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obviously incapable of imitation by long settled countries. For there the Governments have had at their disposal enormous stretches of land which they could allot in ownership to a growing population of settlers coming from afar; and these settlers, by the mere fact that they were ready to move thither, either from the old countries of Europe or from the longer-settled portions of the new Continents, were men of enterprise, ready for the labours and dangers involved in the planting of homes in the wilderness. The work of the Government was to survey and allot the land, and to protect rights once created. And until the invention of mechanical means of transport it could do little more.

34. After railways were practically possible, it became the duty of the government not only to allot land to new settlers when they had got there, but also to help them to get there. And hence arose the whole problem of the relation of the state to railroad transportation, and all the large issues of direct and indirect aid to railways, by grants of public land and otherwise, which have so large a place in American and Dominion history. To this there has been nothing on a large scale at all analogous in Europe.

35. Further, in this connection, as soon as settlement began to be effected over the far-reaching plains of the newly opened territories, the problem of marketing presented itself in a way and on a scale quite different from any like questions in the old lands. The transition from subsistence farming to commercial farming— that is, from raising produce for the producers themselves to eat, to raising produce chiefly to sell-had taken place slowly in Europe; and in Europe, though some areas had long sent produce to relatively distant markets-as, for instance, the Baltic lands sending rye and wheat to England, from the fifteenth century onward-nevertheless in most countries, especially of the West, the farmers found a market pretty close at hand, in the industrial and commercial populations of neighbouring towns. But the farming of the new lands opened up in the middle of the 19th century was from the first commercial farmin. And the market was to be found either in distant cities in the same continents or, still more largely, in countries overseas. And herein was further reason why transportation should be of vital importance; and why the relation of the State and of the farmers to the railroads should force itself upon the nation's attention. Such movements among farmers as the Granger party; such issues as those involved in the Long and Short Haul controversy; such state tribunals as the Inter-State Commerce Commission; bulk infinitely larger in the development of a new country than they can in that of an old. And the exigencies of long distance trade in commodities produced in bulk necessitated provision for storage at centres of collection, by way of elevators and the like, and the grading of produce for wholesale handling, which had either to be undertaken by the railroads, or by the government, or by co-operative associations of the farmers themselves. As a matter of fact all three agencies

have contributed to provide, on the whole with remarkable success, for the satisfaction of these requirements. Standardisation of product and collective sale have so far taken deep root, with respect to agricultural produce, only where the conditions have resembled those of the new lands, and where the only market available was at a distance. It is the case, for instance, with the butter and other agricultural produce sent by Denmark or Normandy or Finland to the one great open market of Great Britain. The possibilities of economy by such methods, important as they are, cannot be anything like so large in the case of farmers who are seeking to retain the relatively near market of their own lands.

36. A third differentiating factor was that the virgin soils of the new countries started with a reserve of fertility which could be drawn upon with relatively little expenditure of labour. Hence, for a couple of generations or so, their farmers could put produce on the European market much more cheaply than it was being grown in Europe. This was not because they were more efficient than European farmers in the sense of getting more out of the soil. In the sense of production their farming was far less efficient; for their yield per acre was far smaller. But they obtained that smaller yield with a still smaller relative expenditure of capital and labour; so that costs were smaller. There is much of this virgin land still to be occupied-in Canada, the Argentine and elsewhere; and its cheap product may still press upon European competitors. But much of the land taken up in the middle of last century has already shown a falling off in fertility, unless the elements taken from the soil by continuous cropping of staple products are replaced by a rotation or by artificial fertiliser. And it is the perception of this fact that has turned the attention of the farmers, and therefore of the Government, to agricultural research and education. As we shall indicate, the United States. was early in the field of agricultural education and research. But until the last decade or so agricultural education in a country like the United States had apparently little visible effect on ordinary farming practice. It is now, however, an important factor in raising the standards of production and is in fact exercising a more direct influence on practice than in any of the European countries.

B.-Agricultural Area and Output.

37. When therefore we turn to examine more closely the progress of British agriculture since 1870 as compared with that of other countries, it is with the North Western European countries, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Denmark, that comparison is most relevant. In Great Britain and in these countries there has been since 1870 comparatively little change in the extent of the area of the cultivated land. The following table shows for the year 1873, or the earliest comparable figure since that date, the area under crops, it excluding rough gr

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date. In the case of France, Belgium and Germany, the year 1912 or 1913 has been taken, as comparison with post-war years is still unsatisfactory, owing not only to territorial re-arrangements and the devastations of war, but to other causes which are affecting the reliability of their Agricultural Statistical Returns.

Area of Crops and Grass excluding Rough Grazing.

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38. It will be seen from these figures that during this period the change in the cultivated area in Great Britain, France, and Germany has been relatively small; that in Denmark and Holland, owing primarily to land reclamation, there has been a substantial addition to the agricultural area, whereas in Belgium, owing to increased urbanisation and industrialisation of the country, the agricultural area has contracted. Allowing for these circumstances, there remains a basis of comparability between these countries which cannot exist between the old countries and the new with their great changes in area and in crops and stock. In such comparable cases therefore it is important to see what main changes have taken place as regards (1) the maintenance of the arable area; (2) the yields of crops; and (3) the numbers of live stock. These form three important indices of the nature and extent of the changes in the productivity of agriculture in the several countries.

39. The changes have been considerable, and it is first necessary to recall in some detail what has taken place in Great Britain in order to provide a basis for comparison with other countries.

