The Fuhire of Agncidhiral Competition. 
743 
hat when it was pointed out to them that our superabundant 
mports were supplied to a great extent at a loss to the con- 
tributors, it seemed a sufficient answer to exclaim — " But still 
:hey come!" Under such circumstances, it was of no avail to 
insist that there was no more certain axiom in business affairs 
than that which affirms that, in the long run, production at a 
loss cannot be kept up. The reply was that the foreign and 
colonial competitors of the British farmer, with vast areas of 
land under cultivation, must go on producing the staple com- 
modities at any price which they could obtain. Moreover, the 
most ridiculous estimates of the cost of production in foreign 
jconntries and British Colonies were put forth and generally 
'accepted, while the ruin of those interested in mammoth " 
'farms and ranch companies attracted but little attention. It 
happened, too, that the strain upon our foreign competitors, 
when at its worst, was alleviated by favourable seasons, by a 
great reduction of freights, by vast sums of money obtained from 
gulUble British capitalists, and by the fall in the gold value of 
silver. These and other circumstances of less importance 
explain why it was that some of the competitors of the British 
farmer, though suffering quite as severely as he, were able to 
keep up their supplies to our markets in undiminished or in- 
creasing volume up to the end of 1890. But now there is 
reason to believe that the tide of battle has turned, not only for 
a single year, but for some years to come, if not permanently. 
It will be seasonable, therefore, to present some of the facts and 
arguments in support of this belief, in the hope that there is 
now a better chance than there has been previously of their 
receiving calm and thoughtful attention. In order to explain 
the reasons for a hopeful view of the future, however, it is 
necessary to point out the causes of the excessive competition from 
which British agriculturists are still suffering. 
By common consent the competition in ivlieat production 
has been regarded as the most severe and important. A large 
proportion of the most productive land in this country is better 
suited to the growth of wheat than to that of any other crop, and a 
great deal of it has been thrown out of cultivation, or reduced in 
value by thirty to seventy-five per cent., in consequence of the 
greatly reduced value of wheat in recent years. Even on mixed 
soils which grow other cereals at least as well as wheat, or do 
well when laid down in pasture, the wheat crop is a very use- 
ful one in a rotation, and, if for its straw alone, its growth 
must be kept up to some extent so long as it can be without 
al^solute loss. Besides, the prices of all cereals are affected 
materially by those of wheat, and there is no doubt that a 
