M.— AGRICULTURE. 



219 



The same trend of affairs is to be seen in imported produce. A com- 

 parison of the pre-war and post-war prices of Manitoba wheat, Argentine 

 beef and New Zealand mutton gives the following figures : — 



Per cent, increase in 

 price 



53 per cent. 



68 per cent. 



110 per cent. 



The strong tendency during a period of agricultural depression for 

 price levels to rule more heavily against crops than stock and stock 

 products is not a new feature. It is not without interest and significance 

 to notice that, during the agricultural depression which followed the 

 Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the Danes altered their whole system of 

 agriculture and specialised in dairying, pigs and poultry, because they 

 realised that the fall in prices of good animal products was considerably 

 less than the fall in cereals. This change to concentration on animal 

 products did not, however, reduce the area of land under the plough, but 

 rather increased it, as the crops were converted into live stock products 

 instead of being exported. Since 1880 th^ cow population, which was 

 then 900,000, increased to over 1,300,000 in 1914, and only one-seventh of 

 the food consumed by the animals — chiefly foods of the protein- rich class — 

 is now imported. The Danes have given practical recognition to the fact 

 that arable farming supports more stock than grass farming, and that 

 stock farming is the real basis of crop farming. 



Whilst it is generally realised that as civilisation advances there is a 

 change in human food from the coarser cereals such as rye and oats to 

 maize and wheat, it is important to remember that advances in the 

 standard of living are accompanied by increasing consumption and improve- 

 ment in the quality of animal products. 



Taking, therefore, a wide view of agricultural production, I am 

 confident that as far as the British Isles is concerned the future lies with 

 the stock and stock product branch of the industry. I do not for one 

 moment envisage a ranching country because I am convinced that by 

 concentrating our energies on stock farming we will bring more and not 

 less land under the plough. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that we 

 cannot hope to remain an arable country if we continue to market our 

 cereal crops as such. If, however, we bend our energies in an organised 

 manner to the production of stock and stock products, a steady increase 



