32 THE AGRICULTURAL BLOC 



placed France is such a prosperous condi- 

 tion as it would be if the holdings were 

 larger. The amount of capital used in the 

 operation of such small holdings does not 

 admit of the highest state of production, 

 and France with her 20 million acres of 

 wheat lands far superior as regards soil and 

 climate only averages about 17 bushels of 

 wheat per acre, whereas Great Britain with 

 her larger units and consequently more 

 available cash for operating expenses aver- 

 ages about 33 bushels per acre. Under our 

 present conditions of protection on manu- 

 factures while all our raw materials are 

 practically on a free trade basis, I feel sure 

 is the cause of our depletion of soil fertility 

 and if the Federal Government would put 

 on an adequate protection on agricultural 

 production, it would become a very easy 

 matter to place all our returning soldiers 

 and sailors in very profitable positions. 



By way of illustration I will quote a few 

 conditions. Take the suit of clothing I 

 wear. As a farmer in the United States I 

 have to produce and sell 15 raw materials 

 to buy this one suit, whereas in France or 

 England I should only have to produce and 

 sell five raw materials to buy one of these 

 suits. 



Instead of the American farmer getting 

 an average of 25 cents per pound for his 

 grease wool he should get 50 cents per 

 pound for it. Then he would only have to 



