.^^^> '^:^ m^^ ^mi~ ■^hi^ ,^;5:^Bgjfvr .^•A^x' '^^^ .•v-a :*^U: mm fork HnU QIalbge of Agriculture At djotnell ImuerBttH Stljata, SJ. % ffitbrarg Cornell University Library HD 1927 1918 Summaries of evidence taiten before the A 3 1924 013 861 590 yj aiu II n. ^^ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013861590 MINISTRY OF RECONSTRUCTION. SUMMARIES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFOEE THE AGRICULTURAL POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE. APPOINTED IN AUGUST, 1916, TO CONSIDER AND EEPOET UPON THE METHODS OF EFFECTING AN INCREASE IN THE HOME-GROWN FOOD SUPPLIES, HAVING REGARD TO THE NEED OF S^JCH INCREASE IN THE INTERESTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY. Presented to Parliament bv Command of His tDajestv. LONDON: PUBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purcliased througli any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Imperial House, Kingswat, London, 1V.C.2, and 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.I; 37, Peter Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Orescent^ Cardiff; 23, Forth Street, Edinburgh; or from E. PONSONBY, Ltd., 116, Grafton Street, Dublin-. 1918. [Cd. 9080.] Price Is. M. Net. TABLE OF CONTENTS. ',-\H ■ X,IST OF WITNESSES IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY APPEARED BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ... ... iii SUMMARY OP' EVIDENCE ':..'.'.. 'V.. ... ».'.'; ... 1 INDEX ... 119 ..i.h- NoTE. — The Reports of the Committee can be obtained from the Agents named on the previous page, as follows : — Part I. of the Report [Cd. 8506.] Pricp Sd. net. Complete Report (including Part I.) [Cd,;9079.] ' Price Is. 3d. net. in LIST OF WITNESSES. Number Date. Name of Witness. Profession, Occupation, or Description. of first para. Page. 1916. First Day, The Et. Hon. the Earl of President of the Board of Agriculture 1 1 lOtli October. Crawford and Balcarres. and Fisheries. Second Day, The Et. Hon. F. D. Acland, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board ■ 13 4 11th October. M.P. of Agriculture and Fisheries. Third Day, Professor John Wrightson Late President of the College of Agri- 31 7 12th October. culture, Downton, and Special Crop Eeportei; .to the rimes. ' ,, ■• Mr. (now Sir) Charles W. Managing Director of the Eio Tinto, 56 9 Fielding. Limited. fourth Day, Mr. George A. Ferguson ... Farmer , 77 12 21st October. Fifth Day, Mr. W. H, Beveridge, C.B.... Assistant Secretary, Board of. Trade 88 14 25th October. Employment Department. Mr. H. Jones-Davis Development Commissioner, Governor 103 17 of the Agricultural OrganisatLojL- Society and County Land Agent for Carmarthenshire. *"' - ..«-.*...-, ... . .- Sixth Day, Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B. ... Assistant Secretary, Board of Agricul- 113 18 29th October. ture and Fisheries. Seventh Day, Sir Eobert P. Wright Chairman of the Board of Agriculture 122 22 '7th November. for Scotland. Eighth Day, Mr. E. N. Dowling Organisation of Agricultural Education 133 25 8th November. to the Lindsey County Council. The Hon. E. G. Strutt Member of the Sub-Committee 144 •27 Ninth Day, Mr". Eichard Edwards Farmer, Shropshire and Denbighshire... 151 ' 28 Sth November. Principal W. G. E. Paterson West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow. Agricultural Commissioners for Wales 162 30 Tenth Day, Mr. C. Bryner Jones, M.Sc. 172 32 21st November. Captain (now. Sir) Beville Stanier, M.P. Chairman of the British Sugar Beet Growers' Society, Limited. 181 34 Eleventh Day, Mr. E. J. Eussell, D.Sc. ... Director of Eothamsted Experimental 189 36 22nd November. Station, Harpenden. Mr. Joseph Forbes Duncan... Honorary Secretary, Scottish Farm ■ Servants' Union. 203 39 Twelfth Day, Mr. G. Bertram Shields Farmer in Haddington ... 216 42 ■23rd November, Mr. Charles P. Hall Land Agent for the Duke of Bedford's Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire estates. 224 44 Thirteenth Day, The Et. Hon. Viscount Mil- ... ... ••• 237 46 5th December. ner, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. Fourteenth Day, Mr. John M. Clark, F.S.I. ... Land Agent 266 53 6th December. Mr. W. W. Berry Farmer, Kent and Wiltshire 282 57 Fifteenth Day, Mr. Henry Overman Farmer, Norfolk 289 58 7th December. Mr. E. G. Patterson Parmer, Staffordshire 299 60 1917. Sixteenth Day, The Et. Hon. F. D. Acland, Late Parliamentary Secretary to the 309 63 30th January. M.P. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Seventeenth Day, Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B. Assistant Secretary, Board of Agricul- 324 67 31st January. (re-called). ture and Fisheries. Professor E. H. BifEen, F.E.S. School of Agriculture, Cambridge 351 73 Eighteenth Day, Mr. J. L.Green Secretary to the Eural League ... 362 75 1st February. Mr. D. C. Barnard Small Holdings Commissioner, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. 387 81 Nineteenth Day, Mr. A. Goddard Secretary to the Surveyors' Institution 398 82 13th February. Brigadier-General The Lord Lovat, K.C.V.O., D.S.O.... . 408 84 Twentieth Day, Mr. John Drysdale Secretary of the Scottish Agricultural 421 86 14th February. Mr. E. Jackson Organisation Society, Limited. Manager of the Agricultural Depart- ment of the Co-operative Whole- sale Society, Manchester. Twenty-flrst Day, Sir Henry Doran Permanent Member of the Congested •439 89 15th February. Districts Board for Ireland. Eev. A. A. David, D.D. Headmaster of Eugby 446 90 ,(6/18.) (19793r— 40.) Wt. 28436—662. 500. 10/18. D & S. Gr. 35. IV Number Date. Name of Witness. Profession, Occupation, or Description. of first para. Page 1917. Twenty-second Day, Mr. R, A. Anderson Secretary of the Irish Organisation 455 90 27th February. Society. Twenty-third Day, Mr. Norman Reid Member of the Scottish Land Court ... 483 95 28th February. Mr. F. T. Howard Divisional Inspector of Elementary Schools, Board of Education. 494 96 Mr. Kenneth Chance Managing Director of the British Cya- nides Co., Ltd. 516 99 Twenty-fourth Day, Mr. T. P. Gill and Mr. J. R. Secretary and Assistant Secretary to the 522 100 13th March. Campbell. Department of Agriculture and Tech- nical Instruction for Ireland. Twenty-fifth Day, Mr. Leslie Scott, K.C., M.P. Chairman of the Agricultural Organisa- 579 110 14th March. tion Society. Twenty-sixth day. The Rt. Hon. Robert Munro, Secretary for Scotland 591 112 24th April. K.C., M.P. Mr. E. B. Shine and Mr. Head and Superintending Inspector of 603 114 F. N. Webb. theTiivestook Branch of Agriculture and Fisheries. TVenty-seventh Day, Mr. W. G. Lobjoit Chairman of the Market Garden, Fruit 616 116 3rd July. and Hop-growing Committee of the Central Chamber of Agriculture. Mr. W. Oolthup , Parmer, Fruit, Hop and Potato Grower in Kent. 625 117 RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE. SUMMARIES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE AGRICULTURAL POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE. 1st Day, 10th October, 1916. The Et. Hon. the Earl oif Ceaweoed and Balcaeees. {President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.) 1. Lord Crawford explained at the outset that his evidence must not be taken as repre- 'sentmg the settled views of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries but simply as a statement of his own personal opinions. 2. He stated that the possibility of increasing the production of cereals without reducing the output of meat and milk is generally admitted, and he referred to the figures of Gferman pro- duction as the best illustration of this point. The fact that nearly four million acres of arable land in England and Wales had gone down to grass since the early 'seventies was clear evidence that more tillage was practicable. In his opinion, however, the greatest caution and the greatest reserve mus? be exercised in considering a ploughing-up policy; it is a "restoration" in agri- culture, not a "revolution," which will have the support of the public. In this connection he referred to the time of the Crimean War, during which, for economic reasons, there- was a rush to plough up grass land, with results which were disastrous to husbandry. On the other hand, it was generally agreed that there was no industry in the country at the present time with greater power of expansion, and he was satisfied that a substantial increase in the production of home- grown foodstuffs could be attained. 3. Lord Crawford thought it advisable to increase the proportion of cultivated land devoted to arable cultivation for various reasons. Public opinion, he said, is, as a whole, favourable to anything which will strengthen our national security, develop our natural resources and prevent waste. The intensification of husbandry will help to attract new labourers and to retain the old ones. For social and economic reasons a balance between town and country is desirable » Improved agriculture will also assist "the settlement of ex-service men on the land, reduce our dependence on foreign supplies, and help the rate of exchange. Asked what he considered the kind of grass most suitable for ploughing up, his Lordship replied that in his opinion the grass land which used to produce wheat was the worst grass now, and that that was the land which could again grow good wheat if broken u^. He was strongly opposed to the breaking up of grass simply because it was grass, stating that really good grass land was one of the most precious things we possess, that moderate grass was a valuable thing, and that grass as such was an asset which must not be lightly or hastily brushed aside. He agreed, however, with Mr. Hall that each area would have to be judged on its merits. Lord Crawford was confident that a policy such as he had discussed would be well received by the people of this country, who are now realising that their food supply is running short, and he considered this fact to be the great basis upon which a new agricultural policy can and will be built. 4. Lord Crawford expressed the opinion tha£, in order to obtain a large increase in the agricultural output, some form of security was essential, otherwise the necessary capital and enterprise will not be forthcoming. Farmers will incur no needless risks. How to establish such a stability, however, raises acute political problems such as bounties, duties or guarantees. In his opinion, one form or another of security must be provided, and a guarantee of price is probably the least open to objection. For years agriculture has been depressed and kept under depression for what, he would call, the benefit of the urban population. Agriculture has been justified in being nervous and apprehensive of the future, and that sense of timidity will not be dispelled unless and until the State is prepared to come forward and guarantee that agriculture shall not continue as in the past. The farmer, remembering the low price which prevailed only a few years ago (less than 23^.' for wheat, and less than 15*. for oats), is not going to risk his capital without greater security than he now possesses. But increased capital outlay, both by owners and tenants, was essential on houses, horses, implements, drainage, buildings and a variety of items, before a very large increase in production could 1?e e^ipecteS. 19793 A 5. With regard to the minimum guarantee, which he had advocated, his Lordship said that the guarantee should not be paid for wheat because it was wheat, but for wheat which is up to the average standard, and this could be secured by leaving each farmer to sell his own produce, and paying him the difference between the State guarantee and the Gazette average price, what- ever price he himself may have realised. He said that he approached the question, in the first instance, from the point of view of national security, not that of profit to the farmer. He thought that it might be necessary to extend the guarantee to oats and barley, on account of the large quantity of oats grown in Scotland and Ireland. Lord Crawford was unwilling to suggest a definite figure at which the guarantee should be fixed, but said that it would not need to be a very high one. He was not sure, however, that 405. would be sufficient to induce farmers to change rotations, or break up middle class grass land, but, had a guarantee been granted before the war, and had half the required area been successfully broken up and cultivated, the position of Great Britain to-day would be without anxiety, whereas the position at the moment gave more cause for anxiety on the question of the food supply than ever before during, the war. Asked whether the establishment of Land Courts would not be a logical outcome of the policy to give a minimum guaranteed price, the witness said that it might seem to be logical corollary of the policy he had advocated, but it would defeat its primary object, the increased production of food. 6. On the subject of the proposed guarantee, in cross-examination by different members of the Sub-Committee, Lord Crawford stated that he would not favour a varying amount, it should be uniform for all farmers^ and permanent, that is, it should be a figure fixed by Act of Parlia- ment, and not subject to yearly revision. He agreed that wheat yielded a profit to the farmers who were growing it before the War, and therefore any payments to these farmers under the State guarantee, would represent an increased profit, except in so far as this amount was reduced by the additional wages to agricultural labourers. No doubt the added profits might tend towards an ultimate increase of rents, but he did not regard the fact that some farmers would obtain increased profits and that some owners would receive increased rents as a conclusive argument against the proposals, although it would probably interest politicians more than the whole ques- tion of production. He could not accept the view suggested by Sir Matthew Wallace that in order to secure an area of wheat equal to that which was cropped with wheat in the'seventies it would be necessary, to offer a price not less than that which prevailed at that time, in view of the changes which had been effected in the cultivation of wheat, varieties, cost of production, &c. With regard to the crops for which a guarantee should be given Lord Crawford saw no reason why it should not be granted for the three standard cereal crops. Dairy farmers and graziers would claim that, if they were obliged to pay increased wages, their industries should also be given equal security with the corn grower, and it might become necessary to grant them some collateral assistance. On the other hand, meat and milk were not subject to the same competition as the cereals, and grass farmers would obtain some indirect benefit from a State guarantee for cereals. Moreover, it would be quite possible for them, without reducing the output of their present produce, to break up some of their grass, grow corn, and thus obtain direct benefit from the guarantee. 7. Questioned as to the advisability of compulsory powers being given to the. State in order to ensure that the best economic use is made of all cultivable land. Lord Crawford replied that it was advisable that changes should be effected with caution and reserve. There would have to be a period of transition, during which no compulsion would be applied. If the guarantee is adequate to effect a large increase of tillage, compulsion will not be required; and in any case the State will be unable to exert complete control until it is itself prepared to replace those who now occupy agricultural land. The land of this country has to be cultivated by the farmers who are on it, and worked by the labourers who are on it. It could only be farmed through the existing organisation, the existing tenants, the existing owners, and the existing labourers. It was desirable to encourage these, to supplement, to assist^ and, if necessary, to guarantee, but once the State sets out to replace them, such a feeling of uncertainty and even panic will be created, that the whole scheme would fail. The policy should aim at coaxing more capital- into the agricultural industry and this could not be done by threats of confiscation. His Lordship thought that at the outset of the new policy there would be plenty to do without exercising compulsion; and, though he was not opposed to a word of warning being spoken, indicating the possibility of force being used after an interval, he considered that anyone investigating the matter would realise that it would be several years before the State would be in a position to take compulsory measures. He thought that the farmer would in all probability do what was required of him from a desire for the national welfare, and what should be propagated was a sense of security, not fear ; the object should be to encourage, not to penalise. Force in the case of farming meant either the State taking over the farm and managing it itself, or a system of fining in respect of a particular area of land — some form of penal taxation. In any case, the necessity of paying an increased wage would act as a stimulus to increased production. While he admitted that hi« views on this aspect of the question were cautious, he reminded members that many people would think them revolutionary. 8. Lord Crawford said that if a guarantee is granted for produce, a standard wage must also be provided for labour; the security given to agriculture must be bilateral, though he admitted that the establishment of such a wage in respect of agricultural labour is one of the. most difficult problems with which the Government can be faced. Hef erring to industries in which legislation on wages had already been passed, his Lordship pointed out that there was no analogy between agriculture and coal mining, the latter industry in which employers and workmen were both well organised, and in which the number of employers were exceedingly few, not being affected by imports ; all of these conditions were reversed in the case of agriculture. The witness thought that the standard wage (which should be based on a standard time-rate, not on piece-rates) would be at a level materially higher than the average wage of the last five years, and governed to a large extent by the fact that the State was giving a guaranteed price for wheat. He considered that not only would a minimum wage keep agricultural labourers on the land, but would be essential if, on demobilisation, ex-service men are to be attracted to an agricultural life. With regard to the means by which the minimum wage should be established. Lord Crawford agreed that it must be determined, by Wages Boards in different districts, and he thought that the figure would have to vary in different counties, and even, perhaps, in different parts of a county. He did not think it would be possible for the State to fix piece-rates for agriculture, owing to the complicated nature of the industry. 9. In reply to a question on the setting up of industrial farms. Lord Crawford said that he was rather sceptical of the proposal that the State should purchase two or three farms of 10,000 acres each, with a view to showing that farming on a large scale would pay. He doubted if Parlia-, nient would ever sanction such a proposal, and thought that the State enterprise would prove disappointing. He was, however, in favour of demoiistrations on a smaller scale and instanced the work being done by the Illustration farm in Canada. This, he said, was a particular farm,, worked by a particular occupier, selected in a particular area, upon which the advice of the expert was centralised, and all the farmers in the neighbourhood watched the process of experiment on the holding of one of their own neighbours. The man who worked the .Illustration farm was paid a little for expenditure on experiments which were outside the area of the normal cropping system; so he was not out of pocket over it. He consented per contra to follow expert advice, and he derived no profit other than the profit which he could legitimately draw from his improved crop. Lord Crawford stated that the result of this system in Canada had been so remarkable that the Canadian Government had decided to extend the principle of the Illustration farm to an Illustration county. That may be an area of 10-20 miles square in which every farm was worked on the Illustration farm principle, every road laid out according to Illustration road methods, and every school run on Illustration school lines. Lord Crawford was in favour of demonstration farms being managed by the county rather than by the State. He considered that on grounds of accessibility and for other reasons, the farmer would pay more attention to a local scheme. 10. With regard to the provision of cottages for agricultural labourers. Lord Crawford stated that at the beginning of the War £1,500,000 was in process of acceptance by the Local Authorities for the purpose of housing. Both the Local Government Board and the Board of Agriculture were conscious of the great need for more cottages in rural districts. His Lordship agreed that a revival in agriculture was impossible without proper accommodation for agricul- tural labourers, and considered that security for agriculture as a whole was a good foundation on which to build a successful rural housing policy. The price of money would be one of the chief hindrances to the erection of cottages after the War. 11. Lord Crawford agreed with Captain Bathurst and Mr. Haviland that tenant farmers often occupied more land than their capital allowed them to farm intensively, but he said that the redistribution of the sizes of farms would be such a gigantic problem, involving questions of the provision of roads, cottages, buildings, &c., that it would be desirable to leave it until the solution of more urgent problems had been attempted. 