398 



The Future of British Agriculture. [Aug., 



good by the choice of the wrong fertilisers. In the saving of 

 the most valuable properties of farm-yard manure, in greater 

 knowledge of the use of existing fertilising agencies, and in 

 the future discoveries of agricultural chemistry lie great poten- 

 tialities of increased yields without a proportionate increase in 

 the cost of production. Not the least of the advantages of 

 improved machinery and implements and of the greater com- 

 mand of fertilising agencies, is the freedom which they confer 

 on farmers from the too rigid tyranny of rotations and the 

 necessity of fallows. Weeds can be rapidly eradicated by the 

 one, and fertility maintained by the other, with the result that 

 the same crops can be grown continuously on the same land. 



Increased control over climate by the use of improved 

 machinery, increased control of soil conditions as the result 

 of the study of the physics of the soil, increased control of 

 the foods appropriate to plant nutrition are important steps in 

 raising average yields towards the highest recorded yields. 

 Another step is the increased command and use of the most 

 prolific varieties of seeds. Plant-breeding is the fairy-land of 

 agricultural science. No limit can be set to the possibilities in 

 store, especially with the aid of a deeper knowledge of the 

 physics of the soil. One example may illustrate the value of 

 this collaboration. A very serious difficulty in introducing the 

 most prolific varieties is the weakness of the stem. The 

 strength of the straw is only in part dependent on the plant 

 itself. Another part depends on soil conditions. Solve that 

 mystery and the plant breeder will do the rest. Nor must the 

 work of the plant pathologist be forgotten in the cure or pre- 

 vention of plant diseases from a variety of causes. The annual 

 loss from these pests is very large. I cannot vouch for the 

 figure, but I have heard it estimated at 27 million pounds a 

 year. It may bring home to us the magnitude of this sum, if 

 we remember that it is, approximately, the net annual cash 

 value to the farmer of his sales of the wheat and potato crops of 

 the United Kingdom. 



I have touched on a few of the ways in which science is 

 helping to make arable farming a business proposition. I do 

 not say that science has nothing to offer grass-farmers. It 

 lias much. But I have, I hope, shown that it is tillage which 

 can profit most and over the widest range by scientific develop- 

 ments. You may, however, quite rightly remind me of the 

 natural limitations imposed by climate and soil. You may 

 ask, with reason, do not rainfall and heavy land restrict arable 



