14 
LAND & WATER 
jamuvry 17, njid 
Present Position of the Farmer 
By Sir Herbert Matthews 
THE present position of the famicr i* most aptly 
described by the old saving-" hke a toad under a 
Sorrow,- but as possibly some are ^^^-^^^'^^ 
with the peculiarities of a set o harrow., and there 
fore will fail to rcklise the extremity "f help^f :\"'=trmor h-is 
this amphibian is reduced, it may be said that the farmer ha. 
no more control over his actions than a boy who is bcm^ 
tossed in a blanket. , . ,. 
To begin with. We are on safe ground in assuming that tnc 
vast majority of farmers know their job ; very few of them 
can learn anything about it even from their ^n^nds m Hect 
Street. Numbers of them have spent many years on the sa nc 
farm, and know it as they know the back of their hand 
They know that what may be done on one fam cannot ul 
done under hke circumstances on another ; that what may be 
advantag.-ous in one iield will mean ruination in another, am 
having learned this by long experience, until knowlc'dgc ci 
the right moment for the manv cultural operations has Decoim 
insUnctive, he is suddenly called upon to scrap all custom, to 
do that which bitter financial experience for a generation 
proved to be economically wrong, to take up new ideas, to 
launch out into new systems of cropping, to feed his stock on 
new lines, or not to feed them up to the condition of ripeness 
for slaughter which he knows to be the best, but to sell them 
just when he wants to obtain every load of manure he can 
make. All these things.are now being pressed upon him by 
officials ; a class he has hitherto looked upon as ignorant 
])ersons, who must be humoured but, from the nature of things, 
know nothing of the practical side of agriculture. 
The farmer cannot possibly know all the facts tliat an; 
known in Whitehall, and caiinot therefore understand the 
reason for much of the advice showered upon him. He has 
not been tokl enough. If he were taken more into the-ton- 
iidence of Whitehall his efforts would be even greater than 
they ha\<^ been. Evidence of this is shown by the different 
spirit which has manifested itself since Mr. Prothero and the 
Prime Minister spoke to them last October; Thus the farmer 
lives jn an inverted world, and to add insult to injury he is 
exp<x-ted to swallow and digest a heavy breakfast every 
morning, consisting of fresh budgets of Departmental Orders 
and Regulations which issue fortli ceaselessly day by day 
from \ arious Government Offices. 
Let us glance back for a moment to August 1914. Apart 
from actual war news the papers then devoted more space to 
agricultural matters than at any previous time. The farmer 
suddenly became a prominent item in the national economy. 
He was told how important he was, and how patriotic he would 
b*^ if he grew more food. He was urged to get his harvest in 
well and quickly, as though that needed any spur. Then the 
Government took most of his horses away. There was no 
w'oxA then — not indeed until February, 1917, when the sub- 
marine was recognised at its full value — of giving the farmer 
that practical encouragement in the form of a guarantee 
against loss which he asked for. He must be patriotic as long 
as he could pay his way, and if he lost money over patriotism, 
well, it would be remembered to his credit. 
Other munition makers were given profitable contracts, 
guarantees of all sorts, percentages on wages, their men 
w ere not to be recruited : everything done to encourage and 
facilitate production : but any suggestion that similar methods 
were desirable in connection with food-production was termed 
unpatriotic. Meanwhile, the farmer's men were leaving him 
^vholesale, for, to their honour be it said, no class in the 
country answered the nation's call more promptly or in larger 
numbers, than the agricultural labourer,- Next his supply of 
implements stopped, and even tiic most urgent repairs were 
greatly delayed, for the implement works were all turned into 
munition works. The larger farmers tried to replace horse- 
])0wer by motors, but the output was limited, and before the 
manufacturer was in a position to supply the demand petrol 
ran short, and permits for petrol became necessary, though 
permits when obtained did not ensure a supply. 
Railway transit, whether for farmers' requirements or for 
sending away produce, became a nightmare ; traffic was (and 
still is) delayed sometimes for weeks, or even months, while 
delivery by road must be regulated by the horses, petrol and 
men available for such work. The highly-paid work in muni- 
tion areas and military camps next drew away further 
contingents of his depleted staff, many of the older and more 
skilled men going where they could get higher wages. Then 
his hay and straw was taken at fixed prices, and below their 
market value, while threshing engines and hay presses were 
commandeered. As a result much of his stock" had tOi be fed 
on very inferior hay. 
