1920.] The " Royal's " War Record. 251 



as were available, and to exercise economy in the use of feeding 

 stuffs, while it gave the weight of its influence in support of 

 the official campaign for food production and food saving. 



One of the earliest resolutions of the War Emergency 

 Committee uttered a caution against the excessive ploughing 

 up of grass land, and the Society had the satisfaction of securing 

 a declaration by the authorities that grass land which was 

 fully productive for milk or fattening cattle should be left 

 down, although it was not always possible to adhere rigidly 

 to this principle. It was also urged, with ultimate success, 

 that the ploughing up of grass land should be accompanied 

 by the establishment of guaranteed prices for cereals for a 

 period of years. From the very beginning the "Royal" 

 insisted that the prices fixed for the farmer's produce should 

 be based upon the cost of production plus a fair margin of 

 profit, and that the cost of such essentials as feeding stuffs 

 and fertilisers should also be fixed. In the same way the 

 Society, by the recommendations which it made to the Govern- 

 ment, was successful in securing concessions which were not 

 only of direct benefit to the farmer but ultimately in the interests 

 of the country as a whole. 



In a still more direct way the Society took part in assisting 

 the Government by nominating members to act on several 

 of the official Committees set up to advise as to the probable 

 operation of contemplated measures of control. In particular 

 the Society's representatives on the Central Advisory Council 

 did most valuable work in reconciling, as far as possible, 

 the demands of the consumer with the requirements of the 

 producer. 



Agricultural Relief of Allies. — Another important feature of the 

 Society's war work was the inauguration of the Agricultural 

 Relief of AlHes Committee. From the outset English farmers 

 felt the deepest sympathy with the agriculturists in Belgium^ 

 France and Serbia in the ruin and suffering imposed upon them 

 by a merciless invader. It was therefore fitting that the 

 " Royal " should come forward and give cohesion to the help 

 offered throughout the country to enable the Allied farmers 

 to resume cultivation of their holdings when the opportunity 

 should arrive. The lead given by the Society was in keeping 

 with its action in 1870-1, when it established a fund for supplying 

 seed com to the peasants in the northern and eastern regions 

 of France, whose crops had been destro\^ed in the Franco- 

 Prussian War. With His ^lajesty the King as Patron, the 

 Agricultural Relief of Allies Committee came into existence 