12. On the subject of the improvement of grass land, Mr. E. J. Cheney, C.B., Chief Agricultural Adviser to the Board, who accompanied Lord Crawford, said that the only way of increasing the production of meat, milk, and cheese from grass land was either to improve the feeding value of the land, or to supply .the animals grazing upon it with increased quantities of concentrated food, or both. It was, he said, common knowledge that a very large proportion of the grass land of the country is badly farmed. There can, however, be no large increase of production except at a higher expenditure on labour, fertilisers, &c., and at pre-war prices the farmer had to consider not how much he could get out of the land, but how much he could afford to get out. Mr. Cheney agreed that where the rainfall was not too great a larger production of food would be obtained from grass land by ploughing it up than by leaving it in grass, but he would hesitate to advise upsetting local practice which was generally the result of experience, such as for example, that which prevailed in Cornwall where "seeds " are often left down for 10 or more years and it was impossible to distinguish temporary from permanent pasture. On the subject of drainage, Mr. Cheney said that the amount of money borrowed under the Improve- ment of Lands Act for pipe draining, which was, as a rule, a landlord's improvement, during the 25 years, 1847-1872, averaged £295,242 a year, during the 10 years 1873 to 1882, £103,027 a year, in 1884 it was £106,240, in 1894 £17,609, in 1904 £2,647, and in 1914 £1,687. The cessation of capital borrowing for drainage purposes corresponded with the period of agricul- tural depression. Speaking generally, the drainage of the land that remains in arable cul- tivation has been maintained and a certain amount of fresh drainage has been done, but the drainage of the grass land, more especially the area which used to be under the plough, has been absolutely neglected. 2nd Day, 11th October, 1916. The Ex. Hon. F. D. Acland, M.P. (Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries.) 13. Mr. Acland statedj in tke first instance, that lie gave his evidence as an agricultural politician, not an agricultural expert. The views he would express were based not so .much on his 18 months' experience as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries as on an association with agricultural politics spread over several years. 14. He looked at the whole problem first and foremost from the point of view of making the best use of land. Incidentally, from the point of view of security, he considered it essential that our home production of wheat should be greatly increased, but felt that this would not really ensure a sufficient supply of wheat at a critical time unless it were supplemented by some scheme of storage. Without that, our national supplies might, in spite of increased production, easily run below a point of safety. 15. Mr. Acland said that the nation would have to form an entirely new idea of patriotism, and that one of the forms which that idea will take, and ought to take, is that a much better use must be made of the national heritage — ^the land, not only in order to increase production, but also because the increase of the population living on the land and" making a living out of the land, is a very great asset to national life. He regarded compulsion to make the best use of land, with forfeiture of land if it were not made the best use of, as the centre and foundation of any new policy. As a minor point, Mr. Acland stated that the formulation of a rational scheme by people with a knowledge of land conditions, would prevent some reckless and stupid campaign by such bodies as the supporters of the taxation of land values, who appear to hold that extra production can be secured merely by applying sufficient taxation to the land without encouragement or any other action by the State. Mr. Acland then gave a few other illustrations of the low standard of performance and industry both by landowners and farmers. He expressed the opinion that if lan^ were to be put to a better use, it was absolutely necessary that there should be some years during which owners will be expected to adapt themselves to the changed position. During these years also, it will be necessary for the State to demonstrate by very complete experiments that it is. possible to secure a higher standard of production without loss of profit. The policy of State experiment or State-supervised experiment would have to be very bold. He also thought that a great deal more ought to be done with regard to the study of agricultural economics. 16. Mr. Acland summarised his opinion on the subject by saying that if the State is to insist on a better use being made of the land, it must be able to show that that use of land will normally pay the different persons engaged in it from year to year. It is impossible to expect or to force a farmer or landowner to do what it does not pay him to do, and, therefore, Mr.. Acland considered that the argument should be put before him in a reasonable way : that the State was going to insist upon a better use of land, that for some years it was going to show the way itself, and that, in order to get the great increase in production which is necessary, the State recognised that it must be made possible. for farmers to obtain a reason- able amount of profit from some of the m6st essential forms of cultivation. This could only be done by giving some stability with regard to the price of the crop or crops upon which the whole system of farming hinged. 17. Mr. Acland felt strongly that if stability were to be given, it should take the form of a guarantee of a uniform minimum price rather than that of a duty. By adopting a minimum price for wheat, the State could inform taxpayers what they are paying year by year, and, moreover, bread prices will not be interfered with. In his opinion the system of stability which includes a guaranteed minimum price for wheat had in it the elements of a bargain, the State enforcing maximum production on the one side and guaranteeing remunerative conditions on the other, and he thought that the, Englishman, although he would be very ready to fight over a policy of duties, when he had made something in the nature of a bargain or an arrangement— which duties could never be — would be inclined to honour it and regard it as permanent. With regard to a general policy of protection, lie agreed that if ever the nation adopted general duties, agriculture would have to struggle for its share, but gave reasons why in his opinion this would be disastroui for agriculture. 18. Mr. Acland later expressed the opinion, in reply to Mr. Douglas, that there appeared to him to be no necessity for the establishment of a guaranteed price for any other crop than wheat. He regarded wheat as a pivotal crop in producing an increase of production, and felt that a guarantee of some sort of stability with regard to the price of wheat ought to produce a great increase not only of wheat but of stock and all forms of farm produce. He was unable to accept the argument that unless there was a higher minimum price for oats than the price before the War, it will be impossible to cultivate land as it ought to be cultivated. He stated that it was only from the point of view of a higher standard of production that he saw the necessity of a guaranteed price for wheat — in itself he did not advocate even that. Mr. Acland was unwilling to suggest any definite figure at which the guarantee should stand, but pointed out that, if an appreciably higher figure than 40.s. was recommended, one of the arguments to be brought forward would be that in Germany between 1896 and 1906, during which period agriculture was taking root on a new basis and developing very rapidly and very well, the average price of wheat, including the Autj, w^s a comparatively low one (35«. 4f«i.), and it ^uT ^°* ^®^<^ ^ guaranteed minimum price much higher than that to do the same in England, although he admitted that the cost of production in England will, in future, be higher than It was at that time m Germany, and that the German farmer obtained protection for other crops than wheat. Q+ +■^^'1, ^j' ^^l^^^ *^®^ stated that, from a political point of view, he considered the btate should establish a moderate guarantee as to the price' of wheat, and that any further tunds available should be applied to other methods of encouraging the conversion of grass land into arable. In connection with the latter question, one point which Mr. Acland thought well worthy of consideration was whether, on estates where the tenants are converting grass into arable, some special assistance should not be offered to the landowners (on whom the burden ot the cottage building and fresh farm-buildings will fall) in order to help them to meet the capital expenditure which will be necessary. In reply to a question put by Mr. Strutt, Mr. Acland stated that he was not in favour of the assistance he had suggested taking the form of a continuing bonus year after year on the acreage ploughed up ; it should, in his opinion, be a "lump" sum spread over, say, three years. Sir Ailwyn Fellowes afterwards raised the question as to whether the proposed bonus should not be given to the farmer rather than to the landowner, but Mr. Acland, while admitting that something might have to be done to tide the farmer over the first few months after he had increased his tillage, maintained that the farmer ought to have lots of capital after the War and would not for the most part be involved in any capital outlay, while the owner would have to meet ths expense of building cottages, altering buildings, &c. Asked whether he had thought of any definition of the sort of grass land on which a bonus should be allowed, Mr. Acland replied that he was not sure that any definition would cover it, and that it would probably have to be dealt with by local judgment. 20. Discussing agricultural wages, Mr. Acland said that the securing of a proper wage should form an essential part of any new agricultural policy. He acknowledged, the difficulties connected with the establishment of "Wages Boards in different districts, but thought that the question of securing wages in the low-wage counties was one which must be tackled and carried through ; if it could be done voluntarily, so much the better. Asked whether he did not consider that the Wag.es Boards should be set up everywhere and not only in low-wage counties, Mr. Acland agreed that that would probably be the right thing to dOj but thought that such Boards would not have to be made use of in counties like Northumberland, where wages, in many cases, would already be higher than the minimum fixed. 21. Mr. Acland also thought that too much stress should not be laid on the establishment of a minimum wage as a quid pro quo for a guaranteed price for wheat, and stated that, although the guarantee of a ininimum wage and the guarantee of a minimum price for wheat would go together, they were not two complementary parts of the same argument — he considered both to be essential, but not necessarily dependent on each other. No working man would accept the argument that because the farmer at last was to be made to pay fair wages, as had already been done with many other sweated trades, he ought to have some special reward. Mr. Acland was of opinion that better wages pay in the long run, and that they have not got to be in force very long to prove that they pay. He did not suggest any sum at which he considered the minimum should be fixed, but said that a bold suggestion might be made that the minimum weekly wage should be half the amount of the guaranteed price for wheat. In any case, he considered that the wage should be sufficiently high to enable the man to pay a full economic rent for his cottage as in towns. 22. The housing problem, Mr. Acland agreed with Mr. Strutt, is a gigantic one, but also a most important one since, if a great many more men are brought on to the land and agricultural production is increased, a great addition to the rural population will result. 23. , In reply to a question by Captain Bathurst, Mr. Acland stated that he thought it a very good thing that everybody should realise the burden of rates by direct payment of his own, and that, although this might, in the first place, make the public more than ever unwilling to agree to useful rate expenditure, he considered that that objection should be worked through, and the people shown that sound expenditure by public authorities produces a valuable return. He agreed that, on the whole, the burden of rates — not so much as they are, but as they ought to be — is rather too heavy on the agricultural industry, and considering, as he did, that there ought gradually to be a very great increase of rate expenditure on education and health especially, he thought that, from the national point of view, it would be good policy for the burden of rates to be adjusted both in town and country. 24. With regard to agricultural rents, Mr. Acland considered that farming suffered a great deal more from under-renting than it was ever likely to do from over-renting, and that some of the best farming and production in the Kingdom was in districts where farms were rented up to their full economic value. He observed that he could not conceive of any system of rent-fixing at the present time which would not have, from the point of view of agriculture and production, a greater effect in perpetuating slovenly and low standards of farming than in encouraging the farmer to put forth his best energies. Mr. Acland explained that if a system could be established which would fix rents at what they ought to be, and would also secure that when the landowner expended capital he should get from the tenant a proper business return on the money expended, he would welcome it, but otherwise he thought it would be a very considerable disaster to agriculture. 19793 ^ ^ 25. In reply to Mr. Strutt, the witness stated that he considered that it might be necessary to use compulsion in order to ensure that owners and farmers made the best possible use of the land, but he thought that that should not be done until great encouragement had been given to them and fair warning. He thought that then, should some owner still refuse to take the fteps necessary to increase the output from his estate, the Government would be quite justified in taking the land out of his hands, giving him 25 years' purchase of what he is making out of it at the time, and sell or let the land to someone who will make better use of it. Mr. Acland expressed the hope that the idea that a policy of compulsion, based on a realisation that greater production was a national necessary, was in the background, would in most cases have the desired effect, rather than the actual fact of compulsion. 26. Mr. Acland advocated a survey being carried out of the agricultural land of Great Britain, and he regarded such a survey as urgently required. He thought the survey should go thoroughly into the position of each property from the point of view of its ownership, and also each village and parish, in order to investigate the agricultural, social and economic questions connected with each district. Un1;il the State found out exactly, parish by parish, what was wrong, they could not begin to insist on its being put right. 27. Asked by Mr. Strutt whether he advocated the establishment of State Industrial Farms, Mr. Acland replied that he was certainly in favour of farms being run in which all accounts and operations should be under State inspection and direction, but he would like the management to be carried out by the landowner himself on the lines of a large industrial business. He admitted that, in the past, proprietors' farms could not usually be considered as models to be followed by tenants with a view to commercial success, but gave as the chief reason for this the fact that it has never been regarded in this country as part of an owner's duty to use his land to the best advantage. 28. With regard to the production of food from land at present used for other purposes, such as golf or deer-stalking, Mr. Acland expressed the opinion that where it can be shown that the great majority of persons using such land cannot obtain reasonable recreation so pleasantly or cheaply in any other way (as is the case with some golf courses in the neighbour- hood of towns and used largely by artisans) he would be prepared to take no action. But if this were not the case, and the land could be put to better use under crops, he would require that the owners should use it for agricultural purposes even at a large sacrifice of rent. 29. On, various matters which occurred incidentally in his examination, Mr. Acland expressed the following views. He would put the onus of securing good cultivation on the landlord, not on the tenant. It might be necessary later to cut the landlord right out of the British system of agriculture, but the State should first try every means of making him work at his job as hard and efficiently as other people were expected to do. He would not actually apply compulsion at once, for it would be necessary to have the goodwill of the best landowners and farmers behind the policy, and this could only be secured if they were given sufficient lime to adopt new methods, but it must be made clear from the very beginning that compulsion would be applied as soon as there had been sufficient time. It would have to be recognised as scandalous, and unbefitting for a gentleman,, that landowners should take longer holidays from real hard work than railway managers — and that would take time. If landowners did not train some of their sons for their profession that would show that they were not qualified to conduct the profession, and the land 'should pass to those who were. The State would have to set the example of securing better farming on the land under its control, and other public bodies should do the same. The system of big farms would, incidentally, train men who would be sought for as tenants even if they had not capital : the need of capital was an artificial protection to agriculture and harmful to it. Agriculture was far more helped by the State than any other industry, and the reason it was not far more helped than it was was rather indifference of agriculturists than the indifference of the State. It was well worth considering whether all farmers should not be brought compulsorily under Schedule D. of the Income Tax, not only so as to produce more revenue, but also in order to make them keep accounts. The problem of securing that the owner of land had capital adequate to carrying on his industry was extremely difficult; the owner who had industry and goodwill towards land but no capital, and the owner who had capital but neither industry nor goodwill both did harm and were a check on real development. 30. Mr. Acland concluded his evidence by saying that he foresaw very great difficulties in carrying out a policy of the kind he had discussed, but he thought that the difficulties would simply have to be faced and gone through with. 3rd Day, 12th October, 1916. Peofessoe John Weightson. 31. Professor Wrightson, late President of the College of Agriculture, Dowuton, and special Crop Eeporter to " The Times," thought that the Committee would probably accept as a truism his statement that an increase in the area devoted to cereals must, pro tanto, increase the production of beef and mutton. Rotations of crops entail the production of many tons of roots besides a hay crop ; and, in addition, during a four-course rotation, two corn crops, pro- ducing two ttjns of straw to the acre. Thus, an increase in grain crops should make it easier to maintain stock. The conversion of grass land into arable would therefore increase the pro- duction of beef and mutton, and the same would apply to milk, because it is immaterial to the farmer whether he devotes his roots and hay to the production of beef or milk. 32. Captain Bathurst pointed out that the views of the witness on the subject of the Sub-Committee's enquiry had been fully set out in a Paper entitled "The Extension of Agricultural Food Supplies " which he read before the Farmers' Club in December, 1914, and suggested that it would' be most convenient to the Sub-Committee if certain extracts from this Paper were reaid and the witness examined on them. The following extracts were accordingly read : — 33. " England and Wales produced enough [wheat] to feed its population (then of 20,000,000) in 1854, when, according to figures given by Sir John Lawes, its wheat requirements were exceeded by 2 per cent. It has not done so since. 34. "When we remember that of the total wheat produced in Great Britain, 946 per cent, is grown in England, it is clear that this is chiefly an English question. It might be said that as we grew enough wheat to supply our population in 1854, we should be able to do so now. Ldo not, myself, see why not, provided the inducement was forthcoming 35. "Convinced, as I am, that arable cultivation can alone solve this problem, and that it is connected with wheat-growing to a paramount degree, I assume 358 lbs., or 5| 62-lb. bushels, to represent the annual consumption of wheat per head of population. Six bushels over 40,000,000 people = 240^000,000 bushels ; as also do 30 bushels per acre over 8,000,000 acres. The question is, where are we to find this 8,000,000 acres? or, to be less ambitious, how can we double,' treble, or quadruple our present area of 1,756,000 acres? In the first place, it is well to remember that Great Britain, within the memory of many of my hearers, grew 3 to 4 millions of acres of wheat. I propose to leave out many minor questions which affect the main issue, such as the reservation of seed, weight per bushel, average yield, improved varieties, &c. It is quite likely that a large increase in area would diminish the average produce to, say, 28 bushels; but we are out for big figures and approximate estimates, and I hope the discussion will not be deflected to smaller considerations. 36. "If all the land laid down to -grass since 1867 were broken up, it would not help us to produce more than half the amount of wheat required. We should have a vast increase in our arable land, but it would be cultivated on some principle of rotation of crops, and would not mean that amount of land brought under wheat in any one year. 37. " The question seems to involve a large increase in land imTnediately under the plough, and this at once introduces the question of rotation grasses and sainfoin left down for periods of from two to seven years. 