PRODUCTION IN RELATION TO CONSUMPTION 257 



difference is still greater. On the other hand, it has been observed 

 above (Part I., Chap, viii.) that under the present systems tff farming 

 animal industries are essential for the maintenance of permanent 

 fertility in most parts of the temperate regions and especially where 

 artificial fertilisers are not easily obtainable. It is to be observed, 

 however, that owing to the great demand for animal foodstuffs, 

 animal industries have often become the main rather than a sub- 

 sidiary branch of farming, and that under these conditions the land 

 is not being utilised in the most economical way, absolutely and 

 apart from any considerations of profit, for the production of human 

 food. From investigations that have been made it appears that 

 even the most economical of food animals consume about 12 Ibs. 

 of dry matter in feedstuffs and fodders to produce 1 Ib. of dry 

 human food, and sheep and beef cattle, if kept till mature, much 

 more. 1 With regard to the materials so consumed it clearly makes 

 all the difference whether they are obtained incidentally from, or 

 in competition with, the production of food-crops. Unless the 

 existing methods of agricultural production become rapidly inten- 

 sified, or unless the production in the hitherto undeveloped or 

 partially developed regions makes rapid progress, it appears that 

 in the near future the white populations of the world cannot in- 

 crease their per capita consumption of animal foodstuffs without 

 increasing their food bills disproportionately. While a relatively 

 small increase in agricultural resources is necessary to supply the 

 food requirements of each addition to the population, in plant 

 foodstuffs consumed as such, a comparatively large increase in 

 such resources is required to supply the food requirements of the 

 same additions, when animal foodstuffs form a marked proportion 

 of the whole diet. It may be that the average European may have 

 to choose in the future, consciously and as a matter of social policy, 

 between a fairly cheap diet with little meat, and a fairly costly 

 one containing a liberal proportion of meat. 



We may now pass to the study of some special applications of 

 the principle of consumption in relation to incidental production, 

 with reference to actual economic conditions. 



I. 



Under the existing conditions of a threatened shortage of animal 

 foodstuffs, the question of soil fertility, already referred to, 2 has 

 considerable bearing upon the economics of animal husbandry in 

 relation to the consumption of animal foodstuffs. It has been shown 

 that to some extent animal produce is a necessary outcome, and in 

 extreme cases, of the nature of a by-product of well-conducted 

 farming operations. From this point of view the consumption of 

 animal foodstuffs in limited quantities is justified by considerations 

 of agricultural economy. The question arises to what extent the 



1 See Wood, National Food Supply, pp. 33-5. 

 * See Part I., Chap, viii, 



