ANOTHER MILLION BRITISH FARMERS.

Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 25, 24 March 1933, Page 3

ANOTHER MILLION BRITISH FARMERS.

One of the best suggestions made as a contribution to our national economic strength, says the “Children’s Newspaper” (London), is that we should remember our own good British soil and place a million more workers on the land, either engaged in agriculture or in local work built on agriculture.

That is a big dream, but it is only by dreaming such good dreams that we can improve our island home.

It has been shown that excellent crops can be grown on poor, sandy soil. England as a whole is a naturally fertile island, and with such a magnificent home market as is formed by our crowded town populations our rural districts should prosper. If they do not, we lose life as well as wealth. Too Many Deserted Villages If we could succeed in adding a million actual workers to our rural districts we should multiply the land population by many more. If each worker represented three people the villages would gain three millions. A splendid backbone for a country ! We have too many deserted villages. Millions of acres are unused or illused. We should raise a great State loan to revive agriculture. Money is cheap ; life is dear. We have to organise production. In Italy Mussolini has made his country almost independent of foreign wheat, while we import four-fifths of our daily bread. In fruit alone the home market offers £20,000,000 of trade to the new agriculture. It is for us to make the dream a reality.

Killings of lamb for export during the five months’ period, October 1 to February 28, this season totalled 4,886,848 carcases, compared with 4,910,912 carcases in the same period last season, and the shipments to Great Britain totalled 2,617,739 carcaes, against 2,699,347 carcases. A total of 1,087,497 carcases of mutton was killed this season, compared with 1,696,818 carcases last season and the shipments to Great Britain were 478,952 carcases and 886,514 carcases respectively.

Values at the Auckland Wool Sale last Friday were from id to Id lower than those obtained at the last Auckland sale in January, demand being particularly weak for the lower grades of crossbred.

A Clevedon farmer, who protested that farmers do not get enough money to meet the unemployment levy, was fined £5 for failing to pay any levy since the introduction of the regulations.