THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE 



Vol. XXIX. No. 8. 



NOVEMBER, 1922. 



NOTES FOR THE MONTH. 



Speaking at the National Farmers' Union Dinner on Wed- 

 nesday, 18th October, Sir Arthur Boscawen said that, as they 



well knew, there was a very serious crisis 

 Sir Arthur Bos- in ntical affai the result of which D0 - 

 cawen's Farewell h J y ^ but there might be 



Address to cnanges j n tne Government or a complete 

 Farmers. cnan o- e of Government in the near future. 

 This might, therefore, be the last occasion on which he should 

 address a meeting of the National Farmers' Union as Minister 

 of Agriculture. In saying that, he would like to add that his 

 relations with the National Farmers' Union had always been 

 most cordial and they had reposed in him confidence in a most 

 generous way. He should never forget their kindness and could 

 assure them that in whatever capacity he might be in the 

 future, he would always do his best to further the cause of 

 agriculture, and especially of those who were actually engaged 

 in the cultivation of the soil. The fact, however, that this 

 might be the last occasion enabled him to speak more freely 

 than otherwise he might have done. 



Agriculture was certainly going through a critical time, and 

 he had the deepest sympathy with all classes engaged in it, 

 owners, farmers and labourers. Undoubtedly, at the present 

 moment, in many departments the industry could not be made 

 to pay, but he thought there was a good future for the dairy 

 farmer and fair hopes for the live stock industry generally; he 

 did not see, however, how arable farmers, especially corn 

 growers, could carry on on anything like the present scale. The 

 result of this would be, as Mr. Orwin had pointed out in 

 The Times, that the country would revert to grass very rapidly, 

 that there would be a great decrease in the rural population and 

 much temporary unemployment and distress. It looked as if 

 the future of British agriculture lay in large farms cultivated 

 cheaply and with low production, interspersed with patches of 

 land intensively cultivated for fruit and vegetables in certain 



(45571). P.1./E.3. 10,500. 10/22. M. & S. A 



