LAND & WATER 
December 7, 1916 
enable the land to produce more food. But for years 
to come it cannot be a question of increasing the pro- 
duction but of making good the lost ground — ground 
lost owing to the absence of a sound policy. 
One caimot help wondering if the Government ever 
did seriously consider tlie relative importance to the 
nation in tliis hour of crisis of the different industries. 
From the declaration of war Germany carefully dis- 
tinguished between the essential and non-essential in- 
dustries, and not only did she take measures to maintain 
her agricultural output, but she told her cultivators 
upon what branch of food production they should 
concentrate. It is true that our Government had periods 
of alarm in regard to our food supply, and apjwinted 
committees to consider the agricultural situation, but 
by the time the committee reported they either had ceased 
to be alarmed or they were so disappointed that no com- 
mittee could suggest any way df at once doubling uur 
production that they felt it useless to take action. 
One specific effect of the war upon agriculture whicli 
I nnist briefly deal with has been the number of women 
who have come forward to work on the land, and right 
good work has the countr\'-bred women done ; but I am 
afraid this cannot be said of the townswomMi who ha\e 
\olunteered for farm work — though there are many 
notable exceptions. It will be interesting to see if the 
war will ha\e the effect of permanently increasing the ■ 
number of women who work on the land. 
But it is necessary to bear in mind that it is impossible 
for women to do all kinds of farm work, though they 
can do some kinds of farm work very well. On the whole 
I am incUned to think that women have already been 
substituted for male labour to as great an extent as is 
possible. A very serious effect of the \va.T has been the 
considerable number of children released from school 
imder the leaving age to work on the land. It has been 
necessary, but it is none the less deplorable — these 
children will have lost much educationally, and this 
loss will e^•entually prove the country's loss. 
What About the Future 
So much for the present effect of the \\'ar upon 
agriculture. Can we at all forecast the future and the 
permanent effect ? The realm of prophecy is iilled with 
danger, but one or two things seem fairly certain. Before 
the war there were in England and \\'ales some 700,000 
agricultural labourers ; at the present moment some 
350,000 or one half have been withdrawn. At the end of 
the war will those who survive return to agriculture ? 
Will agriculture attract workers from other sources ? 
The answer can only be in the negati\-e ; men who have 
been seeing the world will not return to work again on 
the land under the conditions which existed in many 
counties before the war — nor will fresh men be attracted. 
Post-war wages and conditions of life will have to be 
very different from those existing before the war if the 
needed cultivators are to be attracted to the land. The 
State will therefore have to see that these important con- 
ditions are created. 
The second point is that we are clearly at the parting 
of the ways. After the war is over British Agriculture 
will have either to develop greatly or fall into a worse 
condition than ever, and the nation will become still more 
dependent on sea-borne food than it jvas in the past. 
Which is it to be ? It is for the nation to say. We 
have the richest land in Europe, which yields us about 
£4 worth of food per acre, a low yield compared with 
the £7 and £8 of Denmark and Germany. Are we going 
to sit still and say it is impossible for us to increase the 
jdeld of our soil as other countries have done, or arei 
we going to insist upon the land being put to its ful, ' 
potential use ? ' 
In conclusion, it would seem that the Government 
is at last seriously studying the problem of food supply.' 
They have appointed a Food Control Board : doubtless 
it will have to concentrate much attention upon economies 
in consumption ; but for the sake of our national safety 
and well-being it is to be hoped that the Food Dictator 
will give much of his attention to the possibilities of' 
increased produrtion. The \ital (piestion is — what can 
be done now ? Ilic evil has struck deep ; the land is 
depleted of labour ; and it is very difficult to see how to 
su])ply the farmers with sufficient cultivators. The pre- 
sent substitution scheme I fear will not prove very 
effective. So that at once the fanner should be made to 
realise that his staff will not be further depleted. 
But abo\e all it is necessary for the Government to 
come to terms with the farmer : let it explain the serious- 
ness of the situation — for ^•ery few farmers realise how 
serious it is. Let the Government tell the farmers exactly 
what it wants done ; let it assure them that the price of 
the staple products will not be allowed to fall below 
a remunerati\-e price. Food is our first necessity of life, 
but the producer cannot be expected to produce at a 
loss. If therefore the country is to be given a largely 
increased and secure supply of food over which in times 
of crisis it has complete control the farmer must be 
guaranteed a fair price. 
This understanding between the Government and the 
farmer must be an enduring understanding, for our food 
supply is not merely a war question but it is one of a 
nation's greatest problems for all times. 
New Poems by Mr, Watson 
I was walking the sun, my day's work done, 
.■\nd the great world rolled like a wheel, 
W'lien a cur came yapping, came yap-yap-yapping, 
\\'hen a cur came yapping at my heel. 
Shall I send him all asprawl from my good stout shoe, 
Turn his yapping to a yelping and a squeal ? 
Is'ay, leave him to the thing Fate fashioned him to do— ^ 
His dog's-work of yapping at one's heel. 
For God made the arrows that around life whirr, 
And the thunders that above life peal. 
And He made, too, the miserable mangy httle cur, 
And its instinct for yapping at one's heel. 
Evidently a new happiness has come into the life of 
Mr. William Watson, which has touched with a ray of 
gold all his work, even the most trivial. One would like 
to thank the poet personally for his Retrogressions (John 
Lane, 3s. 6d.), for he is all the time placing the reader 
under a sense of benefit received, by expressing, beauti- 
fully, compactly, and truly the reader's personal feelings. 
Lives there any man who has tried to do his duty who is 
not famili,ar with the yapping cur, referred to above. 
And Mr. Watson teaches the right way in which the cur 
should be regarded. So, too, are we thankful for this 
delicious rebuke to one who is a blank on Mr. Watson's 
page, and is fast becoming a blank in most men's minds. 
At first I almost thought that your fine gift, 
Your noble genius for depreciation, 
Had given a happy and a timely lift 
To poor old Shakespeare's tottering reputation. 
But much I doubt, reading once more his page, 
Whether such proud advertisement it needed ; 
No— 'twill be sweet when you have reached a stage, 
By ripeness oft preceded. 
There is a touch of Chesterton in his " Ballad of the Boot- 
maker." His "Nature's Way" — we must not quote 
further — is as full of music and beauty as anything he 
has ever written. Retrogressions adds another leaf to 
Mr. Watson's laurels. 
Union Jack Club Fund 
The following is a list of subscribers to the Union Jack 
Club Extension Fund up to Fridav, December ist : 
£ s. d. 
Previously acknowledged . . . . . . 2,799 ^9 '' 
Major Wm. Pilkington . . . . . . . . 25 o o 
Bolton Evening A'ck's . . . . . . . . 1000 
Anonymous .. .. .. ,. .. 500 
A. R. .\llan, Esq. . . . . 2 10 o 
" Ex Libris " . . . , . . . . . . 250 
Dr. Dodwell . . . . . . . . . . 220 
Major J. C. Holdich Lticesler, l.M.S 110 
Capt. T. L. Adam i i o 
To Edith Marv Bee . - . , . < . , 100 
