6 INTRODUCTION 



position to more than meet the demands of our 

 home consumption. Even our annual exports 

 of home-grown produce were considerable. 

 But the last century has witnessed a severe 

 change in the conditions which govern the 

 agriculture of this country. Great strides 

 have been made in transport over land and 

 sea. Improved facilities for intercommunica- 

 tion have led to a large increase in the size and 

 numbers of our manufacturing towns. An 

 industrial revolution has taken place, which for 

 a time has put the demands of agriculture in 

 the background. The census reveals an enor- 

 mous growth in population, and consequently a 

 greatly enhanced demand for food — a demand 

 which we have been quite incapable of fulfilling 

 at home. And from being a nation entirely 

 self-supporting, we have grown to be dependent 

 for the greater proportion of our supplies on 

 the surplus products of other countries. From 

 a national standpoint this is unfortunate. The 

 *' splendid isolation " of our islands at once 

 becomes a doubtful protection in the event of 

 war. Not only have our coasts to be pro- 

 tected from invasion, but the safety of our 

 ships bringing food from other lands has to be 



