480 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLII. No. 1084 



by November had not risen more than 3 per 

 cent., sheep and veal-ealves showed no rise 

 until December, while poultry was actually 

 cheaper than usual, though eggs rose con- 

 siderably. Butter rose slightly, and cheese 

 remained about normal. Up to nearly the 

 end of the year, in fact, it may be said gen- 

 erally that British farm-produce made very 

 little more money than usual. 



Meanwhile the nation began to take a 

 keen interest in the agricultural resources 

 of the country, and farming became the 

 object of general solicitude. "We started 

 with great energy to improvise, in truly 

 British fashion, the means of facing the 

 supreme crisis of our fate, but the elemen- 

 tary fact at once became obvious that it is 

 impossible to improvise food. The main 

 farm-crops take an unreasonably long time 

 to grow, even if the land is prepared for 

 them, and a sudden extension of the area 

 under cultivation is not a simple proposi- 

 tion. It was freely pointed out — -with un- 

 deniable truth — that our agricultural sys- 

 tem had not been arranged to meet the con- 

 ditions of a great European war, and many 

 suggestions were made to meet the emer- 

 gency. Some of these suggestions involved 

 intervention by legislative or administra- 

 tive action. It was decided that any at- 

 tempt violently to divert the course of farm- 

 ing from its normal channels would prob- 

 ably not result in an increased total pro- 

 duction from the land. The agricultural 

 consultative committee, appointed by the 

 president of the board of agriculture on 

 August 10, issued some excellent advice to 

 farmers as to their general line of policy 

 and the best means by which they could 

 serve the nation, and this was supplemented 

 by the board and by the agricultural col- 

 leges and local organizations throughout the 

 country. No less than thirty special leaflets 

 were issued by the board, but, while it may, 

 I think, fairly be claimed that all the re- 



commendations made officially were sound 

 and reasonable, I should be the last to aver 

 that farmers were universally guided by 

 them. They do not accept official action 

 effusively : 



Unkempt about those hedges blows 



An English unoiEeial rose, 



and official plants do not flourish naturally 

 in farm hedgerows. It was, however, fairly 

 evident that patriotism would suggest an 

 effort to obtain the maximum production 

 from the land, and there were good reasons 

 to think that self-interest would indicate 

 the same course. It must be admitted, how- 

 ever, that during the autumn the lure of 

 self-interest was not very apparent. Food- 

 prices, however, at the end of the year be- 

 gan to rise rapidly. English wheat in De- 

 cember was 25 per cent, above the July 

 level, in January 45 per cent., in February 

 and March 60 per cent., and in May 80 

 per cent. Imported wheat generally rose 

 to a still greater extent, prices in May stand- 

 ing for No. 2 North Manitoba 95 per cent., 

 and No. 2 Hard Winter 90 per cent, above 

 July level. The greater rise in imported 

 wheat may be noted as vindicating farmers 

 against the charge which was made against 

 them of unreasonably withholding their 

 wheat from the market. Cattle and sheep 

 rose more slowly, but in March prices of 

 both had risen by 20 per cent., and in May 

 and June cattle had risen by about 40 per 

 cent. Butter rose by about 20 per cent, and 

 cheese by about 40 per cent. Milk rose 

 little through the winter, but when summer 

 contracts were made prices remained gen- 

 erally at the winter level. 



British agriculture, like the British Isles, 

 is a comparatively small affair geograph- 

 ically. The 47 million acres which it oc- 

 cupies, compared with the 80 million acres 

 of Germany or the 90 million acres of 

 France, and still more with the 290 million 

 acres of the United States, represent an 



