i8 THE SPIRIT OF THE SOIL 



large tracts of our land are to be laid down in wheat, 

 these must be supplied to them at no matter what 

 the cost. To-day the country is called upon to face 

 at once under the exceptional conditions of war the 

 very problem that will have to be faced in years to 

 comef as a result of natural developments. The 

 response made by men of science, above all by the 

 bacteriologists, to the note of warning in 1898 by 

 Sir William Crookes suggests that we may be in a 

 position to-day to meet the demand without un- 

 due expenditure. 



