1920.] Thb Decline in Sheep Breeding. 



455 



which they would have fetched in a free market. The relative 

 values of farm produce being abnormal, it was often more profit- 

 able to sell fodder crops as hay than to feed them to sheep, or to 

 substitute corn crops for fodder crops on land which would other- 

 wise have helped to maintain the flock. I am, however, ven- 

 turing upon practical questions which are better left to be dealt 

 with in the discussion. 



In conclusion, I will add only that if the importance of extend- 

 ing the arable area and increasing the production of cereals is 

 recognised by the nation, it must also be recognised that one of 

 the means which will assist in securing that end is to ensure that 

 confidence is restored to the sheep-breeding interest, which has 

 for generations been in a large degree the mainstay of British 

 agriculture. 