38. " Apart from breaking up pastures, I can see a substantial increase in wheat cultiva- tion, especially in those counties which have largely adopted this particular system. . . . . 39. " More than half of the total wheat of Great Britain is grown in 12 English counties — all adjoining each other, and together forming the Eastern, South-Eastern, and East Midland districts. They are Beds, Berks, Cambridge, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, Hunts, Herts, and Northants. These counties all devote from one-fourth to tne-sixth of their total arable land to wheat. 40. "There are many others which certainly do their duty as to wheat-growing, among which may be mentioned Oxford, Warwick, Wilts, Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester. 41. " Where, then, are the defaulters? They are to be found chiefly in the North and West, where the system of allowing rotation grasses to lie for several years prevails. As examples of these: Cornwall only allots one-seventeenth of her arable land to wheat; Devon, one-eleventh; Yorks, one-tenth; Durham, one-fifteenth; Northumberland, one-fiftieth; Cum- berland, one-twenty-first; Cheshire, one-tenth; and Lancashire, one-seventeenth. Even Shrop- shire and Dorset only contribute one-eighth of their arable land to this purpose, although they enjoy exceptionally good climates for the purpose. 42. " As to the suitability of our Northern and Western counties to produce wheat, there can be no doubt whatever. From 1857 to 1861 it was my privilege to see week by week a double row of wheat and other corn sacks stretching across Hexham Market Place every Tuesday. About six years ago I was in Hexham on market day and not a single sack was to be seen, the entire district having practically gone down to grass. I know personally that North Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, and East Cumberland grew very large areas of wheat sixty years since, and that 40 bushels per acre was thought a standard good crop, just as m most other wheat-growing counties. .... » . 43. " The ploughing up of two, three, four, or more years grass however, otters one of the best means of increasing our wheat area. I will take the 12 counties which produce over half the present crop grown in Great Britain. They comprise 4,571,460 acres of arable land 19793 . . -A. * 8 and produce 918,242 acres of wheat. 'Now, if all tkese counties grew the same proportion of wheat as Bedford, Cambridge, Essex, and Herts, they would produce 225,000 acres more than they did in 1913. If the remaining English counties were induced by higher prices to grow wheat over even one-fifth of their arable land, instead of over one-sixth, one-tenth, one-twentieth, or even one-fiftieth (as in Northumberland), they would yield 1,162,452, instead of 765,000 acres, as at present, or a gain of 396,800 acres. By this simple process we should gain 620,000 acres without touching our permanent pastures. 44. " We know that oats have largely taken the place of wheat since the per acre value of the two cereals approached each other so nearly as recently. I believe a great deal of land has been ' over-oated,' hence tulip-root, eel-worm, and frit-fly 45. "The latest Returns of the Board of Agriculture give 14,360,000 acres of arable and 17,567,000 acres of pasture, also exclusive of heath and mountain. There appears, therefore, to have been in Great Britain a decrease of about 3^ millions of arable land and an increase of 5^ millions of acres of pasture, due probably to a wider definition of grass land. Before pro- ceeding further, it is interesting to enquire how this enormous increase in grass has affected live stock ? As briefly as possible, it has resulted in a loss of 5 million sheep and half a million pigs, with an increase of 2 million cattle of all ages, including calves. 46. "As 3^ millions of acres have actually disappeared from arable cultivation, I use that area as a basis. I reckon that 5^ millions of sheep and pigs equal 916,000 cattle (6 to 1) which reduces the nett increase in live stock (in terms of cattle) to 1,084,000. That is, this land taken from the old arable area is maintaining one stirk or yearling to almost exactly 3^ acres of land ! I, however, doubt the increase of 2 million cattle since 1867, because 1866 was the cattle plague year, when the Royal Agricultural Show had to be abandoned, and British herds were devastated to the extent of over 200,000 head. That is to say, there must have been more cattle in 1865 than in 1867. Considering that we have sacrificed in this transaction pretty nearly 1,000,000 acres of corn, the result must be allowed to be very dis- quieting as to food production, and to afford a curious comment upon our progress. 47. "Now, of the 3J million acres abstracted from the 1867 areas, only from one-third to one-fifth would come under wheat in any one year; but it is equally true that an increase in tillage is tantamount to an increase not only in corn cultivation, but in meat and milk, pigs and potatoes, fruit and vegetables, and everything that the title of this paper implies. With 3^ millions of acres, judiciously selected out of existing grass land,*we might look for 1,000,000 more acres of wheat, and reach a total of 4,700,000 acres, which is as far as competent authori- ties might be inclined to go. That we might, if necessary, raise another million or two acres is as true as that we might raise an extra million or two of soldiers — and there is a certain analogy between the two cases; but we scarcely contemplate entire, dependence upon home production, and what I have indicated appears sufficient for any circumstances likely to arise. That an increase in wheat area would react upon the food supply generally is well shown in the case of bacon, a commodity which depends much upon barley-meal, pollards, sharps, and milk. There were more pigs in Great Britain in 1868 than in 1913. Also, as to dairying — apart from cheese-making — can anyone doubt that more cows could be maintained and more milk produced on -100 acres of tillage than on 100 acres of grass, together with 50 acres of wheat in addition? " 48. Professor Wrightson stated that the argument he had advanced in his Paper of December, 1914, went to show that the gain of two million cattle in the last 40 years was not equal in the matter of meat supply to the loss of five million sheep and a half million pigs. He referred the Committee to a later Paper on Food Supplies which he had contributed to the "Contemporary Review" for September, 1915. In his opinion it was possible to increase very materially the production of wheat without converting any grass land to arable. A great deal of land could grow wheat twice in four years just as easily as once in four years, and the changes which he had suggested in his Paper would bring about the following additions to the acreage under wheat without an increase in the scheduled arable area. By slight and simple changes of rotations in eight counties 225,000 acres. By general reversion to a five-course system ... 396,000 ,, By increase ia the Scottish area ... ... ... 56,000 ,, By reducing the area devoted to oats in England and Wales in favour of wheat .. . ... ... 1,000,000 ,, 1,677,000 49. He was, however, strongly in favour of ploughing up grass land; and he thought it was possible by this means to provide a very large proportion of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom with the wheat they required. He saw nothing impossible in producing five to six million acres of wheat. Assuming that the Government made it profitable to grow wheat, there would be nr^ difficulty in trebling our wheat production. He would not venture to advocate aiming at more tnan five million acres. He was averse to farmers being compelled to increase their area under wheat. In previous times, when four million acres were cropped with wheat, it was because it paid to grow wheat. At the present time it paid better not to grow wheat. 50. With regard to the area of England suitable to wheat cultivation, the witness explained that if a line was drawn from Hull through Bristol to the Dorset coast, south and south-east of that line would be found the main wheat-growing area. The proportion of land in those counties devoted to wheat was one-fifth. North and north-west of that line less than one-eighth of the arable land was under wheat, but he saw no reason why these latter counties should not greatly increase their wheat production. 51. The crux of the whole matter was the margin of profit between arable and grass farming. The climatic conditions of the north and west are highly favourable to grazing, and with recent low prices for cereals grass has naturally been more profitable to the farmers in that area. But he did not accept the general opinion that wheat growing had declined, or even vanished, from those counties merely because of climatic conditions. For 10 years he had collected opinions as to the yields of wheat in England, Scotland, and Wales, and the estimates as to bushels to the acre were always higher in these grass counties. With regard to the price which it would be necessary to offer farmers to induce them to plough up their grass the witness reminded the Committee that 42s. had been considered a very good price, and that even 40*. per acre to-day would be an inducement, in his opinion, for some farmers to grow more wheat. But to get farmers to plough up their grass to any considerable extent he considered that not less than bOs. would have to be offered. Wheat may be made to pay at SOs. or 35«. as one crop in a rotation, but if it is necessary to grow two wheat crops in a rotation or to increase the total arable area, it would be necessary to offer the farmers a much higher figure. The witness could not accept the view that wheat growing was cheaper to-day than in the sixties. Forty bushels an acre was thought a good crop 100 years ago and is thought so still. In the interval not only has a great deal of poor land gone down to grass but an immense amount has been spent on agricultural education and agricultural science, but the average production has not varied to any great extent yet. In his opinion it would be a most extraordinary thing if by the application of science the yield of wheat was increased by one bushel an acre over the United Kingdom during the next 10 years. Agriculture was a very old occupation not developed through inventions or discoveries so much as by a process of evolution and of cumulative experience. The scientist did not improve, so much as explain practice. Professor Wrightson demurred to the idea that the increased use of machinery had lessened the cost of growing wheat, and that cTeciHedly better qualities of wheat are available now than there used to be, although he believed that Professor Biffen had now discovered a wheat which might prove of great value. 52. With regard to the question of grazing cattle, Professor Wrightson said that he did not believe much in open grazing. With more arable land more house feeding in summer would be necessary, but young stock do better in yards than by out-grazing. He agreed that it cost more to winter graze than summer graze, and this might have an effect on the price of beef. He considered it necessary only to provide exercise ground for cows, their feeding being done in the house. 53. Referring to the reduction in the arable area Professor Wrightson agreed with Sir Matthew Wallace that it would be highly impracticable suddenly to bring into tillage millions of acres of grass. It reqiiired time to convert the poorer classes of grass land into productive arable land. He considered that there was only one cause for the shrinkage of the area under wheat and that was price. 54. Asked as to whether only the worst land had gone out of wheat cultivation, witness said that while it was true that .the better land had survived in wheat the land which had gone down to grass was in many cases not bad land from the point of view of yield, but it was often expensive land to work. To bring this land back he regarded a guarantee that wheat will not fall below a certain price as absolutely necessary. 55. Captain Bathurst asked Professor Wrightson as to his experience in the education of prospective landowners. The witness replied that he had always considered there was a great .»nope for improvement in this branch of education. While he had no great faith in teaching farmers how to farm, he thought it highly desirable that further facilities should be provided to enable our land-owners and land-agents to become better equipped 'for the management of their agricultural estates. ■ Mh. G. W. Fielding. 56. Mr. Fielding is the Managing Director of Rio Tinto, Limited, and said that the evidence he would place before the Sub-Committee was the result of the study of British and foreign agriculture during the past 15 years. 57. The witness expressed the opinion that of the soil products imported in 1913 the amount that could have been produced in the United Kingdom cost about £250,000,000; later on it would be possible to produce in addition some of the wood and timber now imported at £33,000,000. In investigating why we imported so much while other countries, such as France, were self-supporting, and Germany practically so, he had noticed that 20 per cent, of the cultivated area of Germany was grass land, while in the United Kingdom 60 per cent, was grass. Since 1875, the United Kingdom laid down 4,000,000 additional acres to grass without materially increasing cattle; sheep had slightly declined and pigs had not increased. Germany had increased cattle .25 per cent, and pigs 300 per cent, in the same time, but reduced sheep from 25,000,000 to 5,000,000. It was found that 3 per cent, of our cultivated ground was growing bread grain, 25 per cent, of Germany, and 30 per cent, of France ; while 3 per cent, of our population were engaged in healthy agriculture, against 17 per cent, in Germany and 30 per cent, in France. As Germany imported so little before the War, it seemed well to compare her agricultural progress; and it. was found that over the last twenty years her gross output per cultivated acre based on English prices had increased from £6 5s. 4d. to £8 18*. Od. 10 per annum, while in the same period, and on the same basis prices, England had remained stationary at only £4 of gross output per acre. Germany increased the quantity of cereals and potatoes produced by 60 per cent, in the 20 years, and also increased her meat production by 25 per cent. Knowing that the soil and climate in Germany were no better than England, the conclusion seemed obvious that their method of cropping, or rotation, plus better cultivation, was the cause. 58. The most obvious defect in the agriculture of the United Kingdom, from a food producing point of view, was the small area of grain produced; and, as Germany and France each produced all their own meat with only 27 per cent, of their cultivated area under grass, it was obvious that the increase of meat production came with increased grain-growing area. 59. Knowing there would be the utmost difficulty in persuading people in the United King- dom to increase arable beyond breaking up the grass laid down since 1875, Mr. Fielding stated that he determined to see what the United Kingdom could produce on altered rotation with the acreage of plough land no greater than that in 1873. He, therefore, worked out after numerous trials the "Agricola" scheme of cropping*. Eoughly, the scheme involves a rotation of: One crop of wheat in each three years; one crop of barley, oats, peas or beans each three years; one clover crop in each seven years;" and one cleaning root crop in a seven-year rotation; peas or beans should be introduced as one of the corn crops to aid the clover and to add natural nitrogen to the soil. Calculating the crop that would result on no higher basis than the present average the United Kingdom yields, the quantity available for human food and for animal food that would be produced by the " Agricola " system of cropping was ascertained. The wheat and potatoes that would be produced were found equal to the total United Kingdom pre-war consumption. In order to ascertain how far the other crops would go towards feeding the animals needed to supply the United Kingdom with its needs of meat, milk, butter, cheese, sugar, &c., required the calculation of the rations needed to feed cattle, sheep and pigs of all ages, as well as the horses to work the land. (Tables handed in.) The quantities of animal food available were found to be sufficient for all the animals that would have to be kept to supply all needs of meat and half the imported butter. Mr. Fielding explained that the figures used in the tables referred to are matters of practice, and to some extent of opinion. He had worked these out from data collected over many months from every available source. As proof that under the whole " Agricola " scheme it was possible to grow almost all our own food depends on the accuracy of these tables, he had been at great pains to verify that within small limits the rations are correct. As a practical check he fed his own 30 farm horses and 300 cattle of all ages on these rations successfully for twelve months. He had put the figures before the best experts, and so far no one has seriously disputed their suitability. He had also converted the whole of the German crops into starch units of nourishment, and then worked out what all the animals kept in Germany would have consumed in starch units had they been fed on the "Agricola" rations. The results showed that in total the proposed rations for English animals correspond almost exactly with the German practice. Mr. Fielding claimed, therefore, that these figures demonstrate that not only all our bread and potatoes can be produced in this country, but all the food needed for the animals producing our meat, milk, cheese, &c., and most of our butter, if the soil of the United Kingdom is cropped in a proper rotation siutable to the national needs. 60. To produce these results it would be necessary to break up 4,000,000 acres of grass land ; to grow wheat in England at least one year out of three ; to produce more oats and barley in Scotland and Ireland; and also to produce an increased yield of about 20 per cent, of hay and wurzels through an increased consumption of basic slag and other phosphatic and nitrogenous manures. 61. To carry out the scheme an additional supply of about 150,000 to 200,000 farm labourers would b'e necessary. 100,000 cottages would have to be built for the* extra labourers, who might well be recruited from soldiers at the end of the War. Mr. Fielding suggested that most of these cottages might be built, as far as roofs, floors, upper walls, doors, &c., are concerned from War Office huts to be handed over to agriculture at, say, half the pre-war price of the wood of which they were built. The witness handed in a plan of a good cottage so constructed, the cost of which on a pre-war basis works out at £120. 62. The "Agricola" scheme would also require 25,0D0 three-furrow motor ploughs, or their equivalent in steam, and the import annually of an additional IJ million tons of oilcake of which Germany .before the War imported 2,000,000 tons, largely from the British Empire! It. would require -that' we should keep nearly two million more cows, several millions more young horned cattle, and jthat we should increase our pigs threefold. The manufacture of a sufficient amount of phosphate manure (superphosphate and basic slag) would have to be secured at reasonable prices. The exports of sulphate of amraonia Mr. Fielding urged should be stopped or greatly reduced, iwhen there. will be ample artificial nitrogenous manures made in the country without the import) of more nitrate of soda than at present. In potash, we must hope to draw supplies from Lorraine "when it again becomes French soil; failing this, the Spanish deposits may be opened up. Gtherwise,, for potato and other root growing this country will still be dependent on Germany. • the " Agricola " scheme of cropping with related tables is printed as Appendix III. to the Reoort fPart II nf the Sub-Committee. f v j or 11 63. Additional capital must be available for the farmers, as, with the somewbat intensive cultivation to be followed, the farmer will require the use of £9, if not £10, per acre. Mr. Fielding suggested that existing banks in all tbe county towns should have a co-operative guarantee by the Government against loss up to 75 per cent, of advances to farmers (or up to 100 per cent, in cases where the Board of Agriculture guarantees any farmer about whom the bank manager is doubtful). 64. No breaking up of grass land, or increased proportion of wheat growing could be asked of the farmer unless he was guaranteed by the Nation against loss. The unanimous opinion of Lord Milner's Committee, of which the witness was a member, was that the farmer should be secured against loss by being guaranteed a price for the wheat he produced. With such a guarantee, and £2 per acre given, either as a gift or as a loan, to cover the cost of breaking up the grass, he could be reasonably called upon to break up the land which had gone down to grass in the last forty years, and should be required to follow the rotation which would secure the Nation the bulk, if not the entire quantity, of the food it requires. The farmer could also fairly be required to pay a minimum wage of 20s. a week to his labourers, and the landlords could fairly be required not to exact any undue increase in rent during the Government guarantee. 65. The town worker should not grudge paying in taxation the equivalent of an extra halfpenny per loaf for his bread, if necessary, to secure the nation against starvation through submarine action, especially when the manufactures of the country would find additional home purchasers when a large part of the £300,000,000 now sent abroad for soil products was retained within the United Kingdom. 