LAND TENURES 



247 



rERCESTAOK OF LiVC StOCK TO EVKUY IIUXDRKD IIe.VD OK THE 



Population 



Fewer Sheep means IIigiieu Agpjcultuue 



These figures clearly show that there is nothing in the 

 tenurial system of these countries that prevents agriculturists 

 from becoming rich in the more valuable of the domestic animals 

 — horses, cattle, and pigs, while in respect to sheep it should be 

 borne in mind that a decrease in these animals necessarily 

 means a corresponding increase in the, food-'p'ochi.cing area and 

 consequent employment of more people, a condition of agricul- 

 ture especially designed by every country in Europe except 

 Great Britain. Eeferring to this, an eminent writer on German 

 agriculture * has the following : — 



" It is true that at the same time the number of sheep has 

 declined by more than 15,000,000 (in twenty-seven years, 1 873-1 '.tO<»), 

 largely owing to the shrinkage of pasture land which was turned 

 into fields ; but this shrinkage is not so serious as it seems. In 

 Germany two pigs represent about the same value as do five sheep." 



Tliis means that the great superiority of Germany in pigs, 

 nearly 15,000,000 in excess of the number in this country, or, 

 according to the German computation, equal to 37,500,000 

 sheep — a number in itself largely exceeding the total herds of 

 this country — her enormous excess in cattle and horses, and her 

 3,329,000 goats, of which Great Britain possesses hardly any 

 worth enumerating, all point to the fact that, among the many 

 advantages which arise out of the system of foreign land 

 tenures, the maintenance of a proportion of live stock greatly 

 in excess of that admissible under the British system stands 

 out with remarkable clearness. 



The Results of British and German Agriculture 



As Germany is our principal European trade rival, and is 

 destined, moreover, to play the final game with Great Britain 



♦ Mr. O. Eltzbacher. 



