34 THE STATE AS FARMER 



One of the chief cruces in our British 

 farming is the procuring of a sufficient quantity 

 of leguminous crops for the perfecting of our 

 feeding arrangements. The quality of our 

 milk and bacon pre-eminently depends upon 

 our peas and beans, and if we could secure 

 a sufficient supply we might give the go-by 

 to those oilcakes which, unless they are given 

 in medicinal doses, only spoil our beef. The 

 craze for maize, too, here in Britain is a 

 ridiculous one. It has its uses in moderation 

 as a heat-giving food, but quite a long list of 

 its shortcomings might be set out in respect 

 of all farm stock, from poultry to the horse. 

 In fact, here at home we are in a very happy 

 state of self-containment if we could only 

 bring ourselves to work farming out on the 

 lines of that simple system. If we were to 

 develop our resources at all points — more 

 cattle and sheep, more pigs and poultry, fed 

 by more and better grass, the various home- 

 grown meals and hay— we should by the 

 same act increase our cereals of all kinds. 

 If imports arrived they, too, could be used, but 

 we should lean less heavily on the outside 

 world and at the same time give to our 



