312 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 



crops is very marked, and the second point that calls for remark 

 in connection with the effects of the war is the decline that has 

 taken place in the estimated world-production of all the leading 

 cereals during the early years of the war, 1 in spite of some increase 

 in the population to be maintained. This decline in the produc- 

 tion of cereal crops has necessarily affected animal industries 

 adversely, owing to the consequent decline in the quantities of 

 animal feedstuffs available. The disturbance under this head may 

 not last very long after the conclusion of the war, nor indeed during 

 the whole period of the war, since crop-production can be increased 

 under normal weather conditions with comparative rapidity ; 

 but if breeding-stock have been sacrificed owing to war conditions 

 the rate of recovery in animal industries will tend to be slower than 

 that of crop production. 



A third factor to be noticed is the shortage of shipping space 

 brought about by the war. This will probably continue for some 

 time in the future, and in the meantime the quantities of fcedstuffs 

 that can be transported from the cereal regions to those that have 

 specialised in animal industries will be more or less limited. Under 

 pre-war conditions, as has been shown above, considerable quan- 

 tities of surplus feedstuffs were produced in comparatively new 

 regions, where intensive methods of stock-rearing have made little 

 progress. An indirect effect of the war may therefore be to cause 

 an increase in the production of animal foodstuffs in those more 

 distant regions, since it is cheaper and more economical of shipping 

 space, to transport the finished meats and dairy produce than the 

 bulky feedstuffs ; and the stimulus thus given to the establishment 

 of more intensive systems of animal-rearing in these regions may 

 lead to further developments in the future. On the other hand, 

 although cereal production has apparently declined to a consider- 

 able extent in Eastern Europe during the war, it has increased 

 noticeably in Western and Central Europe. It is probable that 

 for some time to come Europe as a whole will devote more of its 

 resources to the production of food-crops for human consumption, 

 with some reduction in the production of concentrated feedstuffs 

 and fodders for animals. In this way animal industries in this 

 most important region will be at an added disadvantage in making 

 good their recovery from the depletion caused by the war. The 

 crop shortage of the world cannot, in the long run, be regarded as 



or Australasia, the total production of animal foodstuffs is considerably less 

 in Ihe two latter than in either of the former, it is only the smaller popula- 

 tions which allow of the gi eater surplus quantities. From the world point 

 of view, changes and developments in animal industries in North America 

 and Europe are much more important than those in South America and 

 Australasia. 



1 The total world production of wheat, barley, maize, oats and rye, taken 

 together, is estimated to have been 1,915 million qrs. in 1912, 1,720 million 

 qrs. in 1914, and 1,625 million qrs. in 1916. The most marked decline was 

 in maize, the leading concentrated feedstuff, which fell from 510 million qrs. 

 in 1912 to 445 million qrs. in 1914 and to 396 million qrs. in 1916. 



