1921.] The International Institute of Agrici ltire. 



5 



their minimum rates of wages coming into operation in March 

 will cause more unemployment. 



(d) That few women are regularly employed in agriculture, 

 and only in some districts are any appreciable number unable 

 to obtain work on the land. 



Briefly put, unusual unemployment is to be found in the 

 north of England (Cumberland, Westmorland, parts of Lanca- 

 shire and Yorkshire) ; in the ^lidlands, Herefordshire and War- 

 wickshire are affected; in the South, Hampshire and Wiltshire; 

 in the Home Counties, Berkshire; in Wales, Anglesey, Car- 

 narvon and Merioneth. It is agreed generally that farmers 

 show a tendency to keep the minimum of workers necessary, 

 and to suspend all work that may possibly prove unproductive. 

 The grounds for their action are stated to be (a) the high wages 

 for unskilled workmen; (h) difficulty in getting permits of 

 exemption for inexperienced or inefficient w^orkmen; (c) the 

 shorter hours of labour ; (<:/) the low yield of the 1920 harvest ; 

 (c) the general decline in prices of farm produce ; and (/) high 

 rates and taxes. The representatives of the workers contend 

 that land is not being cultivated properly, and that if " good " 

 cultivation were enforced there w^ould be no unemployment. 

 They find in the increasing use of modern machinery another 

 contributory factor to present conditions. 



It is satisfactory to learn that with few exceptions all ex- 

 Service men formerly employed in agriculture have found re- 

 employment on the land if they have so desired. At the same 

 time- cases are given of men who have passed to other indus- 

 tries owning to the higher wages prevaihng. 



From time to time the Press of this country publishes 

 statements of the condition of cereal and other crops through- 



rri,« T,,+^,^ox^o««i ^^1^' world, stating that these emanate 

 The International , -r -i-r ,-,. .^^ 



T i , A • ^^'om the Imperial Institute at Rome, but 

 Institute 01 Affri- „ ^ , 



culture at Rome. '^'^^^ ^^^^^^ 



constitution of this Institute, or of the 



important work that it carries through in the interests of inter- 

 national agriculture. The origin of the Institute dates back to 

 1905 when it was founded in iccordance with the terms of the 

 Convention signed by the representatives of some forty dilferent 

 states. Since the year of its foundation other Governments 

 have signed the Convention, and to-day it may be said that 

 the whole civilised world contributes to the only agricultural 

 organisation of an official character established by a formal 

 treaty between different states, managed and controlled by 



