SOME EFFECTS OF THE WAR 315 



and feedstuffs combined, in the world. So long as the present 

 disturbed conditions last this export trade is not likely to be pro- 

 perly resumed, to say nothing of its expanding. Although the 

 agricultural resources of Russia and Siberia are enormous, it is 

 uncertain how much time will elapse before the economic life of 

 this region is re-established on normal lines. In any case, it is 

 not likely to be so immediately after the conclusion of hostilities 

 in Europe, owing to the need for renewals in agricultural machinery 

 and railway material. 



Finally, the progress of agriculture and in particular of animal 

 industries (which tend, as we have seen, to be residual) may be 

 impeded by a labour shortage not only during the war, but after 

 its close, through casualties in the armies. In all belligerent coun- 

 tries considerable numbers of agricultural workers have been ab- 

 sorbed into the armies, and, in addition to those killed, many more 

 will be injured to such an extent as to be unable to resume the 

 heavy labour required of farm workers. We have seen in the first 

 part of this enquiry that heavy demands for labour aie made by 

 animal industries in the present stage of development, and there 

 seems little doubt that these must suffer in consequence of the 

 shortage of trained labour for some time after the close of the war. 

 This difficulty will be counteracted to some extent by the great 

 increase in the number of women trained in agricultural work 

 during the war ; and it may prove to be of shorter duration owing 

 to the drifting of numbers of ex-soldiers, who previous to the war 

 were employed in factories and offices, into agricultural occupations. 



On the consumption side, certain far-reaching effects are likely 

 to be produced by the war. In all belligerent countries a number 

 of men will be discharged from the armies, who, as soldiers, will 

 have become accustomed to liberal rations of meat more liberal, 

 on an average, than fell to their lot in pre-war times. This habit 

 of a comparatively heavy consumption of meat they are likely to 

 bring with them when they re-enter civil life, if supplies are avail- 

 able and prices are within their means. On the other hand, among 

 civilians in the belligerent countries there will have been a more or 

 less universal rationing of animal foodstuffs, and, while some will 

 have grown accustomed to the more limited standard of dietary 

 and may not depart much from it after the war, others again, under 

 the influence of reaction, may easily tend to a heavy consumption 

 of these foodstuffs ; when restrictions are removed. On the whole, 

 however, the more wasteful forms of consumption will be checked 

 and the habits thus enforced may continue into the future, with 

 useful effects in the economising of supplies. In particular, the 

 waste of meat fats l is likely to be reduced as a consequence of the 

 war, partly because of the shortage of such fats that most European 

 countries will have experienced, and partly also because the prac- 

 tice of wasting feedstuffs in the over-fattening of stock will have 



Part 11., Chap, iii., p. i'31. 



