252 



SECTIONAL ADDRESSES 



to those who are responsible for shaping the agricultural policy of the. 

 country. The facts it contains and the agricultural conditions it illus- 

 trates are indeed of fundamental importance. These facts result from 

 our soil, our climate and the consequent experience and aptitude of our 

 farmers ; they are not entirely unalterable, but any policy of improvement, 

 development or control must primarily be based upon them. 



The value of the agricultural output per acre of cultivated land is, 

 in round figures, £S in Great Britain and Norway, and ;{^ii in Denmark. 

 In contrast to this, the annual output per person in British agriculture 

 is about 3^200, and in Danish about £is°- 



Self-Sufficiency in regard to Important Products. 



N.B. — Estimates for United Kingdom and Denmark based on quantities, 

 those for Norway on values. 



The figures in this third table need little comment and are in a sense 

 a corollary to those in the two previous tables. As regards animal pro- 

 ducts, the two Scandinavian countries are self-supporting, whereas we 

 produce only about, very roughly, half our requirements of the various 

 kinds of meat, nearly four-fifths of our poultry and two-thirds of our eggs. 

 We produce all the liquid milk we consume, but only 30 per cent, of our 

 cheese and 10 per cent, of our butter. Of wheat we import about three- 

 fourths of our annual ration and of barley fully half, but we grow over nine- 

 tenths of our oats and nearly all the potatoes we eat. 



So much for agriculture as a producer. What about agriculture as a 



