872, when the amount of land under cultivation was 

 roughly double what it is to-day, the average price of cereals 

 was about 405. a bushel. In 1916 it was just under 505. a 

 bushel, and in the first half of 1917 it was about 655. a bushel, 

 yet it is taking a large expenditure of energy to induce the 

 farmer to increase his arable land. It is, therefore, certain 

 that price alone has very small power indeed in causing a 

 change. Whether time and price together might not have 

 effected a change has not yet been proved, but, considering 

 that prices have risen steadily for many years before the 

 war, it looks as though price and time together were not 

 sufficiently powerful to make a change in the condition of 

 agriculture, and that some other considerations will have 

 to be taken into account. Nevertheless, the money side 

 of the question is very important, and must be considered. 

 There is the position of the landlord to consider. What money 

 he has made out of the land has chiefly been by sales, and 

 not by cultivation, and he has found all his amusement out 

 of sport, and very little out of the cultivating side of country 

 life. From his point of view, therefore, crop production 

 does not appear very important, and has been neglected. 

 The farmer has to make a living out of farming ; he will 

 not change from grass to tillage unless he sees his way to 

 make more money out of it. Mr. A. D. Hall gives figures 

 which suggest that grazing can produce returns to cover 

 interest, sinking fund, profit, management, etc., of about 27 



