COST PRICE AND COSTS OF PRODUCTION 191 



foodstuffs in the regions of mixed farming is not likely to be dis- 

 couraged by the competition of cheap meat from purely pastoral 

 regions. A consideration of the present conditions would seem to 

 show that, when some undeveloped tropical highlands are set aside, 

 the various food-producing animals have nearly reached the limits 

 of their superficial distribution throughout the world, allowance 

 being made for the areas reserved for food and fibre crops. It 

 would appear also that in a number of temperate countries, a kind 

 of saturation point in the density of such animals under existing 

 methods has been reached. There is little doubt, however, that 

 their density can be considerably increased under intensive methods. 

 It is to be hoped that the rapid spread of these methods in the 

 temperate regions will not be long delayed, but it has to be recog- 

 nised that a number of conditions exist that impede progress in this 

 direction. There is still a feeling of insecurity among producers 

 with regard to prices, especially as affected by tariff changes ; the 

 experiences of the past have not been reassuring. Sufficient 

 supplies of capital at the command of farmers and the proper 

 social organisation are too often wanting ; the problem here is to 

 devise means of spreading the repayment of the initial capital 

 outlay over a number of years, by co-operative credit for example, 

 so that the individual farmer does not need to seek short-time 

 returns, which is a great evil under the present system of agricul- 

 ture. The introduction of intensive methods, moreover, while 

 obviously yielding a higher return per acre, does not, as above 

 observed, necessarily mean a higher return per man. Again, 

 elements of friction arise thorugh the difficulty of modifying 

 rapidly the systems of crop-rotation, through restrictive covenants 

 with landlords, and through the common conservatism of farmers. 

 Finally, rapid intensification, if it led to a sharp increase in the 

 number of food animals reared, might cause a shortage to occur 

 in the world's supplies of concentrated feedstuff s, accompanied 

 by an undue rise in their market prices. It appears, therefore, 

 that a revolution in the direction of establishing intensive methods 

 would be impeded not only by the initial cost, but also by features 

 inherent in the farming industry as a whole. 



Conjecture with regard to the future, especially at the present 

 time, may appear somewhat useless. This statement, however, 

 at least seems warranted ; that whatever happens, as compared 

 with the pre-war price levels, the world-market prices of animal 

 foodstuffs will tend to remain high relative to those of other com- 

 modities for some years to come. 



Provided, however, that production is restored to its normal 

 course of progress at an early date, so that no special hindrance 

 is imposed to the spread of intensive methods of agriculture, it is 

 possible, perhaps even probable, that the world's production of 

 animal and other foodstuffs will be enormously increased by the 

 end of the next decade. Since about the year 1900 consumers of 

 foodstuffs have been paying a rapidly increasing toll to landowners, 