66. In regard to the amount of the guaranteed price for wheat, it would not be unreason- able to give the farmer less than the inflated import price of wheat likely to rule during the coming year or two, and Mr. Fielding suggested a guarantee of 50s. a quarter during the War, with the right to requisition all his wheat at 55s. and a guarantee of 42s. Qd. for seven years after the War. It is, in his opinion, absolutely necessary to give several years' guarantee, to pay the farmer for breaking up land and increasing wages. The method of paying such ' a guarantee would be very simple, viz. : After the close of each year, the farmer would render a bill to the Excise Office in his county town for the quarters of wheat he had threshed at the difPerence in price between the Government guarantee and the official Board of Agriculture average market price of wheat for the year. As a guarantee of quantity, a certificate would be given by the owner of the, threshing machine, and the whole matter be always open to investigation and check by the Inland Revenue Authority. 67. In cross-examination, Mr. Fielding stated that, in his opinion, the only difficulty in bringing some millions of acres of grass land under the plough was the question of labour. In the first year it would not be possible in many cases to grow wheat on the new arable land if broken up late in the year, but this could be done the second year after it had been broken up. In his opinion the reason that the acreage under wheat in England had not been reduced even lower than it stood at present was that farmers did not keep books, and in many cases were unaware that they were growing wheat at a loss. Moreover, many farmers grew wheat in their rotation and for the straw. He did not regard it as profitable before the War to grow wheat at 33s. a quarter. 68. In reply to Sir Matthew Wallace, Mr. Fielding said that in his calculations he had used 32 bushels per acre as the average yield of wheat, but, by use of fertilisers, it was quite possible to grow even up to 80 bushels to the acre, but, of course, he did not advocate as high as this. 69. Replying to Mr. Douglas, witness said that if the English farmer was offered 42s. Gd. for wheat he would displace a proportion of his oats and barley in order to obtain the benefit of the guarantee, and in this way the Scottish farmer would benefit indirectly from a guarantee on wheat alone, because he would meet with less competition from the English farmer in oats, &c. England is better suited by climatic conditions to grow wheat than Scotland and Ireland. In England wheat could displace 300,000 acres of oats, 200,000 acres of barley, 200,000 acres of turnips, and 1,600,000 acres of rotation grasses. This, plus two million acres at present grown, and that to be got from broken up grass, gives nearly the 8,000,000 acres required for wheat. 70. With regard to the question of wages, Mr. Fielding said that one could not expect the town voter to agree that the farmer should be assisted from State funds to increase his production unless he was satisfied that the agricultural workmen received an adequate wage. He had therefore, come to tlie conclusion that a minimum wage for agricultural labourers uiust form an essential part of any new agricultural policy. Such minimum wage should be fixed by a Wages Board in each district. With regard to rents he considered it might be necessary to introduce legislation to ensure that landowners would not exact any undue increase as a result of the additional returns obtained by farmers through the minimum guarantee. 71 Asked whether he considered it necessary for compulsory powers to be given to the State to ensure that increased production was obtained as a result of a minimum guarantee for wheat, Mr. Fielding said that though you could compel the farmers to produce all the wheat we needed at once, he thought it was better that the Nation's needs should be placed before the farmers in a reasonable and persuasive way and that, they being assured that they would benefit financially by the scheme, no compulsion would be necessary. On the other hana, 12 if after two or tliree years the scheme did not have the desired efEect, the State would be justified in using compulsion. 72. With regard to the amount of the guarantee, Mr. Fielding said that he did not regard 42*. 6d. as an excess figure. A smaller amount would certainly not be sufficient to induce farmers to increase their arable acreage. Parliament must give this guarantee for ut least 8-10 years, which guarantee must be in the form of a contract which could not be can- celled, and payment would have to be made to farmers for all the wheat they produced. The machinery that would be necessary to distinguish between the additional wheat and the amount at present produced would be too complicated. If minimum agricultural wages, however, are increased after the War much beyond the figure which he had mentioned, namely, 20s., it would probably be necessary to increase the guaranteed price for wheat somewhat beyond 42*. Qd. The agricultural labourer at present on the farms was not, in his opinion, worth as much as 25s. a weet. 73^ Mr. Fielding considered that eventually nearly all grass land should be ploughed up. 74. In reply to Mr. Eoberts, Mr. Fielding said he hoped eventually the Government would Lake all home-grown wheat and supply Government bread over every Post Office counter at a fixed price for 20 years. The Government could do this at a profit to the nation if they bought the English wheat at 50*. a quarter and sold the bread at bd. the 4-lb. loaf. Mr. Fielding thought that the bonus of£2, which he had suggested should be paid to the farmers for every additional acre which they ploughed up, should be regarded as a sum which it was necessary to supply to enable farmers to meet additional transition expenses and capital expenditure which would be incurred in the first year or two. Before very long, 1,000,000 acres of sugar beet should be grown. Sugar beet is one of the essentials of the improvement of agriculture. Munition workers should later on be turned on to production of agricultural implements. Additional manure would possibly be obtained from factories erected by the Explosives Department of the Ministry of Munitions. 75. In reply to Mr. Hall, the witness stated that his "Agricola" scheme was based on the rations required for animals kept in this country, and that on the " Agricola " ■'cheme basis it would be possible to. supply all the food for human consumption as well as that 3'equired for all the stock needed to produce all our meat and milk by ploughing up 4 or 5 million acres of grass land and altering the rotations in the way he had suggested in his evidence in chief. He admitted, however, that it would be necessary to break up a considerably larger area of grass land in order to grow food equivalent to our present imports. The difference between present consumption in this country and the amount required to provide the rations under the "Agricola'.' scheme, Mr. Fielding agreed, was no doubt accounted for to a great extent by the large amount of food which was wasted by the present want of method in feeding. 76. In reply to Captain Bathurst, Mr. Fielding said that the purchase price of some agricultural land suggests that much land is under-rented. He would not hesitate to cancel any covenants in tenants' leases preventing their breaking up poor pastures. No doubt it would be necessary to protect land-owners from tenants ploughing up their good grass and then leaving the farm after taking two or three crops off. Land-owners, even though they did not receive any all-round increase in rent in consequence of the guarantee scheme, would obtain considerable benefit in various indirect ways from increased prosperity on their estates. He thought that it was highly desirable that the sons of land-owners should be educated in agriculture, so as to take more intelligent interest in the management of their agricultural estates. 4:th Day, 24th October, 1916. Me. George A. Febguson. 77. Mr. Ferguson stated" that he farmed about 1,000 acres in the County of Elgin, of which he owned about 180 acres. He said that a great deal more cereals could be produced in Scotland than were being grown at the present time, and that of the land under grass it would be quite possible to convert one-third or one-half into arable without decreasing the production of meat and milk. This would involve more intensive cultivation. That could not possibly be brought about except with an increase in the average price of cereals. He thought that the Government should consider what crops were required in the national interest and take steps to ensure that farmers would not receive less than a certain minimum price for such crops. Since the price of cereals fell, the cost of producing grain in Scotland had very often been greater than the price realised by the farmers. In his opinion it would be desirable to impose fluctuating import duties on oats and wheat so as not to allow the price to fall below the cost of production. He considered that 20*. per quarter for oats and 40*. for wheat would be reasonable figures. Whatever method was adopted for giving the farmers a certain stability of price he had no hesitation in saying that extra capital would not be attracted to agriculture without such stability. 78. Mr. Ferguson considered that opportunity should be afforded tenants for purchasing their land; such a proposal would be very popular in Scotland and largely taken advantage of The object would be to give farmers greater security of tenure and do away with bad 13 "landlordism." He said that under the present law some security was given to the tenant, but in order to put the law into operation farmers found it necessary, as a rule, to expend more money than they gained by compensation. He stated that in Scotland the great majority of landlords understood their business and were managing their estates in a Very satisfactory manner. Farmers complained, however, that too many estates were managed through lawyers' offices. He considered that land-owners should be helped to equip their holdings, on poorer land, and to build cottages for their workmen. This oould be done either by the State allowing them to borrow money on easy terms or by making grants for these purposes. It was necessary also to take some action to improve drainage. The present scheme had too much " red tape " about it and too little practical knowledge, and very few farmers took advantage of it. It was very desirable also to protect small farmers from purchasing worthless manures. This could be effected through educational methods. 79. Mr. Ferguson regarded it as very unfortunate that so little research work in agricul- ture was being undertaken in Scotland. He thought a great improvement in agriculture could be effected by improvement in varieties of grains suited to Scottish conditions, and urged that agricultural research in Scotland should be supported on the same scale as was being done in England. With regard to agricultural education the witness favoured the provision of classes for young men being held in the oountiry in the afternoon rather than in the evening. He thought that farmers would be quite willing to release their men for this purpose once a week during the winter season, and that students would be more able to take advantage of lessons in veterinary hygiene, the care of machinery and similar subjects in the afternoon than when they were tired after a full day's work. 80. He further said that demonstration areas attached to colleges were of great educational value to farmers and he advocated the establishment of an area or areas in every county. 81. Another subject which needed attention was book-keeping, and witness considered that it would be an advantage for farmers to pay income tax on the profits derived from their business rather than on the rents paid. This would compel them to go in for method and keep books, which was not done at present by more than 3 per cent, of the farmers in Scotland. 82. Mr. Ferguson had no hesitation in saying that with a wise public policy and by impressing on farmers the, national importance of increasing the home production of food, the yield in Scotland might be increased by at least 40 per cent. To obtain such a result it would be necessary to stabilise the price of wheat and oats. He did not think that the stock or dairy farmers would have any reasonable grounds for complaint if this were done, as all farmers grow cereals to some extent. In Scotland cows were house fed for eight months in the year. He agreed with Captain Bathurst that a guarantee in the price of wheat only might have some effect on the price of oats, as no doiibt some farmers would be inclined to grow more wheat and less oats The price of 40*. which he had mentioned would, in that case, be too small for Scottish farmers, as wheat was only grown on the very best land, and if the State wanted wheat grown on part of the acreage now devoted to oats, the price would have to be somewhat higher. A guarantee of 40*. would be sufficient to ensure a profit on the present produc- tion of wheat, but it would not be sufficient to tempt the Scottish farmer to increase Ms area. For this purpose 42s. or 45*. would have to be kept in view. If a bottom figure was determined for both oats and wheat he thought the figures he had mentioned, namely, 20*. and 40*., would be sufficient, although no doubt farmers would like more. If cereals were to be grown more often in the rotation than at present, more horses and implements would have to be employed, and this meant greater expense. It was, therefore, essential that the price. should be adequate. At present in his part of the country farmers adopted the six course rotation and "seeds" were usually left down for two of three years. There was, however, very little permanent grass. He would be willing to lessen very considerably the area of grass land in his part of Scotland. In the West, however, the climatic conditions were different and grass land was essential. 83. Mr. Ferguson said that he would like to see the wages paid to agricultural labourers higher than they were before the War. All over Scotland, in his opinion, there was scope for increasing the number of agricultural labourers. He was afraid, however, that among Scotch agriculturists there would be serious opposition to the proposal to set up Wages Boards in different districts to ensure that the labourer received an adequate minimum wage. Recently farmers had given their labourers a half holiday a month on a, Saturday, except during seed time and harvest, and this had proved very popular amongst the men and in his opinion had helped to keep them on the land. 84. Mr. Ferguson had had some experience with an oil motor tractor. He considered that ploughing cost him about 12*. 6d. an acre with the tractor, but admitted that if it were possible to hire one at that rate he would rather do so than use a tractor of his own. The tractor ploughed five acres a day with three ploughs at a depth of 8 in. by 12 in. for each furrow, working from daylight to dark, and its great advantage was that it enabled him to get his work done at the proper time and a larger area put under wheat. 85. With regard to the progress of agricultural co-operation in Scotland, the witness con- sidered that theiSocieties which had been formed had not been the success they ought to have been. Farmers joined them for a year or two and then left the Society and got mto the hands of agents who often sold them spurious goods, but gave long credit. He admitted that the same experience of the lack of loyalty of members of do-operative societies had been met with all over the world. In Scotland the societies had done more valuable work in the sale of good seed than in anything else, 14 86. In reply to Sir Matthew Wallace, Mr. Ferguson said that he considered that the regu- lation of a minimum price was absolutely essential so far as Scotland was concerned if an increase in the production of cereals was to be obtained. At present Scottish farming depended more on stock than on cereals. Oats had continued to be grown, often at a loss, to enable farmers to pro- duce stock. While a guarantee of 20*. for oats might not be much inducement to farmers to break up grass land he was confident that it would be an enormous impetus to the cultivation of cereals. He thought it was necessary for the Government to adopt a definite policy in this matter and not leave the agricultural community in doubt. Often the British farmers were not able to compete with the foreigner in producing cereals, and he did not consider that the nation could obtain a permanently increased supply of home grown cereals unless a fostering policy were adopted. 87. Mr. Ferguson said he wished to draw the attention of the Committee to the desirability of standardising weights and measures. In Scotland there is one standard for oats in Aberdeen, another in Glasgow, and another in Edinburgh. 5th Day, 25tli October, 1916. Me. W. H. Beveeidge, O.B. (Assistant Secretary, Board of Trade Em-ployTnent Department.) 88. Trade Boards. — Mr. Beveridge gave the Committee, in the first place, a description of the work of the Trade Boards established under the Trade Boards Act, 1909. The Act provides for the establishment of Trade Boards in the following trades, to which it applies without Provisional Order : — (1) Eeady-made and wholesale bespoke tailoring and any other branch of tailoring in: which the Board of Trade consider that the system of manufacture is generally similar to that prevailing in the wholesale trade. (2) Making of boxes or parts thereof made wholly or partially of paper, cardboard, chip or similar material. (3) Machine-made lace and net finishing and mending or darning operations of lace curtain finishing. (4) Hammered and dollied or tommied chain-making. 89. Power was also given to extend the Act to other trades by Provisional Order (to be confirmed by Parliament) and this power was used in 1913 to bring in the following additional trades : — Sugar confectionery and food preserving ; Shirt-making ; Hollow-ware making (including the making of tin boxes and canisters) ; Linen and cotton embroidery. 90. At the present time, accordingly, there are 13 Trade Boards in existence, viz.: — Chain-making ; Lace finishing ; Paper-box making (Great Britain) ; Paper-box making (Ireland) ; Tailoring (Great Britain); Tailoring (Ireland); Tin boxes and Canisters (Great Britain); Hollow-ware (Great Britain) ; Shirt-making (Great Britain) ; Shirt-making (Ireland) ; Sugar confectionery and food preserving (Great Britain); Sugar confectionery and food preserving (Ireland) : Embroidery (Ireland). 91. The total number of persons now covered by the Act is estimated at nearly 400,000, of whom about 80 per cent, are women and girls. 92. Apart from Ireland there is only a single Trade Board for each trade, covering the whole area of the trade. In those trades which extend to Ireland there is a separate Irish Trade Board. Some of the trades concerned are localized (e.g., Lace-finishing, Chain-making), but others (e.g., Tailoring, Shirt-making and Sugar Confectionery) are widely spread. Provision is made under the Act in the case of widely distributed trades for the establishment of district committees. These, however, have, generally speaking, only an advisory power and the actual authority rests with the Trade Board. In view of the fear of competition between the different districts, it has hitherto been 'deemed advisable that there should be a single authority for the whole trade. 93. Every Trade Board consists of equal numbers of members representing employers and members representing workers in the trade, together with a smaller number of " appointed members " who are persons unconnected with the trade and appointed by the Board of Trade. In every case but that of the Tailoring Trade Board (Great Britain), on which there are five appointed members, the number of appointed members acting on a Trade Board is three. While the Boards for the various trades are in themselves separate, a certain general unity of principle has been secured by the fact that there are a common chairman and a common secretary for all the Trade Boards, with a single office and clerical staff in London. Some of the appointed members are also members of more than one Trade Board. The representative members may be either elected or nominated, as the regulations for the particular trade provide. In most cases they are nominated and the present tendency is to prefer nomination to election. 94. The main function of a Trade Board is to fix a minimum time rate which shall be earned by every ordinary worker in the trade. The position of the worker of less than ordinary efficiency is dealt with below. There are various provisions as to the notice to be given of the rates proposed to be fixed and as to confirmation by the Board of Trade of rates fixed by a Trade 15 Board. Generally speaking, however, the Trade Boards have a very considerable independence and the Board of Trade can only control their determinations to the extent of refusing to confirm a rate and referring the rate back for further consideration. The Board of Trade cannot amend a determination. 