Scientific Agriculture. 



520 



[ December, 1911. 



retail prices of the finished products as 

 ready for the ultimate consumers, it is 

 easy to see that we might have perhaps 

 30 millions sterling, instead of 15J mill- 

 ions, as in the above table. 



In this way we can form some estimate 

 of the comparative values of the agri- 

 cultural and mining industries of the 

 country. But what about the manu- 

 facturing industries ? We are unable 

 to present their value as so many 

 pounds sterling ; but the classified list 

 of the manufacturing industries above 

 given affords us a more instructive 

 insight than such a bald valuation 

 would do. 



This list shows us the manufacturing 

 industries under thirty-nine headings, 

 and also shows the number of workers 

 in each — the total number of workers 

 being 52,700, Now, out of these different 

 groups of manufacturing industries, the 

 following, namely, (1) chaff-cutting, (2) 

 flour and oatmeal, &c, mills, (3) biscuits, 

 jam, &c, factories, (4) bacon and meat 

 preserving works, (5) butter and cheese 

 factories, (6) soap and candle works, (7) 

 brewing and malting, (8) wool washing 

 and tanning, (9) woollen mills, (10) boots 

 and shoes, (11) saddlery, &c, (12) Saw- 

 mills, and (13) bone and manure mills 

 obtain nearly all their raw material 

 from the country's agriculture, that is 

 to say, thirteen out of thirty-nine 

 groups of industries, or one-third of 

 the whole, are engaged in working up 

 agricultural produce into forms suitable 

 tor the final consumers. The workers 

 employed in these thirteen groups 

 number 16,074, or again nearly one-third 

 of the whole. 



But in addition to these, several 

 others, namely, the chicory, mustard 

 and spice factories, the tailoring under- 

 clothing, and hat and cap factories, furs, 

 ropes, saw-moulding, joinery, and 

 cabinet-making, the cooperage, dairy 

 implement, brush, and basket factories, 

 cart factories, chemical works, paper 

 mills, and unspecified obtain a portion 

 of their raw material from the produce 

 of the land. Hence we may estimate 

 that out of the 52,700 manufacturing 

 workers, fully 20,000 are engaged in 

 working up agricultural raw material. 

 There are about 128,000 workers directly 

 employed on the land in agricultural 

 pursuits, and if to these we add th 20,000 

 already mentioned, we get 148,000 

 engaged in agriculture and industries 

 connected therewith. But what are 

 the other 32,700 doing ? Nine hundred 

 and fourteen are making agricultural 

 implements 1,283 are making railway 

 engines and rolling-stock for carrying 



agricultural produce, or passengers 

 largely doing business connected there- 

 with, some thousands are making engines 

 and machinery for cultural work or 

 industries, others are making clothing, 

 sugar, tobacco, and various other 

 articles to be consumed by farmers and 

 their families, or by people doing busi- 

 ness in connection therewith. 



In brief, all these manufacturing 

 industries exist, either for the purpose 

 of working up raw agricultural produce 

 or in great part for supplying the needs 

 of the agricultural population and of 

 those working in industries, business, 

 and professions ultimately dependent 

 on agriculture. 



These figures, then show, that, in the 

 widest sense our national life is based 

 on the produce of the land. It is the 

 agriculture that feeds the railway, that 

 feeds the industries, and that feeds 

 the professional and business life of the 

 cities. 



Some may think I have spent too 

 much time in bringing out this gener- 

 ally acknowledged fact. My experience 

 has been that it is not a generally 

 acknowledged fact, and that many who 

 do acknowledge it do not fully realize 

 its significance and importance. That 

 half of the population which dwells io 

 cities is especially prone to lose sight of 

 this fact, and too often there grows up a 

 sense of aloofness and of actual jealousy 

 between the town and country, parti- 

 cularly in regard to the expenditure of 

 public moneys. 



It would be instructive if we could all 

 trace our incomes to their ultimate 

 source. The suburban tradesman— baker, 

 butcher, grocer— supplies articles which 

 are mainly of agricultural origin, to a 

 number of families, the bread-winners of 

 which are, in one case, a clerk in a bank 

 which advances to city merchants, who 

 supply country storekeepers, who in 

 their turn give credit to farmers ; in 

 another case, a mechanic who helps to 

 make machines which are used in the 

 manufacture of agricultural implements, 

 or of engines for country use ; in a third 

 case, the bread-winner is a reporter 

 on the staff of a metropolitan journal, 

 which is read by an agricultural popu- 

 lation in the country, and by a popu- 

 lation engaged in the city in business 

 based ultimately on the agriculture of 

 the country ; in other cases the bread- 

 winners are musicians, lawyers, doctors, 

 clergymen, teachers, and so on, all 

 of whom are engaged in serving a popu- 

 lation whose business is based on the 

 country's agriculture. I suppose that 

 on the average fully two-thirds of every 



