THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, MARCH 19, 1928. AGRICULTURE IN BRITAIN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20361, 19 March 1928, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, MARCH 19, 1928. AGRICULTURE IN BRITAIN.

The British Industries Fair in London has included this year exhibits of the products of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada as well as those of Britain. A recent cable informed us that the Duke of York, while examining a display of British bacon and eggs, remarked to Sir Philip Cunliffc-Lister, President of the Board of Trade, “How strange that most people forget that Britain is a part of the Empire.” No doubt the movement to give preference to Empire products has borne much valuable fruit. Trade within the Empire is increasing; its valuable latent resources are being developed. But there is just a danger that the full use of home products may be overlooked. The people of Britain should give preference first to the produce of their own country, more especially in a time of much unemployment ; after that, they should give preference to Empire goods over foreign goods. Great Britain is mainly an industrial and commerical country; agriculture is not, as with us, the primary industry. She requires to import much food and raw materials from other lairds. Since the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1845 her traditional policy has been one of Froetrade and of the free admission of all kinds of goods. It is true that there has been a slight modification of this policy and that several of the duties imposed by the Finance Act of 1925 were also protective in character, sheltering the manufacture of motor ears, clocks, watches, and kinema films. Imperial preference is also a departure from a puro Freetrade policy; preferential rates have boon granted to sugar, tobacco, and wine produced within the Empire. But, with these exceptions, Britain is still mainly a Freetrado country. No other policy was possible for a nation whoso trade and shipping interests aro with the ends of the earth, but it may be questioned if tho interests of their farmers have been sufficiently considered. In several ways agriculture lias declined in Britain in recent years. The National Farmers’ Union recently pointed out to Mr Baldwin that he gave an election pledge to safeguard any industry of national importance that was suffering from unfair competition. It may he questioned if, in giving this pledge, he thought of agriculture as being a national industry. But it is an industry of prime importance, for it is surely advisable to produce as much as possible of the food of the people in the country itself. Moreover, the occupation of agriculture is the one best fitted to maintain the health and physical vigour of tho race. The Baldwin Government’s failure to carry out any definite agricultural policy has been favouring a reaction in some country constituencies towards Liberalism.

But while on the whole British agriculture has been somewhat depressed since the war, in two important respects it has made considerable progress. Professor Wood, of Cambridge University, calculated that in Britain during tho last 20 years meat production bad declined 10 per cent., and wool 27 per cent. ; but on the other hand dairy produce had increased 16 per cent., and the poultry and egg industry had increased its output no less than 36 per cent. It is true that the production of wheat is decreasing, but the serious decline of wool production appears to he only temporary. Quite recently there has been a considerable increase in the number of

sheep, and it is hoped that the 1928 figures will bring the total back to the pre-war number. Tho recent rise in the price of wool should tend to make sheep farming in England and Scotland more profitable, and will probably accentuate tho increased numbers. Professor Wood gave an interesting explanation of the increase in tho output of British dairy produde and of poultry and egg production. As his reasons apply equally well to these industries in New Zealand, they are worth emphasising. It should be noted that the output of butter and cheese in Britain has been considerably increased in spite of serious competition from Denmark and the overseas dominions. This has been possible because the British farmer possesses in milk recording an exact numerical measure of the production, of his individual animals. Thus he can keep cows which produce profitable yields of milk and discard poor ones. And, again, a study of tho inheritance of capacity for giving high yields of milk has pointed out the way in which the yields of herds may be continuously increased. Furthermore ,the practice of milk recording has also been accompanied by a great improvement in the feeding and management of dairy cows. All these improvements in milk production have been widely adopted by British farmers, and fully explain their increased output of butter, cheese, and milk. The example might be more generally followed with advantage by the dairy farmers in New Zealand, though they are beginning to fall into line with the modern progressive methods of milk production. The expansion of the poultry industry in Britain has been largely due to similar reasons. The general practice of trap-nesting has given an accurate measure of individual production. The poultry farmer has also now more knowledge of the inheritance of egglaying capacity, and there has been a similar improvement in feeding and management. The result is that egg production on the farm is now in Britain a sound economic proposition. In regard to meat production in Britain, there has not been the same increase of output because there is no ready method of ascertaining the individual production of cattle, sheep, and pigs. Compared with dairy farming and the poultry industry, meat production is still haphazard. The farmer has no numerical measure of individual production. The remedy, Professor "Wood advises, is the introduction of some kind of measure of production which will do for meat production what milk recording and trap-nesting have done for cows and poultry. In connection with meat production, he advises greater attention to feeding and especially the use of more concentrated foods.