95. The minimum fixed by the Trade Boards is really in most cases a minimum time earning. The majority of the workpeople concerned are, in fact, paid by piece. In regard to them the minimum time rate means that the' piece rates must be such as to yield to an ordinary worker not less than the minimum time earning. The Boards have, indeed, also power to .fix general piece rates, and any employer who is in difficulties as to fixing his piece rates, because he does not know whether these will be such as to yield the minimum time earning, can apply to the Trade Board to fix for him a special .piece rate. These powers, however, have been very little exercised except in the case of the Lace-finishing and Chain-making • Boards. Generally speaking, the Trade Board simply sets up a minimum time earning and lets the individual employer or groups of employers fix their methods of remunerations as they please, subject to the one condition specified above. In the second place, the time rate is not a minimum which must necessarily be earned by every worker. Where payment is by the piece, the rate need only besuch as to yield the minimum timerate to an ordinary worker. "Ordinary" in' this connection means something different from "average." If the word " average " were used, it would presumably mean that half the workpeople might earn less than the minimum. The use of the term " ordinary " implies that only those may earn less than the minimum who are m some way inferior workers. This does not mean that the' inferior worker is unprotected. If paid by time he is entitled to the full time rate (unless individually exempted by permit as below). If paid by piece he must get the same piece rates as the others, and only earns less because of his inferiority. There is also a provision for giving special permits to time workers affected by an infirmity or physical injury which renders them incapable of earning the minimum time rate. This power has been used, but not very widely. The most common minimum rate for men at present in operation is Qd. an hour, but both higher and lower rates have been fixed. The minimum rates for women in Great Britain range from 2|f or-wheat " policy was a risky one. The witness exhibited a diagram 'showing for each of the years 1911-15 the fluctuations in the returns obtained on a particular farm from five principal products, which indicated that the average was preserved only through the variety in the crops, and stated that if the farmer were asked' by the nation to depend more on corn crops it was highly desirable, merely from the technical point of view, to stabilise his prices. The means by which such stability should be achieved were matters for consideriation by the political heads of the Board rather than by him. 120. In reply to Sir Matthew Wallace, Mr. Middleton said that by education he thought a great deal could be done to improve the farmer, and, through him, increase production on the existing arable land — for example, raise the average yield of wheat from 32 bushels to 35 or 36 bushels — but there had not been much improvement in this respect in the last 70 years. Since 1874, about three million acres of arable land had gone down to grass in England, of which about one-fourth to one-fifth, say, 600,000 acres, would be annually cropped with wheat if converted to tillage. Of this area, about two-thirds, say 400,000 acres, might be expected to produce, if properly treated, as good crops as the existing wheat land, and the remainder a yield of about 28 to 30 bushels. The production of wheat from the converted grass land would, therefore, amount to about 3^ million quarters per annum, which Mr. Middleton agreed would be only a small contribution toward national requirements, but he said he attached great importance to the three raillion added to the arable area, which would mean that the 21 ■ inen and tlie liorses were tkere, and the arable land could readily be used for wheat production in an emergency.* 121. In reply to various questions put by members on the subject of increased production, Mr. Middleton expressed the following views. There was a great deal of land in the United Kingdom more suited for oats than for wheat, and if the production of wheat only was stimulated by a minimum guaranteed pTice there might be a danger of s.ome of this land being diverted from oats to \yhBat. He could not agree, however, that from the point of view of maximum prodiiction of food that would be a disadvantage, because the food value of wheat is so much greater than oats. A large aereage of wheat and bean land had been put down to grass, and this, if ploughed, could grow wheat every two or three years. The reason that additional land went down to grass in the last years before the War, in spite of wheat being at about 35*., was that stock was payinp' exceedingly well. On light land, sheep came ' into competition with arable land, and, on heavy land, dairying. With regard to sugar beet, in Germany the best farming has been encouraged by beet growing. In England it might furnish the profitable root crop which was so badly needed. If the root crop could he made to pay, it would greatly assist the production of wheat. Sugar beet was a crop which required high sunshine and light soil. In Germany, potatoes were grown for spirit production, but he did not understand how that was done economically. The drying of potatoes for floi^r and stock feeding has developed rapidly in Germany. This became a practical proposition about 1908, at which time there were about 170 manufacturing plants; about 1911, this number had increased to 327, and, in January, 1915, to 1,300 or 1,400. The possibilities of this industry needed careful investigation; anything that could be done to steady the price of potatoes, which was a very fluctuating one, would prove of great value. The best hill farms in the Cheviots would probably not yield a direct profit from the application of slag or lime. He agreed that hill land suitable only for barley cultivation would not be broken up by offering a minimum guarantee for wheat alone. Grass land, such as at Cockle Park Experimental Station, which could be greatly improved as grass by manuring, would produce more food if ploughed, but possibly less profit. The price of stock depended very much on the purchasing power of the working classes, and he thought that, after the War, prices might fall considerably, biit found it impossible to form any idea of what the relative prices of grain and stock would be in the future. Mr. Middleton did not think that the guarantee of a minimum price for wheat would have any effect on the market price for either oats or barley, both of which would follow world prices. The grass land of England could be made much .more pro- ductive, possibly twice as productive, by the use of fertilisers. A guaranteed price would undoubtedly induce farmers to endeavour to increase their yields. One effect of prohibiting the exportation of miller's offals would be that the miller would offer the farmer less for his wheat. He did not attach great importance to the increased cost of labour after the War, because, after a short while, improved wages would produce better work, and, in the case of wheat, the total cost for manual labour amounted only to £2 per acre at pre- War prices. It was the absence of grass land in Germany which tended to the production of pigs rather than sheep. He explained that he had dealt with the year 1874 because that was the year mentioned in the questionnaire sent to him; there was, however, no reason why the arable area in that year should be regarded as the maximum,, because, at one time, practically the whole of the land in the country had been tilled. * Note. In revising the report of his evidence, Mr, Middleton asked that it be made clear that the 600,000 acres of wheat to which he had referred were to be grown on the converted grass land. In addition, wheat would, no doubt, be grown to some extent on the existing arable land which would be relieved of other crops transferred to the 3 million acres of new arable. Mr. Middleton wrote as follows :— " In 1914 wheat occupied 21 per cent, of the ploughed land of England and Wales ■ in' 1874 it occupied 30-4 per cent. The chief change in cropping in the past 40 years has been a substitution of oats' for wheat. Oatsin 19 14 occupied 22-5 percent, of the ploughed area, as against 13-8 percent, in 1«74. The crops taken together occupied nearly the same percentages of the ploughed land in both years, viz., 44-2 per cent, in 1874 and 43'5 in 1914. It must not be supposed that the substitution of oats for wheat was entirely due to the fall in price of wheat. Since 1874 the oat plant has been much improved, especially in varieties adapted for England, while, until Professor Biffen's wheats began to appear, there was no substantial improvement m the wheat plant. Assuming the present varieties of wheat and oats, and assuming equivalent minimum prices to be guaranteed for both crops the ploughing up of grass land, if uniformly distributed over the country, would not, in itself, disturb the relative sowings of wheat and oats. The effect of adding 3,000,000 acres to the area of ploughed land would m this case (at 21 per cent, wheat) result in 630,000 acres of wheat being grown on the ploughed area. If, however, more, of the ploughing is done in the East and South than in the West and North, and if new and more prolific varieties of wheat are pr°oduced more rapidly than superior types of oats (this seems likely since Professor BifEen has made irreater progress with wheat than with oat-breeding), it might happen that wheat would be restored to its i874 position, and occupy as much as 30 per cent, of the ploughed land. In this rather unlikely event, the 3,000,000 acres converted from grass would produce 900,000 acres of wheat. The probability seems to me to be that the proportion of the 3,000,000 acres actually ploughed which would be placed under wheat would in peace time he between 600.000 and 700,000 acres. Much of the poorer grass land broken up m the west and north would be ffiven over t-^ oat growing. On the other hand, good wheat land in east and south now growing oats and other srain crops would at once revert to wheai;, and a "peace" area of 3,000,000 acres wheat as against 3,500,000 acres in -1874 and 1,800,000 acres in 1914 is quite probable. In the event of war the area under wheat might be expected rapidly to reach or pass the 1874 level." 19793 ^ ^ 22 7tli Day, 1th November, 1916. Sir Egbert P. Wright. (Chairman of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland.) 122. Sir Eobert Wright stated that Agricultiiral Education in Scotland was controlled by two separate Government Departments, namely, the Scotch Education Department and the Board of Agriculture. Under 'the Scotch Education Department courses of instruction are arranged at the four Teachers' Training Colleges, which qualify the teachers and school- masters to give elementary rural instruction in the rural schools, and, in addition, there are a number of special Vacation Courses at which the schoolmasters are given instruction during their holidays. The rural teaching is given in most of the elementary schools m Scotland to boys of from 12 to 14 years of age. In addition to that, a continuous course of three years' instruction was arranged by the Scotch Education Department, in consultation with the Board of Agriculture, just before the War broke out. This course was intended to qualify older boys and girls of from 15 to 17 years of age to enter the classes in Agricultural Colleges. Under the Board of Agriculture there are three Agricultural Colleges, situated in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. These colleges give complete three years' courses of instruction qualifying for the B.Sc. degree, and also for the Examinations of the National Diploma in Agriculture and other diplomas. In addition, each of these colleges employs a large staff of lecturers, instructors and instructresses, who give courses of lectures in the country districts on general agriculture, and who attend markets and advise and give lectures to farmers. Dairying aiid poultry-keeping are also taught by special instructresses employed by the colleges, and there is a seed-testing station directly under the control of the Board of Agriculture. In connection with the West of Scotland Agricultural College, there is a separate dairy school (the only one in Scotland), situated at Kilmarnock, some distance from Glasgow. Apart from the provision for agricultural education made through the Board of Agriculture and the Scotch Education Department there is a Chair of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh and a Lectureship in Agriculture and Horticulture at the University of St. Andrew's. Sir Robert Wright stated that the County Councils did not, except in one or two cases, undertake direct instruction in agriculture. The Residue Grant, from which the County Councils formerly defrayed the costs of agricultural instruction, was transferred first to the Education Department and afterwards to the Board of Agriculture, so that the County Councils as a body did not now contribute directly to the support of agricultural education out of the residue grant. Some of them made contributions to the colleges out of what is called the "equivalent" grant, but, with a few exceptions, they did not give direct agricultural instruction. Asked whether he thought the present system of a conjoint responsibility for agricultural education between the Board and the Education Department worked well. Sir Robert Wright said that the arrangement had so far proved quite satisfactory, and he thought it would be difiicult to avoid joint responsibility because the Board of Agriculture could not undertake the supervision of a small part of the education given in elementary and secondary schools. 123. With regard to the effect of the system he had described upon agriculture, Sir Robert Wright stated that, while much remains to be done, the work of the colleges had proved very beneficial, and he gave a few examples in support of this statement. One farmer, he said, by adopting the seed mixtures advised by his college, stated that he had increased his produce of grass by 30 per cent. The advice given by the colleges with regard to manuring had been most beneficial to many, e.g., in the application of artificial manures to the oat crop. Poultry management had been greatly improved, while, through the introduction of new varieties of oats, some fariners in the Lothians stated that twelve quarters per acre were obtained where formerly only eight quarters were grown. The practice of catch-cropping and also that of sprouting late varieties of potatoes had been adopted, largely through the teaching of the colleges, while foodstuffs were now much more skilfully used in feeding cattle and sheep, in reply to a question put ^j Mr. Douglas, Sir Robert Wright admitted that the number of men going back to farms from the Agricultural Colleges, was, or had been, disappointingly small, but he thought that improvements in the colleges themselves would induce farmers to send their sons more freely. Sir Robert Wright expressed the opinion that while thirty years ago there was considerable prejudice among farmers against education, that feeling had almost entirely disappeared, and the most enlightened farmers were actively favour- able to agricultural education. Asked whether there was any scheme in Scotland corresponding to the Farm Institutes scheme in England, Sir Robert Wright replied that Agricultural Schools were to have been instituted by the Board of Agriculture but it had not been possible to secure sufficient financial support before the War broke out. He considered, however that such schools were still needed to complete the system of agricultural education in Scotland.' 124. The witness stated that the co-operative societies in Scotland had all been formed under two central organisations, particulars of which had been supplied to him by the Secretaries. The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, which was iJhe first and the most important, wus founded in 1905 ]uninl\- for the purpose of developing co-operative organisation, tuid in 1914-15 tliere were 14'i societies affiliated wit]i this Society, and the turnover in sales amounted to about £388,000. In addition, the Society had foniied, in the West of Scotland, a number of very successful milk depots, and, in connection witK dairying and poultry societies, federations had been founded to unite the action of the local societies, and to act as selling agencies and further their trade interests generally. The other society which had organised co-operation in Scotland was the Scottish Smallholders' Organisation, which was founded in 1913, and had formed 46 registered trading and credit societies, and about 100 committees from which it was expected that registered societies would be formed. It published a small newspaper and had formed central markets, and a Central Land Bank to advance money to settlements of smallholders. The two societies, covering between r them the greater! part of Scotland, acted quite independently ot one another, and although it had been alleged in some cases that they tended to overlap. Sir Robert Wright thought that that fact had not caused any serious disadvantage. A certain measure of control was exercised by the Board of Agriculture in the case of the Smallholders' Organisation owing to the fact that its contribution was paid directly from the Board's fund, whereas in the case of the Agricultural Organisation Society the contribution, though paid through , the Board, was obtained from the Development Commission. The Land Bank founded by the Smallholders' Organisation Society had so far been employed simply in lending money to smallholders to provide stock. There was, however, an increasing demand for credit facilities in Scotland, and Sir Robert Wright considered that land banks could not be founded on a sufficiently large scale to meet the demand unless some form of State assistance were accorded to them. Questioned as to the advisability of consolidating the two societies. Sir. Robert Wright replied that they were formed with different objects — the Agricultural Organisation Society was primarily a co-operative society, while the Smallholders' Organisation Society was founded also to assist in the formation of smallholdings. He was of opinion that, although in time a union between the two societies might be advantageous, in Scotland people often work better when there is a spice of competition and an element of rivalry, and he considered that co-operation in Scotland had not developed with sufficient rapidity to justify any scheme of consolidation being put into operation at present. .125. W^ith regard to the possibilities of increased production in Scotland, Sir Robert Wright exi>ressed the opinion that a considerable increase could be obtained both by the conversion of suitable grassland into arable, and by the improvement of the existing grass and arable land. He felt strongly that the most efficient method of increasing the productivity of the land was to increase the number of smallholdings, and gave in support of his opinion a number of cases bri'Ught to the knowledge of the Board of Agriculture showing how much greater, propor- tionately, is the production from a settlement of smallholdings than from a similar area run as a large farm. He stated, for example, that one of the earliest settlements made by the Board of Agriculture was on a farm of 835J acres in Roxburghshire which was under arable culti- vation. This farm was now split up into 12 smallholdings, and Sir Robert Wright had received the following particulars as to the amount of stock and crops carried in 1912 by one farmer, and in 1916 by the 12 smallholders : — Stock. 1912. 1916. Horses 8 23 Milk Cows 3 53 Sows — 17 Young Pigs — 71 Feeding Pigs 4 20 Sheep 650 608 (Reduction due to change of farming.) Poultry ... 50 650 Crops. 1911. 1916. Corn 93 acres. 115 acres. Hay 20 „ 90 „ Turnips ... 50 „ 74 „ In another case the Board took for the formation of smallholdings a farm which had been entirely laid down to pasture. This farm, consisting of about 535 acres, was situated mainly on heavy clay land on an estate in the Carse of Gowrie, and 515 acres of this were divided into 11 smallholdings. It is found that although the change was only made in 1914, the farm already produces seven times as much human food as it did before the constitution of the smallholdings, and it is expected that the production will, in the course of a year or two be considerably greater. 126. Sir Robert Wright admitted that since, for some years to come, a great proportion of the land of Scotland will be farmed by large farmers, they must be taken into account in the establishment of any scheme for a rapid increase of food production, but he nevertheless main- tained his opinion that the greatest amount of foodstuffs relatively would be, and was already, produced by smallholders, "ne also considered that smallholdings, as constituted under the Crofters' Act or the Small Land Holders' Act, are safer and more remunerative to landowners than larger holdings, partly because, under those Acts, the buildings become the property of the tenant, and the landlord is therefore free from all liability for expenditure of that kind. Sir Robert Wright said that one reason for considering that the food production fi'om small- holdings would always equal or exceed that from even the best managed large farm, was that the smallholder will always have a supply of cheaper and much more efficient labour than the large farmer. His opinion was that the great majority of smallholders in Britain must rely 19793 ^ * 24 ckiefly upon dairying, and pig and poultry production, with the growth of potatoes and of ordinary crops for stock feeding. The witness also expressed the opinion that if food production was to be greatly increased, more care should be taken by farmers to exterminate rabbits, rats and other pests. He stated that the Board of Agriculture had given grants to several societies in Scotland to enable them to undertake the destruction of vermin, and he considered that the Ground Game Act, which gives farmers equal rights on properties to destroy rabbits, bad removed a considerable source of complaint. 127. In reply to a question put by the Chairman, Sir Eobert Wright stated that, according to figures which had been supplied to him, there were, in the year 1883, 1,710,000 acres of land devoted exclusively to deer forests and sport, apart from grazing, in the crofting counties of Scotland. In 1912, this area had increased to 2,932,000 acres. Outside the crofting counties there were 668,000 acres, making a total in 1912 of 3,600,000 acres. In 1892-5, 320,0u0 acres were scheduled by the Royal Commission as being suitable for cultivation, and Sir Eobert Wright thought it probable that the area had considerably increased since that date. He thought that some of the more exposed of the mountain land scheduled might be kept profitably under wedder stock, while the lower land might be suitable for ewe and lamb farming. The witness gave an instance of a small settlement of 1,500 acres in the centre of the deer forest area, where some of the lower ground is used for arable farming, and a sheep stock is kept on the higher ground. The annual sales of the produce from stock and crops give about £250 at normal prices, while on the same acreage under deer (four stags afid two hinds) the food value is estimated at £20. Sir Robert Wright did not think the production of food from the land above the 1,0U0 ft. level could be estimated at a high value, and attached more importance to the conversion of the land below that ]pvel into smallholdings. 