118 THE MINORITY REPORT 



58. The present condition of agriculture, as we 

 pointed out in paragraph 20, is the direct result of the 

 years of depression when the price of corn fell to a 

 disastrous level, the corn area shrank by 2J miUion 

 acres, land was laid down to grass, and farmers began 

 to pay increased attention to grazing and dairying. 



It cannot be wondered at if agriculturists are re- 

 luctant to sacrifice the capital outlay involved in laying 

 down land to grass, as well as to accept the risks in- 

 evitable in a change of system, unless they are assured 

 that the returns obtainable from their corn crops mil 

 not again fall to the low figure which brought such 

 disaster to the industry thirty-five years ago. More- 

 over, it is held by many agricultural authorities that at 

 even the improved prices which prevailed before the 

 war, grazing and dairying were more profitable indus- 

 tries than corn growing, owing principally to the 

 increasing demand of the towns for fresh milk and 

 milk products, and to the prices obtainable for home- 

 grown meat. 



59. We think it important to realise that the farmers 

 as a whole will be reluctant to plough up land under 

 grass. High prices have been ruling during the war 

 for arable crops, but farmers have long memories and 

 once bitten are twice shy. High prices ruled half a 

 century ago, but they fell, and every farmer in England 

 suffered and many were ruined ; and many more would 

 have been ruined but for the general reduction of rents 

 by the landlords, who at their own expense practically 

 financed the farmers through the bad years ; and 

 what most farmers did then was to put plough land 

 down to grass, and they will be very fearful now of 



