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Advantages in Agricultural Production, 
Advantages of the United Kingdom. 
Let us consider first the case of the United Kingdom as a 
whole. So far as I know, it was the late Mr. James Howard 
who first published the statement that no other country in the 
world could boast of natural advantages in agricultural produc- 
tion, taking animal as well as all classes of vegetable products 
into consideration, equal to those of this country. There are 
soils more fertile than the average of our own, and climates far 
more stimulating to certain kinds of vegetation ; but for 
combined advantages of soil and climate in relation to pasture, 
corn, roots, other forage crops on arable land, tubers, hops, and 
fruit, taken together, the country equal to the United Kingdom 
has yet to be discovered. It is straining a point to take vege- 
table products alone ; but I think that our country can stand 
the test of the division. The position is strengthened, however, 
if we add animal products ; for the inquirer will look in vain 
for another country in which horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs 
together can be bred and matured in perfection equal to that 
which they attain in the British Isles. New Zealand, which 
probably comes nearest to our own country, taking all things 
into account, falls behind in quality of permanent pasture, in 
quality of barley, in flavour of fruit, and in the constitution and 
size of cart-horses, to say nothing of other stock. 
There are great tracts of land in Manitoba and the North- 
west of Canada, in parts of the United States, and in llussia, 
more fertile naturally than any equal area in the United 
Kingdom ; but in all three countries the climate at one season 
or another is less favourable both to variety of vegetable and 
animal production and to full fruition or perfect maturity. 
The soil of Manitoba, for example, would produce better crops of 
wheat than we grow, with equally good farming, if it were not 
for the severity of the winter, which prohibits the growth of 
winter varieties, and for the early autumn frosts, which 
frequently destroy or badly injure the grain just before it has 
become ripe. The climate of Manitoba also prevents the growth 
of clover, roots of prime quality, and fruit of any but the hardiest 
kinds. In countries hotter than our own, such as Australia, 
India, and the Argentine Bepublic, too, there are vast tracts of 
very fertile land ; but the extreme heat of the summer, frequent 
droughts, and insect scourges prevent the growth of heavy crops 
of cereals, which must have time for their perfect development. 
Holland alone among the countries of the world equals Great 
Britain in yield of corn and in fatness of pastures together ; 
but, apart from the fact that some of her most fertile land has 