128. The witness agreed with the statement that grouse shooting is not injured, but rather benefited, by stocking and heather burning. 129. With regard to the reclamation of waste land, Sir Robert Wright said that the Board of Agriculture had, at the request of the Development Commissioners, examined schemes for the reclamation of foreshores in the estuaries of rivers, and of moss lands. The chief difficulties in the case of foreshores were those of drainage, fishing rights, &c., and in the case of moss lands, the excessive prices asked for land which is at present giving very little return, making reclamation of such land a wholly uneconomical proposition. Sir Robert Wright agreed that there was also a great deal of land in Scotland at present used for golf courses, which was quite good arable land, and he expressed the opinion that if the question of food production was of vital importance, the golf course should be confined to the poor sandy tracts where the game had its origin, and that all suitable land should be reserved for agricultural production. 130. Sir Robert Wright considered that a guaranteed and sufficient minimum price for wheat and oats would doubtless form an inducement to farmers to increase their production of cereals. He thought that if the guarantee was given for wheat only, there would be a tendency among the farmers to grow wheat at the expense of oats, which, in an oat-growing country like Scotland, would be a serious disadvantage. If, afber due encouragement and warning, a farmer did not produce what was reasonably expected. Sir Robert Wrij|!ht thought that the threat of eviction would be the most effective method of compulsion. 131. Questioned as to the effect of agricultural depression upon small versus large farms, the witness gave figures showing that the county of Aberdeen, which consists mainly of small farms, was much less affected by the fluctuations of prices of agricultural produce than, for example, the county of Berwick, where the farms are mostly large. Crop. (Changes between 1872 and 1914.) Corn Green Crops Rotation G-rasses alld Clover Aberdeen. Decrease. 2"3 per cent 8-5 „ Increase. Berwick. Decrease. 22-8 percent. 20 per cent. 14-3 „ Increase. 5'3 per cent. He added that, apart from the mountainous districts, the greatest production, in his opinion, would be obtained everywhere by the establishment of comparatively small farms. 132. In reply to a question by the Chairman as to the position in Scotland with regard to a minimum wage for the agricultural labourer, the witness stated that the question had not, so far as he knew, been discussed to any extent in Scotland. He said that there had been so much competition for labour in recent years that wages had tended to rise rather than fall, and there had been very little vocal demand for a minimum wage. 25 8th Day, 8th November, 1916. Me. R. N. Bowling. {Organiser of Agricultural Education to the Lindsey County Council.) Agricultural Education. 133. Previous to his appointment as Agricultural Organiser to the Lindsey County Council, Mr. Bowling held the position of Agricultural Adviser to the National Sugar Beet Association, and betiore that was iarming in Cambridgeshire. He has also been Liecturer iu Agriculture to the Hunts County Council and at the South-Eastem Agricultural College, Wye. He stated that an Agricultural Organiser should have direct control over the agricultural education of the county in all its branches, and that a permanent staff of instructors in the more important subjects, e.g., horticulture, poultry-keeping and dairying, was much more satisfactory than part-time instructors sent out from a college or other institution. He laid great stress on the importance of concentration and demonstration being the watchwords of the Organiser's work, i.e., concentrating on definite centres or areas and following up all forms of instruction by practical demonstrations. With regard to lectures, Mr. Bowling expressed the opinion that, although it was advisable that the Organiser should respond as far as possible to direct applications for lectures, the number should be limited. He said that in some counties an Organiser's work is judged, to a certain extent, by the number of lectures he has given, and the total number of people who have attended those lectures, and he thought this an entirely wrong view. Mr. Bowling considered it of far more importance that lectures and all other forms of instruction should be followed up by practical demonstrations and visits to farms, and this would clearly be impossible unless the numj)er of lectures given were comparatively small. The Organiser should have time to visit farms and smallholdings in the districts where lectures had been given, and also to arrange a series of demonstrations to prove, in a practical manner, the value of iiis teaching given iu the classroom. In this way, the Organiser has a chance of making friends with those he desires to reach, and when once he has won their confidence, he will always be called upon for advice and assistance. Mr. Bowling gave an example of this from his personal experience, saying that a farmer who was an entire stranger to him wrote, at the recommendation of an old student of his (a small- holder), asking Mr. Bowling to go over to his farm and that of a neighbour, and advise them on certain points. He had found that when the farmers' confidence had been secured they would welcome suggestions and advice. Confidence could largely be secured by concentrating one's work on particular areas. 134. One of the most useful pieces of work open to an Agricultural Orgianiser is an Organised Bay Course for farmers' sons, that is, classes held about once or twice a week throughout the winter. In Mr. Bowling's opinion, it is when the lads are beginning to be useful at home, i.e., when about 18 to 23 years of age, and cannot be spared to attend a farm school or college, th^t they realise the value of a short coui-se of practical instractiou given locally. These classes should be as practical as possible, and should be followed up by field demonstrations and classes on the farm; by practical veterinary classes; and by demonstrations with oil engines, farm implements, and labour-saving machinery. Mr. Bowling considered that instruction of this kind was likely to influence and be of real value to the lads all their lives. He added that in Lindsey prizes are offered for competition, and the winner is also offered a free scholarship for one year at the Midland Agricultural College. A summer meeting is arranged to visit the college farms, and the lads have the advantages of a college course put before them. 135. Courses of instruction are also held in Lindsey during the winter for farmers and smallholders. Visits are made to the farms and smallholdings, and the Agricultural Organiser is thus brought into close touch with the holders, and his advice is of value in helping them to' solve the problems with which they are often confronted. Mr. Bowling considered that it would also be advantageous for these men to visit different parts of the country in order that they should see other methods of farming. 136. It is one of the duties of an Agricultural Org*aniser to encourage farmers to have their manures, soils, &c., tested at the district college, and the witness said that in Lindsey, farmers can have this done free of charge, if in the first instance they apply to him ; if they send direct to the Midland College, they have to pay in the usual way. This privilege has, however, not been taken advantage of very generally. Mr. Bowling stated that he knew of cases where the small farmer (a man \i'ith, saj", about 80 acres) knows more about the proper value of manures than the larger farmer, probably because he has been entirely ignorant to begin with, and has been keen to acquire Ivnowledge, and able to give a good deal of time to the subject. He thought that in his county, on smallholdiugs wliere an intensive system of farming is worked out and the holder is a competent man, the smallholding would yield a greater production than the large farm, but in the case- of potatoes it would pi-obably not be so. Given the right man, with capital and suitable soil, a smallholder could produce more per acre than a larger farmer. 137. With regard to Eield Trials and Experiments, Mr. Bowling stated that these are usually carried out by the Organiser with manures, varieties of farm crops, spraying potatoes, &c. The district College or Institute should test, numerous varieties of crops, the more successful of which can be passed on for trials in the County by the Organiser. In this way, collaboration of the Organiser and the college is assisted. Two or more centres where a winter course of classes or lectures were given during the winter may be selected, and 26 trials carried out on points of interest, on one or more farms, in sufficient numbers to provide instructive interest to a gathering of farmers, wlio can then go round w'hat amounts to an experimental station situated in their own neighbourhood, and under their own soil and climate conditions. The results of the more important trials can afterwards be published, and these will be read with great interest by those who attended the meeting. 138. The work of the Organiser in providing instruction for the farm labourer includes classes in ploughing, hedging, ditching, under-draining, sheep-clipping, stacking and thatching. Mr. Dowling stated that it was an unfortunate fact that farmers will not as a rule offer any encouragement to rising farm lads by giving them careful instruction, and added that when, in one district, they were short of sheep-clippers, and he started a class for boys, the farmers were astonished that the lad's were able to do the work successfully. 139. Mr. Dowling advocated strongly the establishment of demonstration smallholdings, to be run on commercial lines and made to pay. Every demonstration must be on the lines of increased profit, which will also mean increased production. Such a holding should be run on a sound practical basis, consistent with the possibilities of the district. It would afford the opportunity of showing the commercial value of manures and feeding stuffs, and also poultry- keeping, bee-keeping, and other things which are often not sufficiently understood or appreciated. Although he considered that in many cases such a smallholding might be run successfully by the holder himself, following the Organiser's suggestions, Mr. Dowling admitted that unless the man was under direct control, there might be difficulty in getting him to do all that was required, should it not be in accordance with his own ideas. He anticipated no difficulty in finding managers for the demonstration holdings provided good inducement were offered. If a man had not sufficient capital to start himself, he might come in and have a part interest. The Organiser would find these demonstration holdings of great value in assisting him to get into touch with the agricultural community, and they might also become centres for co-operative trading societies, egg-collecting depots, &c. These holdings might be linked up with a central demonstration farm run on commercial lines and connected with the district College or Institute. Asked whether the fact that an Agricultural Organiser was interesting himself in co-operation tended to alienate the support of agents, merchants, and other people who might be of assistance in educational matters, Mr. Dowling stated that he had found no difficulty of that kind. In the case of manures, for example, the Secretary of the Society would obtain quotations from the county merchants, from the Central Trading Board, and elsewhere, and the merchant, knowing that he has opportunities of dealing with the Society, has no objection to co-operative methods; in fact, he generally welcomes the transactions because of the cash payments. One of the objects he always had in advocating co-operation in buying was to impress on farmers not so much the importance of cheapness as of quality, and this was of importance to the big as well as the small farmer. 140. "With regard to the appointment of a County Agricultural Organiser, Mr. Dowling said that he is selected by the County Council, but the appointment has to receive the approval of the Board of Agriculture, who also make a grant to the County Council, in proportion to expenses, for the work done. The rates of pay are usually from £300 to £400 a year, with an allowance for travelling expenses. Mr. Dowling agreed with a suggestion that it might be an advantage if a scale of salaries on a more liberal basis with rates of increment up to a certain maximum were fixed. 141. Mr. Dowling handed in a Memorandum dealing with the organisation of other branches of agricultural education as provided by County Councils, e.g., horticulture, dairying, poultry keeping and veterinary hygiene. Cultivation of Sugar Beet. 142. Questioned as to the most suitable parts of England for the cultivation of sugar beet, Mr. Dowling replied that it could be cultivated in almost any part of the country, but that ihe north had the disadvantages attaching to late seasons. The ideal soil is a deep friable loam free from stones, but soils which produce a fair crop of mangolds are suitable if there is sufficient depth and they are not too," strong." Beet cultivation improves the fertility of all kinds of soil, particularly ^those of poor quality, ?uch as light sand and gravel. 143. With regard to the advantage to agricull ire and to the nation generally of establish- ing the sugar beet industry, Mr. Dowling said that he had noticed on the Continent that in districts where the farming system had been poor, beet cultivation had improved the pfoduc tivity, raised the rents, and benefited the whole neighbourhood. He stated that, in his opinion, sugar beet could be successfully grown on both good and poor soil; it would form an excellent method of land improvement and would revolutionise agriculture in badly farmed districts, e.g., on some poor hungry sandy soils. A very large proportion of the refuse of the beet comes back to the cattle for food after the extraction of the sugar, and Mr. Dowling stated that the introduction of beet growing into a district usually resulted in an increase in the number of cattle kept. Mr. Dowling considered that the sugar beet industry could not be started in this country without State assistance. For a factory to run at a profit, 4,000 to 5,000 acres in fairly close proximity to the factory would have to be put down to beet, which would, to a large extent, take the place of the root crop. Asked whether he thought the labour position on the Continent made it easier to cultivate sugar beet there than here, Mr. Dowling said he did not think that that had a great effect upon it, and considered that the labour difficulty might be overcome by organisation. Women could be used to a great extent. Mr. Dowling thought that sugar beet could be brought about 20 miles profitably by rail, and that 40 to 50 miles should be the outside figure. He stated, however, that rail carriage should not be depended upon, tut tliat it was absolutely necessary to liave suitable carriage by water. Under propet cultivation, the witness tbought that a safe average return to expect would be 12 to 13 tons per acre of washed and topped beet, and he expressed the view that the very lowest price per ton at which beet could be raised profitably, based on pre-War prices and conditions, would be 21s. per ton, f.o.r. Mr. Dowling advocated strongly that steps should be taken to develop the sugar beet industry in this country. The Hon. E. G. Strutt (Member of the Sub-Committee). 144. Mr. Strutt had been asked to give evidence on the cost of growing wheat. He handed in a statement showing the cost of production on a farm in Essex in 1913, 1915 and 1916, taken from a field to field tillage book. The direct charges amounted per acre to £6 17s. lid., £7 19s. 9d., and £8 15s. 8d., respectively, in the three years. The increased cost in 1915 and 1916 was accounted for principally by labour charges and seed. Mr. Strutt explained that if the yield in 1916 had been equal to that of 1913 the extra cost of harvesting and threshing would have raised the 191G direct charges to £9 4,?. Id. ; in addition, shortness of labour had made it necessary in the Wat years to leave a certain amount of work undone which should have been done, and this had the result of reducing the cost in those years below what it would be in a normal year at present wages. 145. As the Sub-Committee were anxious to consider the question of wheat growing from the point of view of pre-war prices, only the 1913 figures were discussed. The detailed items for this year for 171 acres very suitable for wheat, were given as follow : — Rent, Tithe, Rates, and Fire Insurance, £1 10s. ; Sundries (hand labour chiefly), 6s. ; Manure (farmyard and artificial), £1 2s. 9d.; Seed, 12s. 5d.; Horse Cultivation (previous to harvest), £1 5s. Id. ; Hand Labour Cultivation (previous to harvest), 8s. 7d. ; Horse Expenses, Harvesting, 4s. 8d. ; Hand Labour Harvesting, lis. 2d. ; Threshing and Delivering, 14s. ; Thatching, Is. 6d. ; Binder Twine, Is. M. ; Total £6 17s. lid. 146. Mr. Strutt explained that the above statement contained iiO' i-harge for interest on capital nor for general superintendence, nor was any allowance made for the cost of the rotation, as wheat cannot in a general way be grown year after year in succession. This last charge he thought would amount to £l an acre or more, as he had found that whereas the profit on wheat growing on this farm over a series of years had averaged £3 17s. Od. per acre (exclusive of superintendence, and interest on capital), the profit on the arable land generally had amounted only to £2 14s. 9d. With regard to the method of keeping the accounts, Mr. Strutt said that the cost of manual labour in the operations to each field was charged wherever possible, but, in addition, an item of 6s. per acre was charged against each field for sundry expenses, such as fencing and odd jobs which it is impossible to charge to the account of any definite field or crop. This charge had been calculated to meet the average expenditure of this character. As regards horse labour, the total cost of the keep and expendi- ture incidental to maintaining a pair of horses and the implements used by them had been calculated, and a daily charge made for the use of the horses according to the time of year. The scale varied in the year, 1913 from 4s. per day in the busiest time, to 2s. per day when there was less stress of work. With regard to the corn crops, farrayard maniire was charged against each crop, the exhausted manurial value being carried over to succeeding crops. 147. Examined by Sir Matthew Wallace as to the benefit obtained from wheat growing in 1913, Mr. Strutt said that if 10s. per acre for interest, 10s. for superintendence, and £1 2s. 3d. for the cost of the rotation were added to the £6 17s. lid. direct cbarg-es, the total cost would amount to £9 Os. 2d. per acre, that is about 4s. 3|<:?. a bushel on the 5 quarters 2 bushels which was the average yield on the 171 acres in that year. Omitting charges for interest and superintendence the cost per acre would be £8 Os. 2d. The average price per quarter for wheat in 1913 was 33s. 4:d., and the income per acre might, therefore, be taken as b^ X 33s. 4d. = £8 15s. Od., to which he would add £2 per acre for the straw (although he was 'often told that tliat was an excessive valuation). The profit on this basis would, therefore, amount to £10 15s. Od. less £8 Os. 2(i. = £2 14s. lOd. Mr. Strutt could not agree with Sir Matthew that that was more than 30 per cent, profit, because he thought that interest and superintendence should both be charged and some allowance made for occasional loss of crop, and reduction in yield in certain years ; moreover, a farm would not yield a profit of this kind as soon as it was taken over; he had often had to lose money for a few years after taking ovet a farm. He admitted, however, that he made a good profit out of wheat growing. Essex was very suited to w^heat, and it was undoubtedly a profitable crop. 148. Questioned as to the desirability of a minimum guarantee for wheat in view of the profit which he had shown could be made from wheat growing at pre-war prices, Mr. Strutt said that although he found it profitable to grow wheat, a great many other farmers evidently did not do so, and he thought that the security given by a guaranteed price would undoubtedly act as a stimulus. The disastrous effects of the great fall in prices during the depression were still in the minds of farmers, and until they were removed farmers would not plough up their grass lands and grow more wheat. He agreed that if the result of a guarantee is to bring greater prosperity to agriciilture, rents might be increased, but lie thought that ^8 tents before the War were in many cases below tlie real letting value of the land, and in any case an additional rent would often not be pure profit to the landowner. His own opinion was, however, that a large proportion of the increased return obtained by the farmers as a result of a guarantee would go to the labourer, as he thought that agricultural wages after the War would be substantially higher than before the War. 149. With regard to the amount of the proposed guarantee for wheat, Mr. Strutt referred to the Report he signed in connection with the employment of sailors and soldiers on the land in which 40*. to iZs. was recommended; farmers generally would ask for a good deal higher figure if their opinion was sought now. The Committee presided over by Lord Milner in 1915 had considered that the quantity of wheat grown on each farm could be arrived at by accepting the returns of threshing by the travelling machine. He did not consider that a tariff would have as good an efPect in increasing wheat production as a minimum price. 