Profiteers exploited him, and though prices for his produce 
were fi.Kcd soniruiiR> Ijcluw iUl: tn-^i m jjroduction, ho had to 
pay for his requirements whatever dealers liked to charge. 
.Sometimes the commodities , supplied were, and are, almost 
worthless, for adulteration has become rampant : sometimes 
the supplvjhas been altogether cut off— for example, nitrate 
of soda. "During part of 1916, and most of 1917, an immense 
amount of time has been wasted through employers and 
labourers having to attend at recruiting tribunals, every hour 
of such time being urgently wanted on the land ; and in 
addition to all these worries, individual farmers and land- 
owners have voluntarily devoted a large portion of their time 
to pubUc national work, at their own expense. These trials 
f)f the agriculturist are not put forward in order to appeal for 
sympathy, or to voice complaints, but as a mere statement 
of facts wliich should not be forgotten. 
An Instant Response 
To revert to 1914. Wlu 11 urged to grow more food the. 
farmer responded by increasing the acreage of wheat liy 
434,000 acres, or 20 per cent, above the average of the previous 
ten years ; this in spite of his loss of men and horses ; but he 
was favoured by fair weather conditions. This gain in acreage 
has been since reduced, owing entirely to lack of labour and 
implements, and to most unfavourable chmatic conditions, 
but the aggregate output of home-grown food was quite up to 
the average in 1917, while potatoes showed an abnormal 
increase. So far as present conditions allow a forecast 
the output in 1918 promises to be very considerably above the 
average. 
The contradictory methods of recruiting, first exempting 
certain classes, then trying to drag them into the net ; the 
conflicting advice to increase hve stock, and then to reduce 
the numbers ; the urging of a certain ])olicy, and then the 
issue of an Order which compels an opj^osite course — these 
are the things that have confused farmers, and rendered them 
peculiarly susceptible to the attacks made upon them in 
certain quarters. Not that those who have been responsible 
for advice or for such Orders arc always to blame. The 
advice was probably sound when it was given, but changing 
circumstances; compel a change in policy. Unfortunately, 
farming operations cannot We changed as quickly. . 
Farmers have to plan months, sometimes years, ahead, 
and having set a course it is impossible to alter it without 
waste of time and labour ; often it cannot be altered at all. 
The present shortage of milk is due to the Milk Order of 
January 1917, and to the refusal of the Food Controller to 
declare months earlier than he did, his policy in regard to 
milk for the winter of 1917-18. The meat shortage of to-day 
is due to liis action of last July, when he hxed the price of beef 
on a descending scale, as every farmer knew would be the 
case, and as the Food Controller was told plainly and often 
enough. The recent Order prohibiting the slaughter of lamb 
until June will not result in a greater weight of meat, but in a 
decrease of arable crops. Had the farmer been told six months 
ago that such an Order would be made he would have planned 
his whole scheme on different lines, and have produced the 
lambs in Februarv instead of December. The unnecessary 
consumption and waste of bread is due to the artificially low 
price, which is costing the taxpayer rather more than three- 
quarters of a million per day. How can the average consumer 
believe that there is a shortage of bread when it is as cheap as 
ninepence for a 4 lb. loaf ? 
The fundamental mistake which the Government made 
was to make the Ministry of Food the controlling Depart- 
ment. Surely it must be obvious that the 'first necessity is to 
produce the food. Control is a secondary object, and can be 
settled afterwards. To cook a hare, first catch your hart. 
To control food presupposes food to control. Therefore, the 
final word on all matters of policy should rest with the Board 
of Agriculture. As matters are — the unscientific methods and 
actions of the Ministry of Food decides not only distribution 
but production of food. Sometimes indeed, the control is so 
retrospective that food which might have materialised has not 
been produced. 
The cause for this state of things cannot be wholly laid 
upon Departmental Officials, who are a hardworking and 
conscientious lot of people ; it camiot at all be laid upon the 
farmer, who has done the best that was possible under the 
circumstances. It is mainly due to the politicians, who 
opposed giving encouragement and security to producers, as 
recommended by Lord Milner's Committee in 1915, and who 
keep the public in the dark, by such means as tJic artificial 
price of bread, etc. : and it is partly due to misunderstand- 
ings betweeen officials and farmers. 
