14 INTRODUCTION 



about ; but if matters had rested there, the 

 industry without difficulty, and certainly with- 

 out panic, could have adapted itself success- 

 fully to the altered circumstances. It was 

 soon found, however, that besides the enormous 

 quantity, these new countries could produce 

 their crops at a cost which involved a serious 

 depreciation in prices on home markets. Rich 

 virgin soil of an almost unlimited area was to 

 be found and farmed for the asking, and, with 

 cheapness of transport, more than counteracted 

 the apparent advantage of home farming. The 

 future prospects of agi'iculture in this country 

 were speedily placed at a discount. The final 

 blow was delivered at the most anxious 

 moment of the crisis by a series of bad years.* 

 Anxiety gave way to panic. Farmers had 

 watched their profits rapidly decrease, but no 

 attempt was made to adapt their farming 

 operations to the new conditions. The smaller 

 holders disappeared entirely. The larger lived 

 on their capital and waited for what might 

 happen. Crop -growing was discarded as un- 



* The most interesting history of English agriculture is 

 to be found in " English Farming, Past and Present," 

 Rowland E. Prothero. 



