216 BRITAIN FOR THE P.RITON 



not being one of the " exact " sciences, is necessarily not exact 

 in its conclusions. 



At any rate, practical agriculture demonstrates by the 

 simple process of putting down in CJreat Britain an average, 

 in round numbers, of 1,000,000 acres under wlieat each year, 

 out of a total area under corn crops of 6,900,000 acres, that 

 it does pay to grow wheat, or that wheat pays, grown in 

 conjunction with other things. 



This being so, it is equally clear that he or they — scientists 

 or non-scientists — who declare that it is flying against all 

 the laws of " scientific " economy to grow wheat under such 

 "unscientific" conditions, are but advancing an untenable 

 proposition instead of demonstrating an ascertained fact. It 

 may be taken for granted that agriculturists know more of 

 such matters than the political economist who has never 

 turned a furrow or sown a seed, and it would be better for 

 the latter to leave farmers to look after their own affairs than 

 to teach them a science which, while not being exact, is 

 necessarilv — faUacioiis. 



