TEMPERATE SURPLUS-PRODUCING REGIONS 81 



The possible recurrence of serious droughts in Australia is a 

 factor that may check normal expansion, though the consequences 

 of these visitations may not be so disastrous as previously with 

 the progress of settlement and agricultural science. The general 

 change from wool sheep to mutton sheep throughout the world 

 may bring about a shortage of wool, which in its turn may check 

 the exports of lamb and encourage a return to merinos. The 

 quality and quantity of the mutton exported may thereby be 

 adversely affected. The progress of wheat cultivation in Aus- 

 tralia is hardly likely to exercise competition with the production 

 of animal foodstuffs, nor is there any other notable competing 

 agricultural industry in either country. The dairy industry has 

 recently made rapid progress in both Australia and New Zealand, 

 and will almost certainly continue to do so in the near future. On 

 the whole, it appears probable that the world-prices for meats and 

 for dairy produce in the future will be high enough to stimulate a 

 more rapid advance in the animal industries of Australasia than 

 has hitherto been the case, provided they are not unduly handi- 

 capped by conditions of labour shortage. 



SURPLUS PRODUCING REGIONS. 



(g) EASTERN EUROPE. 



The region here taken is that defined as Eastern Europe in 

 Chapter II., and includes as the most important countries, 

 from the point of view of this inquiry, Russia, Hungary, 

 Roumania and Bulgaria. Directly, the contribution of the whole 

 of this large region to the world's exportable supplies of animal 

 foodstuffs is not great, indirectly, it is of striking importance. 



With the exception of certain egg and poultry exports from 

 Russia and Galicia, the only part of Eastern Europe that has any 

 regular surplus of animal foodstuffs is Hungary, which has sufficient 

 animals 1 to allow of some meat exports to Austria and to Germany. 

 Otherwise the animals raised throughout do little more than fur- 

 nish the supplies required for the prevailing rather low average 

 standard of consumption of meat and dairy produce. 2 



The predominant form of agriculture in Eastern Europe every- 

 where is cereal cultivation. The population is sparse relative to 

 the productive area, compared with Western Europe, so that there 

 is a considerable surplus of grain for export trade. This region 

 may be contrasted with New Zealand, which, as shown above, 

 devotes almost all its resources, beyond those required to meet 

 the local consumption of food cereals, to animal industries ; while 

 Eastern Europe devotes most of its resources to cereal cultiva- 

 tion, and, poultry excepted, raises few more animals than are 



1 See Part I., Chap, vii., below p. 136. 



a In 1912 Russia i mported 136 million Ibs. of meat and meat products, while 

 exporting 55 million Ibs., the deficiency amounting, therefore, to 81 million 



Ibs. 



