THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12,1914. BRITAIN'S FOOD SUPPLIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15685, 12 August 1914, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12,1914. BRITAIN'S FOOD SUPPLIES.

It has always been realised that one of the most complex problems Great Britain would have to face in war time would be the maintaining of her food supplies, Last year the British Isles imported food to the value of £274,000,000, by far the greater portion from foreign countries. It hardly requires the statement of this huge total to emphasise that the United Kingdom is dependent, for her very existence on overseas supplies. The closing of tho ocean routes by an enemy would quickly result in great distress, passing speedily into 'the acutest stages of starvation. Assuming, however, the capacity of the British Navy to keep . the trade routes open, it becomes an interesting . question to what extent.. the interchange of foodstuffs will follow its normal course and what portion of the United Kingdom's supplies will be automatically cut off by military operations .in Europe. That production and interchange will be considerably affected goes without saying. Not only will- the raising and harvesting of crops be less certain than usual, but the demand on the Continent will be much greater, because the provisioning of armies is notoriously marked by waste. The extent to which the United Kingdom ' draw's on countries ' actually engaged in warfare is quite appreciable. The importations last year were of the following values :— Russia. 17,658,846 Germany 10,895,483 France 9,634,507 Austria-Hungary ... 4,282,117 An examination of the European supplies, though it suggests difficulties, discloses no insurmountable obstacle to the feeding of tho millions of the United Kingdom. It may be assumed that the supplies from Germany and Austria will be quite cut off, but this of itself is not specially threatening. Germany sends chiefly sugar, which can be obtained from various parts of the Empire, and Austria also supplies sugar, together with quantities of eggs, poultry, barley, flour, rice, and beans, for all of which there ' are alternative sources of supply. From France the British Isles draw fruit,, vegetables, and wines, and the interruption of these supplies would

involve no calamity, The cutting off of Russian wheat would be a more serious matter, but there is no reason to apprehend that this w.ill be absolute. Even if' the Baltic were closed by mines or by the operations of hostile warships, there is still the Black Sea and Mediterranean route by which Russian wheat may be taken to England, and to assume the closing of the Mediterranean would be little short of assuming the closing of all the ocean routes to England. It is difficult to estimate to what extent the Russian crop may be . diverted to the feeding of the Russian army j and to other Continental countries, l but this supply has in the past been so fluctuating that'it cannot be considered ono on which the l , United Kingdom places much dependence. The imports of wheat from Russia fell from 25A million hundredweights in 1905 to five million in 1908, rose to nearly 29 millions in 1910, and fell to nine million hundredweights in 1912. The other European countries from which England chiefly draws food supplies are Denmark, which last year provided £21,519,963 worth, and the Netherlands, which sent £14,816,679 worth. - There will not necessarily be any interruption of these supplies, though competition for them may be increased, and Holland may possibly become involved in the war, to tho hampering of her production. Denmark sends to England mainly butter, £10,057,000 worth last year; eggs, £2,000,000; barley, £198,000; fish, £221,000; pork £217,000; condensed milk, £62,000. England chiefly draws from Holland margarine, sugar, and vegetables. Nearly £4,000,000 worth of margarine was sent to England from tho Netherlands last' year. Other exports to England were: Sugar, £3,104,000; cheese, £702,000; vegetables, £688,500; rice, re-ex-ported, £434.000; eggs, £379.000; mutton; - and rabbits, £1,139,000; fish and oysters, £110,000; lard and bacon, £69,000; milk powder, £23,000. Belgium supplies principally sugar, oi which she sends about £1,000,000 worth per annum. As a market-garden country she does an enormous trade in fruit and vegetables, and last year sent 59,000 tons of vegetables to England.

The most hopeful feature of the present situation is that for the supremely important staples of wheat and meat the United Kingdom is not dependent on the Continent, and as long as the British Navy is on the seas these supplies can be relied upon. From North and South America Great Britain draws her largest and most reliable supplies of wheat, but a good season in India releases vast quantities of grain for export. The imports of wheat from various countries during 1912, were':—lndia 25 million hundredweights, Canada 2U raillion, United States 20 million, Argentine 18j . million, Australia 12 million, Russia 9 million hundredweights, It is. not beyond the resources of Canada,, India, and.Australia— take only the wheatgrowing countries of the Empire— to make good any. shortage in the European supply. There would appear to be a special opportunity for the Southern Hemisphere to undertake an adjustment useful to the Empire and profitable to itself, by sowing an increased area in wheat for next harvest. The United Kingdom still provides 60 per cent. of her meat consumption, and the balance is drawn largely from South America, New Zealand, and Australia. The Argentine sends more food than any other country, the value for 1912 being £35,000,000. England also leans heavily on India, which in the same year supplied food to a value of £25,000,000wheat, tea, barley, rice, maize, coffee. Australia provides valuable supplementary supplies of the staples, wheat, and meat, and New Zealand sends chiefly frozen mutton and dairy produce. In the light of these figures it would appear that so long as the sea ways between Great Britain and the Americas, India, and Australasia are open, there will be no serious shortage of the necessaries of life.