150. In reply to questions as to co-partnership, Mr. Strutt explained that on the farm in question the practice had been for several years to give an annual bonus to each man, these bonuses, which' amounted in all to about £200 a year on this farm of 900 acres, varying from £2 for an ordinary labourer to £15 or £20 for a bailiff. An employee could either draw his bonus in cash or leave the whole or part of it in the business, or invest his savings in the business. The men were guaranteed 4 per cent, a year on all money invested, and if the farm made a profit, they were given that profit in addition, whatever it might be, 10 per cent, or 15 per cent. The scheme was very popular with the men, and made- the working of the farm more easy and the men more content. 9th Day, 9tli November, 1916. Me. Eichard Edwards. 151. Mr. Eichard Edwards has farmed, for the last 20 years, a typical Welsh upland farm of 400 acres, of which 360 acres are in Shropshire and the rest in Denbighshire. He has also had 18 months' experience as sectional valuer in the Government Valuation Depart- ment, chiefly concerned with agricultural properties in !North Wales. He stated that wheat was very little cultivated on the hill farms in Wales, the chief reason being that it never ripens properly, and the grain is unsuitable for making into flour. He himself grew only a small quantity of bearded spring wheat, and that more for the straw than for the grain. The chief cereal grown is oats, and Mr. Edwards said that a bag (200 lbs.) fetched 12«. to 14s., but the oat was not fully ripened. One acre generally yields about 10 bags, giving a gross return of something like £6 per acre. On his own farm, some of the fields are steep and some fairly level, and Mr. Edwards said that those on the slope were 50 per cent, more costly to cultivate, requiring far more horses and labour. Harvest operations, he said, were also much more expensive on the slopes, and much harder work, since the self-binder was practically useless, and the work had to be done by hand with the old-fashioned scythe. Only an expert man could work successfully on the steep hillsides. These were the reasons that induced farmers to leave the land down to grass, especially as fat lambs were really profitable and had recently become still more so. 152. Mr. Edwards stated that he did not sell any of his oat crop, but used all the straw for fodder, and it, therefore, paid him to cut his grain before it ripened. He believed that with an increase in the production of cereals in Wales, not only could the production of meat and milk be maintained, but increased. In order to increase the production of cereals, he advocated a more intensive cultivation of the existing arable land. He thought it would be unwise to break up any large amount of land now in pasture, since there might be an insufficient supply of labour to cultivate it, and it might, therefore, become derelict. Apart, however, from the labour difficulty, he was confident that a guaranteed price for wheat would induce farmers in Wales to grow more wheat both by growing it more intensively and T)y breaking up grass land. The first essential was a guaranteed price. He preferred that method to a tariff. The principal crop in Wales, however, was oats, and Mr. Edwards considered that a guaranteed minimum price for oats, which he thought should be placed at 18s. a bag (or 27s. a quarter) would be more valuable in Wales than a similar guarantee for wheat. This amount would not, however, prove a great inducement to farmers to plough up grass land unless there was a fall in the price of milk and fat lambs. But if the security given to the farmers were sufficient, a good deal of land which used to grow cereals and was now devoted to dairying would be brought back to arable cultivation. The land on the hills was often tough and would need careful treatment, but with the use of lime there was no reason why it should not be again cropped with cereals. In his own district there was a lime kiln, but very little of the lime used locally came from that kiln, owing to the prohibitive price charged. A considerable saving in coal could be effected if farmers would co-operate iind bulk their orders for lime; the saving would reduce the price by 50 per cent. On the heavy lands lime was as good as basic slag, but a pound's worth of the latter went further than a pound's worth of lime. 29 153. Agricultural production in Wales was restricted owing to the shortage of labour. At present there was a great scarcity of cottages. The landlords could not be expected to erect them at the rents being paid for them; and the wages of the agricultural labourer were not sufficient to enable Kim to pay more than about £2 10*. a year in rent. The landlord should be encouraged by State loans to erect more cottages, and he should receive an economic rent for them. Most of the existing cottages were owned by the men living in them. When they were let the rent was from £8 to £10 a year for the cottage, a small garden and sufficient land to keep a cow. 154„ In his district, Mr. Edwards said, the collieries were competitors with agriculture for the available labour, but men worked on the land for less than they would require under- ground. He had paid wages in excess of the usual agricultural wages and had secured the best men; cheap labour was not the best labour. The shortage of men previous to the War was caused, to a great extent, by the low wages paid. At the present time the scarcity of labour was so serious that a rapid reduction in the arable area was being made. It was impossible to convince the Welsh farmer that he would be left with sufficient labour during the rest of the War to work his land, and he was consequently putting some of his land down to grass. He felt that the only solution of the labour difficulty after the War was a minimum wage; but there were great difficulties in this proposal. Some men at 155. would be dear as compared with others at 255. The value of men varied greatly. 155. Mr. Edwards was not much impressed with the danger that as a result of a minimum •price being granted by the State, landlords would raise rents; it was not a simple matter under the Agricultural Holdings Act for a landlord to raise rents. From the tenant's point of view annual tenancies were better than leases. Large farms were lower-rented than small ones. The large hilly farms were not productive unless a farmer had capital, and the rents on some of these farms hardly paid the owners for the cost and upkeep of the buildings. To , increase the production on most farms, further capital expenditure on the part of both landlords and tenants woiild be necessary. It would be only reasonable for the landowner to charge an enhanced rent for his additional outlay. Some old-fashioned farmers had a fear of farming too well because it might result in an increase of rent; that feeling was, however, dying out. What farmers dreaded was, that the farm might be sold over their heads. The Agricultural Holdings Act gave the farmer compensation only for the manures and feeding stuffs used during the previous two or three years, and this undoubtedly made farmers reluctant to put money into the land so as to get more out of it. 156. Mr. Edwards said that ever since he had been farming he had noticed a tendency towards improved methods. One good farmer in a district would have a remarkable influence over the farming of the whole neighbourhood. Lack of capital was the most general cause of indifferent farming. A reduction in the size of the farm would be one solution of this difficulty, but would undoubtedly cause a great deal of friction. In Mid-Wales there was a large area of almost worthless sheep runs, producing very little food. Before attempting to improve such land he would prefer to take in hand some of the better land at present in cultivation, the productiveness of much of which could be greatly increased by drainage. 157. At present there was no co-operative organisation in his district. He was, however, a believer in co-operation, and thought that it would give very beneficial results. He looked to education as the principal method of increasing agricultural production. Farmers in Wales were great believers in elementary education, but were not yet convinced of the advantages of technical agricultural instruction. 158. On the subject of the relative productivity of the large and small farm, Mr. Edwards said that he had no doubt that the large farm was the more economical to work. In Wales the small farms were very badly equipped with implements. A man farming three to five hundred acres could afford to buy the best labour-saving machinery, his fields would be large, and horses could do more per day on his farm than on a small farm. On the other hand, he considered that the ideal arrangement was to have holdings of different sizes. The small holdings and allotments were essential to the success of the large farm, as they brought labour. He agreed that if his own farm were subdivided into four holdings, the amount of labour employed on the land might be increased, but he said that if additional buildings had to be erected for the new holdings, the increase in rent which would be necessary would be greater than the land could possibly stand. 159. ' Subsequent to attending before the Sub-Oommittee, Mr. Edwards sent in to th« Secretary a memorandum revising the views h^ had expressed in oral evidence on the subject of the methods by which increased production could be effected. In this, he stated that as the great bulk of farmers in Wales did not sell off the farm the grain they produced, any payment based on sales would benefit only a few farmers, and those not the best. On the other hand, if payment were based on the quantity produced, whether sold or not, it would be necessary to employ a large number of officials to estimate the production on each farm. A bonus based on the additioiial acreage of arable land would result in a large area of unsuitable land being brought under the plough and thus increase the area under tillage without a corre- sponding increase in the production of food. In his opinion the best scheme would be to supply farmers with good reliable manures, if possible below cost price — the amount supplied ib vary with the acreage ploughed. 160. In the memorandum referred to, Mr. Edwards expressed the view that the best policy for the future was not so much to induce a large increase in the area ploughed, as to increase the produce on the area already under tillage, laying the land down on each occasion with a first-class seed mixture. 30 161. Mr. Edwards also sent in to the Sub-Committee an estimate of the cost per acre of ploughing upland pastures in Wales based on pre-war prices, together with an estimate of the income obtainable from the crops grown. For this purpose he took the cost of a four years rotation, the crops being oats, oats, roots and barley. The total cost during the four years was estimated as being £29 18*. and the return per acre during the same period as £28 15*., thus resulting in a loss of 23*. per acre in the four years, to which should be added interest on capital and the cost of maintaining the occupier of the land and his family. On the other hand, the land laid down to pasture at the end of the rotation would be considerably improved and could carry for some years a heavier stock. Principal W. G. R. Pateeson, (West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow), Agricultural Education. 162. Principal Paterson, who, previous to being appointed Principal of the College over five years ago, was a coxmty lecturer on the staff of the College, said that the College was^ dependent on Government funds and fees for its income. It was fairly well equipped _ as colleges go, but he would like to see better provision made for special research in connection with agricultural problems of economic importance arising in the area served by the College. If farmers asked for help and advice on any specific point and the staff could not assist them, they lost confidence in the college. He also advocated the devising of a sound scheme for placing within the reach of all farmers such information and expert advice as would enable them to make the very most of the land they farm, either in the way of raising crops or producing milk, beef, mutton, bacon, &c. This could be best achieved by developing the work at present carried on through the county organisers and instructors. He considered it highly desirable that a substantial reduction of the area at present served by a single instructor should be made, so that greater individual attention could be given to the farmers in that area. For this purpose the West of Scotland College could profitably employ at the present time double their existing staff of lecturers. He also suggested that a considerable increase should be made in the number of demonstration centres, so that farmers and others might have an opportunity of seeing what might be accomplished in their own district in the way of increasing production, and thereby be encouraged to adopt the most progressive practice. He would like to see at least one demonstration area in every county. The development of agricultural education along these or similar lines would have a marked effect in increasing the production of food. There was a noticeable change in the attitude of farmers towards the advisory work of the College. Only a few years ago the county lecturers had to press their services on farmers, now farmers sought thenj.. They also took great interest in field demonstration work, and travelled long distances to see the demonstration crops. 163. As regards the education of the boys who are to become the farmers of the future, Principal Paterson said that the first requirement was a good general education as individuals, not as farmers. There was a great need for more suitable courses than were at present available, both at the elementary and the continuation school. He suggested that continuation courses carrying lads on from the age of 14 until they reached 17 should be provided, with a more direct bearing an agricultural work. The pupils would be engaged in practical farm work during the day and attend classes for two evenings or more a week, or for a short winter session, as was found to be more "iuitable. After that age agricultural education proper would begin, either at a central institution or by means of local classes conducted by the county agricultural instructor. He thought it a mistake for a boy to start technical agricultural instruction until he was old enough to put what he had learned into immediate practice. A farmer would not usually adopt a suggestion from a boy of 15 or 16 on, say, manuring, but if a student was 18 or 20 years of age his father would usually give him facilities for testing on the farm the information he had been gaining at the college or class. Influence of Agricultural Education upon Production. 164. As an example of what could be done to increase production. Principal Paterson gave particulars of a farm taken by an ex-student of the West of Scotland College. It consisted of about 500 acres, of which 200 were pasture and 300 under a long rotation. In ten years the stock carried had been increased as follows: — Cows from 60 to 90, other cattle from 85 to 137, pigs from 50 to 75. The number of sheep had also been increased. In 1906 grass parks costing £50 per annum had to be taken to provide sufficient grazing for the stock then carried; in 1916 the grazing was so much improved that the increased head of stock could be kept at home and the grazing of the clover let, which brought in about £75 per annum. The stock-carrying power of the farm had been raised by fully 50 per cent.- The yield of the oat crop had been raised in the ten years by 15 bushels grain and 8 cwt. straw per acre, and other crops in the same proportion. Another example of how production could be improved would be seen from the results of the Dumfriesshire Demonstration Area. The variety of oats preferred by local farmers was Potato, whicli yielded an average production 31 * of 57"4 biisliels, while Victory averaged 71'8 and Beseler's Prolific 71'3. At the same demonstra- tion area they had shown the benefits from sproiiting late varieties of potatoes. In the case of the four varieties tested, imspronted potatoes averaged 9 tons 6 cwt. 3 qrs., while the sprouted yielded 11 tons 13 cwts. 1 qr. Similarly, they had demonstrated the saund practice of applying to the oat crop a well-balanced dressing of artificial manures, by which it was shown that the increased yield repays the cost of the manure twice over. 165. Principal Paterson expressed the view that the present average yields of crops in Scotland are far short of the maximum profitable production, and that with a fuller dissemina- tion of knowledge and special expert advice the crop production of Scotland could in time easily be increased by as much as 30 per cent, from the area at present under crop, and that without the " law of Diminishing Returns " beginning to operate. He considered it difficult to foretell what increase in production could be effected by increasing the area under the plough and yet entail no reduction in the amount of meat and milk, but was of opinion that production might be increased by at least a further 20 per cent, by the adoption of such methods as — shortening the rotation a little wherever practicable {e.g., six years instead of seven) ; breaking up some of the land at present under pasture ; draining and bringing under cultivation much land at present almost worthless; improving part of the lessened area under pasture by manuring, draining or liming where required; by more careful selection of grasses and clovers for rotation purposes; and by the use of Wild White Clover where it is likely to prove specially successful. 166. Mr. Paterson gave an example of the improvement of very inferior pasture which had been carried out in the College area under the advice of the staff. The work of reclamation began in 1910, at which time the land was of the nature of very inferior pasture, valued at about 5*. an acre. Up to the present time 87 acres has been fulV reclaimed and a further 44 acres are in process of being reclaimed. The cost of reclaiming has been between £16 and £17 per acre, of which about two-thirds was incurred in draining and levelling. This sum did not include any expenditure on additional buildings. The fully reclaimed land is now valued by the tenant and proprietor at 30*. an acre. The yield of oats obtained on the reclaimed land had averaged 45 bushels per acre. This included a yield of 15 bushels obtained in the first year of reclamation. Yields of other crops were: — Turnips, 27 tons per acre; potatoes, 10 tons, and hay, 2 tons. The stock-carrying power of the farm had greatly increased, 40 extra ewes being kept and the cattle stock being increased by one-third. 167. The witness advocated breeding and feeding stock to secaire earlier maturity, particularly with cattle and sheep for beef and mutton purposes. He read some figures giving age, average weight and average daily gain in live weight of cattle and sheep exhibited at the Smithfield Show during the ten years 1902-11, and- urged that the benefits of early maturity would be a great saving in food fed to stock, and a greatly increased supply of meat, because of the quicker turnover that would be possible. He also urged the selection of dairy cows according to constitution and milk production. He considered there were great possibilities ' in developing pig breeding and the production of bacon, and advocated a considerable extension and improvement in poultry-keeping. With regard to poultry-keeping, Principal Paterson gave particulars of the results obtained on Demonstration Poultry Crofts in the Islands of Tiree and Islay. The fowls and houses were provided by the College but ultimately became the property of the crofter. The poultry were fed and managed on lines laid down by the College experts. In Tiree, where the number of birds was 36, the average number of eggs laid per bird for a period of twelve .months was 192, and the profit per bird, after paying for all food consumed, but exclusive of cost of attendance, was lis. Td. In Islay, 32 fowls laid 4,591 eggs during the' year and yielded a profit, exclusive of cost of attendance, of £14 6*. 2d. 168. Speaking of the possibility of increasing the production of cereals in. Scotland, Principal Paterson instanced the oat crop. He said that climate was frequently the limiting factor, and unfortunately the on© over which the farmer had no control, but much could be done to increase the yield by a judicious change of seed when required and by treatment of the seed previous to sowing, particularly for prevention against such diseases as Smiit, &c. ; by wider cultivation of varieties noted for their grain-producing powers; by a more general and also a more liberal use of well-balanced artificial manures, and by earlier sowing where that is practicable. Field trials show that the adoption of one or more of these methods leads to a very great increase in yield, and tlie same metliods would apply in great measure to the wheat and barley crops. Other Factors affecting Production. . 