232 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



as the whole of Europe, excluding the United States of Soviet Republics. 

 Evidence of what the Empire might do in grassland products is provided 

 by the figures of imports of live stock products into Great Britain. The 

 British market imports £330,000,000 worth of grassland products annually, 

 which is about one-quarter of the imported goods of all descriptions. 

 Of these foodstuffs which come from the grass, one-half, or about 

 £160,000,000, come from the Empire. 



It is easy to realise the importance of agriculture in Canada or Australia, 

 but in an industrial and mineral country such as Great Britain, and in a 

 great mineral-producing country such as South Africa, the place of agri- 

 culture is apt to be overlooked. (See Table III.) In the three larger 

 Dominions and even in Great Britain, agricultural production is more 

 valuable than mineral production. It may be astonishing to some to learn 

 that Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, produces more agricultural 

 wealth than Australia and four times as much as South Africa. When 

 the value of minerals is combined with the value of manufactures, even 

 then the agriculture of Canada and Australia is more important than 

 minerals and manufactures combined. The dependence upon agricultm-e 

 for the prosperity of the overseas trade of some of these countries is striking. 

 (See Tables IV and V.) Of New Zealand's produce exports, for example, 

 89 per cent, are agricultural and only 11 per cent, non-agricultural. The 

 produce exports of Australia show 84 per cent, to be agricultural ; while 

 from South Africa, only 31 per cent, are agricultural, and from Great 

 Britain less than 3 per cent. 



The distribution of the population dependent upon agriculture is best 

 shown by such countries as South Africa, India, and Nigeria. In South 

 Africa, in spite of its small agricultural and great mineral production, 37 

 per cent, of the population are engaged in agriculture and only 5 per cent. 

 in mining. In India 72 per cent, are dependent upon agriculture and in 

 Nigeria (which is three times the size of Great Britain, and one-third of 

 the size of British India), practically the whole population depends on 

 agriculture. 



It is obvious that a vast area of the Empire is capable of further pro- 

 duction, even if developed only on the present lines with the application I 

 of existing knowledge. But if we apply not only the science now at our ; 

 disposal but the results of further researches and investigations which are | 

 sure to follow, the potentialities become almost incredible. 



Relation of Science to Agriculture. 



Let us come now to the relation of science to agriculture. Agriculture! 

 can be regarded as the application of all the sciences to the exploitation ■ 

 of the soil. There is scarcely a branch of pure science which may not i 

 contribute some knowledge which agriculture can apply. But agriculture 

 differs from other industries in which a new discovery may be followed by a 

 sudden transformation in methods. Agriculture is old, slow-moving, and 

 conservative. The life cycle of animals runs into years, and even in 

 cropping a rotation of years must often be followed to get the full effects 

 of any change of method. Hence, the results of research are absorbed 

 slowly and almost imperceptibly into farming practice. Nevertheless, 

 there have been numerous instances when the advance has been so rapid 



