MORE HOME PRODUCTION 33 



was certain that we could import all the food we 

 needed, and thus also enjoy the advantage of buying 

 it in the cheapest market, it may have seemed a piece 

 of political rhetoric to speak of the land as a monopoly, 

 particularly when the word was in the mouth of a 

 Free Trader. But the war, once again, has " changed 

 everything." We now see that we must produce 

 much more of the essential food of the people and 

 stop the rot of the country-side population or we shall 

 occupy a position of extreme national danger. In 

 this view of things the land is a monopoly, inasmuch 

 as nothing but the land can produce the wheat, and 

 if those who occupy the land do not do their duty 

 they are excluding those who might do it in their 

 place. 



It is often said that our farming must be in good 

 case since we produce a higher yield per acre of cer- 

 tain crops than any other country. But obviously 

 the true test is the total amount of food produced for 

 the people. British agriculture may be defended at 

 numerous points ; we may well speak with pride of 

 our pedigree stock which is the envy of other countries, 

 and is called in to improve the strain of stock all 

 over the world ; we may well say that we understand 

 sheep-farming as perhaps no other European country 

 understands it ; we may say that in recent years we 

 have done more and better dairying and have in- 

 creased our head of stock ; but these facts avail us 

 little if the sum of food supplied to the people is very 

 much less than it ought to be. 



In his very important Memorandum on The Recent 

 Develo'pment of German Agriculture written for the 



