The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1917. A VITAL INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3007, 19 February 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1917. A VITAL INDUSTRY

An agricultural revival is an essential feature in the programme of reconstruction and development which is being shaped in Great Britain as a result of the hard experience gained in the war. At present the Imperial Government is much occupied with plans for increasing the production of. home-grown food during 1917, and what is'•accomplished in this way may be a not unimportant contribution to the defeat of the enemy submarine campaign. Tho yield of most of the home-grown food crops in Great Britain declined by about_ 12 per cent. in. 1916 as compared with 1915, 'the explanation no doubt being the enrolment of a very large number of agricultural labourers in the • army. In wheat alono thero was a drop of 250,000 acres in the cultivation of 1916 as compared with that of tho previous year. Tho purpose of the new regulations of the British Board of Agriculture is not only to prevent the threatened fall of food production to a stiil lower scale, buti to raise it in 1917 up to at least tho level of 1915. All that is accomplished during the war period is likely to fall considerably short of the standard sot by Mil. Lloyd George when he said that every square yard of land should be mado to contribute to its utmost-capacity to the food requirements of the country. But the systematic control of cropping which is now in force, together with tho organisation of labour under the National Servico scheme, and the. substitution of useful for ornamental cultivation, should result in a considerably greater harvest this year than was gathered in 1916. The importance of forthwith securing the utmost possiblo expansion in British agricultural production is so great 1 that Mr. Prothero, the British Minister of Agriculture, certainly did not exaggerate when he said that the statement which Mb. Lloyd George is to make shortly on the subject of agriculture would be of the most momentous character. Far as Britain is removed from famine, scarcity and clearness of food have so emphasised the need of' increasing the nation's immediate food supply that it may be taken for granted that all available resources will be utilised to that end. As to the greater problem which will continue to demand attention when the war is over —that of converting British agriculture from a declining into a prosperous and progressive industry—it is- impossible meantime to speak with, the same certainty, though it is- probable that much of what is done to meet the war emergency will have results of lasting value which will benefit the agricultural industry for years to come. Tho war at all events has made it abundantly clear that the agricultural problem of which the present food emergency is but a passing phase is one which Britain cannot continue to neglect without imperilling her future welfare. For more than forty years agriculture in Great Britain has been going downhill. In these years tho rural population of England has steadily declined. Of Ireland, in spite of a continued tide of emigration, there is in some respects a much happier story to tell, but this does not make tho British problem less acute. The broad features of. the problem wore succinctly stated by a recent writer in the Fortnightly Review. The repeal of tho pom Laws in the middle of the' nineteenth century, he remarks, did not exert its full effect upon agricultural conditions (in England) until the 'seventies, when tho improved methods of transport, coupled with the use of virgin soils in the Far West, brought about a drastic fall in the price of corn in the world-market. The result was seen in the flight from the land. In the years 1871-1911 the male agricultural population of England decreased by 1G per cent., while in the same period tho male population of the country as a whole increased by 67 per cent. In 1871 the number of those engaged in agriculture was (in round figures) 1,350,000; in 1911 this number was reduced by 200,000, in spite of the enormous increase in tho home consumption of food. a As most people know, one result of the state to which British agriculture has fallen is that only the Navy stands between the nation and starvation. The country imports four-fifths of the wheat and onehalf of the meat consumed by its population. It is computed that if the external supplies were interrupted for (he space of three months (or at times for an even shorter period) Britain would be brought to

tho brink ol starvation. The state of agriculture has, of, course, been aggravated by the war. One-third oi the farm workers in England and Wales have been taken from the soil since August, 1914; in other words, 320,000 men and more have loft the land to serve with the colours or to work in munitions factories. To an extent these men have been replaced by women, but shortage of Jabour of course accentuates the difficulties which must be overcome if the production of home-grown food is to Vc increased. The war has at once emphasised and accentuated the penalties that are incurred by neglect of agriculture. But it has also brought in its train better hopes of a revival of British primary industries than have appeared for many years. The Imperial Government is backed by a great body of public opinion in the measures it- is taking and proposes to take with a view to - restoring agriculture to something like the place it formerly _ occupied. The widespread inquiries and discussions that have taken place reveal considerable difference of opinion io regard to matters of detail, but there is no doubt that a wholehearted attempt will be made to induce a proportion of the men who leave the Army at the end of the war to exchange life in cities and towns for life on the land in their own country. There is no doubt that many soldiers will be inclined to make the change. It is recognised that in order to attract and hold them in rural industries the conditions that ruled in these industries before the war must bo not so much amended as revolutionised. Wages must be raised, housing conditions must bo improved, and a brighter environment provided, and scope must be given for advancement. But there is no reason why these conditions should not be met, as they must be', if British agriculture is to compete successfully with the lure of. the city on the one hand and on the other with the attractions and inducements held out !'y the overseas Dominions. Such a revival in British agriculture as is now promised wo'uld as one result reduce the value of the British market, to the Dominions, and though the effect 'would not be felt here for some time it is a contingency which cannot be ignored in weighing the possibilities of the future.