40. The Arable Area. In considering the first matter for comparison, namely, the position of the arable area, it is important to define what is meant by this term. The arable area is usually understood to include not only the area annually ploughed, but also the area of seeds and temporary grasses, which, from the point of view of output and of employment of labour, are more akin to permanent grass for hay and pasture. Further, in the work of statistical enumeration, it is well known that temporary pastures shade off into permanent pastures; and there is thus an element of uncertainty in comparisons of the arable area even between one year and another in the same country, and still more between one country and another, when, as is usual, the temporary grasses are included in the arable area. A more reliable basis of comparison is afforded by considering the area under the plough in

each year, that is, the area of corn crops, potatoes, roots, and other green crops, including fallow, but excluding the temporary grasses. This area is more exact statistically and furnishes a better test of the change which is taking place in respect of the issue of "crops versus grass." It should be pointed out, however, that even comparisons of this more restricted arable area, or, as it may be called, the "tilled" area, should be "weighted" with respect to the class of arable crops; for the green crops, such as potatoes and roots, employ much more labour and give a much larger yield of food energy units than do the corn crops, as well as having also a larger money value per acre. In considering, therefore, the position of the arable area in different countries, the relative position of corn and of green crops should be kept in view if a fair comparison is to be made. It will be seen that there are very important contrasts in the changes which have taken place in British as compared with North-Western European agriculture in these respects during the past fifty years.

41. It has been pointed out that since 1870 there has been very little change in the total area of crops and grass in Great Britain. But very marked changes have taken place during this period in the proportion of grass to crops. It will be useful to consider not only the figures for Great Britain, but also those for England and Wales and Scotland, as between them are not only many points of similarity but also some important points of difference. In England and Wales the area under crops and grass, temporary and permanent, was in 1871 26,322,477 acres, while in the latest returns, 1923, the area was 25,943,261 acres. In Scotland the corresponding area, on the other hand, showed an increase from 4,516,090 acres in 1871, to 4,724,462 acres in 1923. If the total areas have thus remained comparatively unchanged, it is important to note the change in the proportion of crops and grass. The arable area, including the clover and rotation grasses, has fallen in England and Wales from 14,946,179 acres in 1871 to 11,181,137 acres in 1923, a decline of 25.2 per cent., while the corresponding figures for Scotland are 3,456,946 acres in 1871 and 3,296,876 acres in 1923, a decline of 4.6 per cent. The shrinkage in the total arable area, including temporary grasses, has thus been much more marked in England and Wales than in Scotland. But the contrast is considerably modified when we compare what is much more important, the arable area excluding rotation grasses, i.e., the tilled area. This area in England and Wales has fallen from 11,876,723 acres in 1871 to 8,580,874 acres in 1923, a decline of 27.7 per cent., while in Scotland the tilled area fell from 2,156,954 acres in 1871 to 1,792,903 acres in 1923, a decline of 16.9 per cent. There has thus been, not only in England and Wales, but also in Scotland, a considerable shrinkage in the tilled area, the figures for the total arable area obscuring the fact that the increase in Scotland in clover and rotation grasses, included in the arable area, largely offsets the considerable decline which has taken place in corn and green crops.

42. Looking more closely into the situation, it will be found that the decrease in the arable and still more in the tilled area is, in the first place, due to the heavy decline in the area of wheat and of barley. In England and Wales the area of wheat has fallen from 3,438,884 acres in 1871 to 1,740,257 acres in 1923—a decline of almost 50 per cent. The area of barley has fallen also very heavily from 2,133,961 acres in 1871 to 1,364,043 acres in 1922-a decline of nearly 38 per cent. On the other hand, in England and Wales, the area under oats has increased from 1,707,816 acres in 1871 to 2,163,965 acres in 1922.

43. In Scotland the area under wheat has fallen from 133,010 acres in 1871 to 65,251 acres in 1922, an even heavier rate of decline than in England, while the area of barley has fallen from 251,822 acres in 1871 to 157,020 acres in 1922. The area of oats in Scotland has also declined, though only to a small extent, namely, from 1,007,891 acres in 1871 to 988,392 acres in 1922, whereas in England and in most other countries, the area of this crop has increased. It is thus clear that in the corn crops the decline is accounted for by the heavy shrinkage in the area of wheat and barley.

44. The total shrinkage in the area of all corn crops, including wheat, oats, barley, beans and peas, in Great Britain since 1871 has been approximately 30 per cent. This is the first main change in the arable area.

45. The second, and in its way no less important, change has been the decline in the area of roots and green crops. The area of potatoes, if the later war and early post-war years are excluded, has remained relatively unchanged. There have been considerable fluctuations from year to year, but the average of the years 1870-1 for Great Britain was 607,676 acres and the area in 1923 is 603,629 acres. On the other hand, the area of the main fodder root crops, swedes, turnips and mangels, has fallen heavily from 2,524,261 acres in 1871 to 1,676,185 in 1923, a decline of over 33 per cent. The area of mangels has shown throughout the period a tendency to increase, the heavy fall taking place in the area of swedes and turnips, which has declined by over 40 per cent. The total area of other green fodder crop has also fallen since 1870, though particular crops have shown an increase. The important fact, therefore, to bear in mind in considering the position of agriculture in Great Britain is that the decline in the arable area is due not simply to the fall in the corn crops, but also to the decline in the area of the root and green fodder crops which lie at the basis of arable stock farming.

46. The area under rotation grasses has been on the whole maintained. In 1871 it was 4,365,448 acres, rising to 4,911,350 acres in 1898 and falling to 3,863,260 in 1914, and after a further fall during the war, rising again to 4,105,844 acres in 1923. The area of permanent pasture has increased from 12,435,442 in 1871 to 16,188,420 in 1923, an increase of 3,752,978 acres, or fully

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