46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



changed their diet somewhat and have substituted in part 

 milk, butter and cheese for the Irish potato. The introduc- 

 tion of dairying has had much to do with the prosperity of 

 Ireland. The same is true in regard to Scotland, the home 

 of the Ayrshire cow. 



England presents a side of the subject that might repudiate 

 some of the statements that have been previously made. 

 England is known as a beef country, and this has played an 

 important part in its system of agriculture. However, upon 

 a close study of conditions there we find that 75 per cent of 

 the land is in large estates with landed proprietors, many 

 of them royalt}', v/ho use the estates, not for the purpose of 

 establishing economical systems of agriculture, but simply 

 for their own amusement. The remaining 25 per cent of 

 the land in England is owned by the common people, and 

 most of tills land is farmed in an economical manner, and 

 here, again, dairying plays an important part. Many of the 

 proprietors of the large estates are supported by the tax from 

 these lands. 



We f\n(] in southern Italy a very poor class of people and 

 a very general system of agriculture. Northern Italy is 

 much more prosperous, and there we find up-to-date systems 

 of farming, in which dairying plays not a small part. 



Agriculture in Austria and in Russia, while developed 

 A^ery highly in some portions, on the whole is still in its in- 

 fancy, and very little progress is shown along that line. 



Recognizing the conditions in European countries, con- 

 clusions of much practical benefit to our own country may 

 be drawn. If by the Danish system of farming a bankrupt 

 country Avas made to be one of the most prosperous of the 

 world, could not the same principles be applied in a benefi- 

 cial manner in this country ? With our tremendous resources 

 we consume nearly 90 per cent of the total production of this 

 country, and since there is an increase of about 20 per cent 

 in population every decade, and a constant decrease in the 

 production of agricultural products, it is very evident that 

 the time has come for us to adopt more intensive systems of 

 agriculture than in the past. 