169. Principal Paterson said that often farmers who were convinced of the advantages of adopting improved methods were unable to do so owing to their financial position. This applied particularfy to the smaller farms. A good scheme of agTicultural credit was, in his opinion, a very pressing need. Farmers in many cases do not care to apply to the existing large banks for loans and consequently obtain long credit from manure merchants, «S;c. Agricultural co-operation could also with advantage be considerably developed. The West of Scotland College had, however, not thought it wise to connect itself with co-operative societies. The agricultural depression had resulted in a great deal of land in Scotland which had been devoted to cereals being put down to grass. It also reduced the sheep stock although there had been an increase in pasture. He did not think it was possible for farmers to get the most out of 'their land unless they were given some security against a fall m price such as occurred in the period of depression. With regard to the method by which such security 32 should be given, he thought that a bonus per acre would be better than a minimum price. He would safeguard the interests of the State by requiring each farmer applying for the bonus to crop his land with a certain minimum proportion of cereals, and payment would be made only in respect of the area in excess of the minimum. 170. The witness considered that the great shortage of cottages for married men in parts of Scotland made it difficult for farmers to maintain a full staff. In many cases, as cottages got out of repair they had been allowed to remain empty. This difficulty placed a premium on the employment of single men. He thought the average wage paid to farm servants was too low before the War. Farmers generally would, in his opinion, be opposed to minimum wage legislation. 171. With regard to the relative productivity of large and small farms, Mr'. Paterson said that he thought that large farms, on the whole, produced more per acre than small, but that there was no reason why a small holding should not produce as much in proportion as a large farm, though it would be at greater cost. 10th Day, 21st November, 1916. Me. C. Beyner Jones, M.Sc. « {Agricultural Commissioner for Wales). 172. Mr. Bryner Jones is the Agricultural Commissioner for Wales under the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and, in that capacity, acts as Chairman of the Agricultural Council for Wales. He is also honorary Professor of Agriculture at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Land Tenure in Wales. 173. He stated that, while not desiring to disciiss the land question generally, he desired to draw the attention of the Sub-Committee to an example of the kind of condition imposed upon tenants by landowners which must be harmful to production, and tend to discourage the tenant from making the best use of his land from the national standpoint. An added clause in a revised agreement which the tenants on a certain Welsh estate were now^ asked to sign read as follows : — " Should the Sanitary Authorities for any reason condemn the house or buildings, the tenant undertakes to either satisfy the Authorities, or quit and deliver up the holding, if required by the Landlord to do so, within six months of the Authorities' notice to repair being received." If the tenants refuse to sign this clause they must quit their holdings. In the event of the tenants agreeing to sign, the effect would be either that the Sanitary Authorities would be prevented from taking any action at all, or if they did, the tenants would be forced to adopt one or- other of the alternatives set out in the agreement, which, in his opinion, were harsh and even unreasonable. If any of the tenants left their farms in consequence of their refusal to sign the. agreement, Mr. Bryner Jones stated that they would find it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to secure other farms under present circumstances. This consideration, together with the remarkable attachment to their holdings which is so frequently shown by tenants, would have the effect of inducing many of them to comply with conditions of a very unreasonable kind rather, than leave. If any of the farmhouses were condemned by the Sanitary Authorities, and the tenant, having signed the agreement, chose to quit rather than undertake the repairs, experience led to^the belief that the house and buildings would be allowed to fall in, and the land let with adjoining farms. Mr. Bryner Jones admitted that the case under notice was exceptional, but he thought it opposed to the interests of agriculture as an industry whose welfare is a matter of national concern, that it should be possible for conditions such as those referred to to be imposed upon tenants, to whom all the other ordinary conditions of farm tenure, without any modification, were made to apply. 174. Mr. Bryner Jones referred to the Royal Commission on Land in Wales which sat in 1893 and 1894, and said that that enquiry had undoubtedly had the effect of bringing landowners and tenants in Wales into closer relationship. Previous to 1894 feeling between these two classes was not of the kind that might be expected to lead to the'best energies of the tenants being put into their work. The chief grievance at that time was as regards rent and insecurity of tenure. There had been a much larger average increase in rents in Wales before the agricultural depression than in England, and during the depression rents were not reduced in Wales to anything like the same extent as in England. In a large number of English counties rents during the same period were reduced. During the last ten years complaints as regards excessive rents were much less frequent. Mr. Bryner Jones considered that in the majority of eases rents in Wales were not too high now although relatively higher than in England, but he felt that the sympathy existing on many estates in England between landlord and tenant was frequently absent in Wales, and he suggested that if it were the a^3 declared policy of the State to prevent rents being increased out of proportion to the rise in the value of agricultural produce, tenants would feel that their interests were safeguarded and that the State was showing sympathy towards them. 175. In reply to questions by members, Mr. Bryner Jones, said that the ,action of the owner in the particular case to which he had called attention could not be accounted for by the fact that the houses or buildings were situated in unsuitable parts of the holdings, and that it would be better, from a sanitary point of view, that they should be condemned.. A fact which had a considerable bearing on the question of rents was that the population in many parts pf Wales was very largely, or even entirely, Welsh speaking. This limited the farm'er's mobility, and the strong attachment for the soil felt by so many Welsh tenant farmers tended to increase competition for farms and thus to raise rents. Landlords had, in many cases in the past, been very ready to take advantage of this tendency, with the result that in general the average level of rents in Wales was higher than in England. It was on the small estates rather than the large that rents were high. He suggested that it would be in the best interests of agriculture if tenants could refer to an impartial body such as the Board of AgricuKure the question of the rent charged for a holding, and if this body could negotiate between the landowner and tenant. He further suggested that where a landowner was, through financial reasons, unable properly to equip his estate or to effect repairs, the State should have power to take over the estate at a fair valuation. On a number of farms not only the dwelling- house but the farm buildings were in such a bad state of repair that it was impossible to expect the farmer to make the best use of his land, yet it was useless to ask the owner to carry out improvements, because he could not afford to do so. Agricultural Education in Wales. 176. Mr. Bryner Jones stated that the first measures for providing a scheme of agricultural education for Wales were taken in 1889, when the agricultural department was established at the University College of North Wales, Bangor. A similar department was established at Aberystwyth the following j'ear. As early as 1875 the University College of Aberystwyth had tried to make arrangements for agricultural education by instituting courses of lectures to teachers, but officially recognised schemes came into existence first in 1889 and 1890. The University Agricultural Departments in Wales were intended chiefly to serve students intending to pursue the higher courses of instruction, such as for the degree in Agricultiiral Science, and many of them qualified as instructors. Both Colleges also undertook a large amount of exten- sion work, which is now known as "Farm Institute" work. The Colleges were for several years entirely responsible for the agricultural education provided in 11 out of the 13 counties in Wales. A considerable number of students received instruction in these two Colleges throughout the year; there was also a great deal of demonstration work, local classes in agri- culture, horticulture, dairying, &c. The agricultural departments were entirely dependent for their income on grants from the Local Authorities and grants from the Board of Agriculture. In Glamorgan and Monmouthshire separate schemes for agricultural instruction had been for many years in operation and entirely managed by the Counties. In Monmouthshire, where the present Director of Agricultural Education had been at work for about 26 years, particularly successful work had been accomplished. 177. When the Farm Institute scheme came into operation in 1912 an arrangement wa? made by which the areas previously attached to the two University Colleges should remain the same. While it was expected that a great development would take place, it was thought thai the supervision should remain the same. Every county in Wales, with one exception, had no\T appointed jointly and separately a county organiser. In 1912 there were only four such officers The aggregate expenditure by the counties alone in 1914-15 was about £12,000. In addition there was considerable expenditure on the part of the Colleges, referred to later. The actual educational work performed through the county staffs was very much the same as is carried on in England. Two Farm Schools, one in Carnarvon and one in Monmouth, had been established The schemes in the counties were generally controlled by a sub-committee of the Cotinty Ediication Committee. 178. With regard to the two agricultural departments themselves, they were in receipt of the usual grant from the Board of Agriculture. Each College had a farm attached to it. The sta,ff consisted of a Professor of Agriculture with one or two assistants, a permanent lecturer in agricultural chemistry and agricultural botany, and since 1912 a special grant had been made to each College for the appointment of advisory officers in chemistry and botany; in addition to these officers a live stock officer had been attached to each department in con- nection with the Live Stock Scheme. The whole country was divided for live stock purposes into two areas, one going to Bangor and the other to Aberystwyth. 179. With regard to future development, Mr. Bryner Jones said that the whole question resolved itself into one of finance. In order to secure efficiency and development, the grant to the agricultural departments of the two Colleges should be very largely increased. The Welsh Colleges had no source of income apart from the Government grant and the students' fees, which were very low, and the small grant-in-aid which had been made by the Local Authorities since 1912, based on a percentage of their own expenditure. The average expendi- ture dii agricultural education in the counties amounted to less than £1,000 a year, and a grant of 5 per cent, of this sum was the only payment which Local Authorities made to Bangor and 19793 C u Aberystwyth. The Residue Grant being devoted to intermediate education^ there was no local source from which the College could derive an income in Wales, whereas in many counties in England the whole cost of the agricultural instrudtion could be' met out of the " whiskey money. ' Mr. Bryner Jones expressed the hope that, the, result of the enquiry by the Royal Commission now sitting on the University of Wales, would be to develop .the facilities for agricultural education of university standard. Under the Farm Institute Scheme the grants paid by thp State in respect of lower grade agricultural education were on a fairly generous scale, but some better scale of assistance was desirable towards education of the highest type. 180. In reply to supplementary questions, Mr. Bryner Jones said that the demand for agricultural organisers was so great a few years ago that there were not enough fully competent men arvailable. The men appointed- had, however, on the whole done satisfactory work. The attiftide of the Welsh farmers was distinctly sympathetic. The College at Aberystwyth had organised for the last twenty years short winter courses of instruction at the College.. These iad been attended annually by from 35 to 60 students. These men were now to be found all over South Wales, and they were the men who were always ready to assist in any scheme of ■ local development or improvement. On the whole, Mr. Bryner Jones considered that a- centralised scheme of agricultural education such as obtains in Scotland, and to some extent in Wales, was preferable to one in which each individual county authority was free to do as it. wished, but he desired to add that where- the county authorities were progressive, the need for a centralised scheme was less. Captain (now, Sir) Beville Staniee, M.P. (Chairman of the British Sugar Beet Growers' Society, lAmited). 181. Captain Stanier said that the' questions on which he proposed to offer evidence were : — Is there a case for State intervention with respect to the establishment of the Beet Sugar Industry in this country; and if His Majesty's Government decide so to intervene, what is the most satisfactory way in which such intervention should take place to -effect the purpose in view ? He thought that it would be generally admitted that the stage of technical investigation had been passed and it had been proved that sugar beet could be successfully grown in this country, and that the sugar-content of home-grown sugar beet was equal, if not superior, to that of foreign-grown beet. The question, therefore,, that still needed investigation was whether sugar can be produced from beet at a profit, if a price be secured for the grower (say, a minimum of 23*. per ton f.o.r.) which will compete with other crops under normal conditions: The sum of 23*. had been arrived a"t by the Sugar Beet Growers' Society on the basis of the low yield of 12 tons to the acre, which would return about £14. The cost of cultivation being £9 to £10 per acre, a balance of about £5 would be left to the farmer, ^apart from the value of the leaves and other by-products. Captain Stanier thought, from his own experience, that the value of the leaves was not less than £1 an acre and other by-products lO*. per acre, thus making a total profit on the basis he had assumed of £6 lO*. Od. per acre. Asked for details as to the cost of cultivation. Captain Stanier offered to furnish a memorandum on this point.* 182. Captain Stanier said that his Society were of opinion that the only means by which it could be ascertained whether sugar could be profitably manufactured from home-grown beet was by an actual trial, in the first instance, on a complete commercial scale. He said that the investing public would not make such a trial, because they had no guarantee that they would have an adequate and regular supply of beet for the factory. On the other hand, farmers will not guarantee a supply, in advance of a factory being erected. Even presuming that there was a factory with a guaranteed supply, the farmers would be able to refuse supplies at the expiry of each guaranteed period unless a price fixed by them was paid. The only solution of this difficulty was, in the opinion of the Society, that the factory should have its own factory farm to provide, during the initial period, the necessary supply to the factory, and during the following years an assured supply to secure a fair price. Moreover, such a farm would prove an object lesson to the district in high farming on an extensive scale, and wduld demonstrate how the by-products could be disposed of to the best advantage. Captain Stanier considered that if a trial were contemplated by means of a factory with its own farm there was still no incentive to investors, in view of there being no actual data available to enable them to determine what would be the probable dividends upon capital. Such investment must, therefore, be expected to be made only by wealthy persons prepared to risk the loss of their money in the national interest, or by persons led to invest by optimistic representations in public prospectuses of possibilities which cannot be based on facts as ascertained in this country. He did not consider that the dividends earned abroad would be any guide to the * Captain Stanier subsequently sent to the Sub-Committee a memorandum explaining that the figure JED Is. 8J. Wis given in the" Journal of the Board of Agriculture" for February, I'Jlo (page 984) as" the average cost of production on the farms during the years 1912. 1913 and 1914. In the witness's opinion this would now be £10. In the Board's Report on Experiments in 1911 [Od. 6162. page 13] the cost of the experiments was given as £10 10.9. .In I912-. Captain Stanier's crop cost: — Ploughed (twice),- .£1 ;. Harrow (3 times), Roll (once), 6s.; Dril- ling, \s.6d. ; Hoeing, £1 ; Lifting. £1 2r a minimum price of, say, 50*. Farmers would be greatly assLf^ted by some means of 39 easier credit. If some crops could be converted intO:Casli at once at some fairly uniform rate regardless of quantity, as was done in Denmark by the co-operative societies, or in South Africa in the case of mealies, farmers would be able to replenish their capital instead of having it outstanding jfor 12 or 14 months at a time. 200. It was also very desirable. Dr. Russell' considered, to attract more capital to the agricultural industry, and in this connection he referred to the co-partnership scheme by Sir Richard Paget, and the proposal to establish large industrialised farms as recommended by Mr. A. D. Hall. Finally} Dr. Russell urged ihat it was necessary to create the fashion to improve land. In the great agricultural improvement- at the end of the 18th Century this played a very important part. "The farming tribe," wrote Arthur Young, '-'is now made up of all ranks from a duke to an apprentice." Even the King himself went in for agricultural experiments, and wrote one or two articles on them in the " Annals of Agriculture;" The force of example is very potent in the country, much more so than that of any State rule or regulation. The agricultural knowledge of the landowning class was not at present what it ought to be, but he saw signs of an effort on the part of many members of the class to improve their estates and set an example to others. ■ The education of the landowner was also being looked after; Oxford and Gambridge and some of the schools were trying to bring about improvements. ■ 201. Dr. Russell considered that an agricultural survey was badly needed which would show the possibilities of reclamation and of imj)rovement. Such a survey would be the only means of obtaining a good working estimate of the extent to which agricultural production could be increased. He suggested that certain obstacles to agricultural improvements deserved attention, such as restrictive covenants, and the over-preserving of game. He also expressed the view that landlords should have better power to get rid of bad tenants. 202. On various questions which arose during the examination, Dr. Russell expressed the following views. It was highly desirable to increase the manufacture of all artificial manures after the War, and probably some of the munition factories could be used for this purpose. As a general practice it would not be desirable to use sulphate of ammonia as an autumn dressing; there were special circumstances connected with the price which made it desirable during the War. If grass land was going to be converted to tillage to any considerable extent it was very desirable to have local demonstrations to show the best way of doing it, as initial failure on the part of a number of farmers would have a very bad effect. He ha.d never tried double ploughing, bxit thought it niight prove a good method for preventing tht weeds coming through. It was desirable to have a demonstration farm devoted to sugar beet: so far it had been grown oyer large sections of the country only in plots and it was very difiicult to form a judgment from demonstration plots. Mn. Joseph Fojrkes Duncan. (Honorary Secretary, Scottish Farm, Servants' (Jninn). 203. Mr. Duncan explained that the Scottish Farm Servants' Union was a registered' trade union founded in J-une^ 1912, and was open to all farm workers of both sexes, but the bulk of the membership consisted of ploughmen. At the end of October, 1916, there were seventy-four branches in the following counties inScotland : — Inverness, Elgin, Banff, Aberdeen, Forfar, Perth, Fife, Stirling, Lanark, Dumbarton, Renfrew, Ayr, Linlithgow, Edinburgh, Haddington, Berwick, and Roxburgh. He said that the Executive Committee, which was appointed annually, consisted entirely of farm workers. The questions of Wages Boards and a Minimum Wage had been discussed at various times at meetings of District Councils and at the Annual General Meetings, but no definite. policy had been adopted by the Union. The general opinion had been that legislative action had not been necessary or desirable. TDhe Union had advocated the formation of Joint Committees between the farmers' organisations and. the Union for the purposes of considering questions of wages and working conditions. Prior to the outbreak of war, conferences were held between various farmers' societies and the Union to discuss the introduction of a weekly half-holiday for farm workers, and in several instances recommendations were issued, some of which were adopted by farmers, more or less completely. On the 14th October, 1916, a conference was held between the Executive Coin- mittees of the National Farmers' Union of Scotland and the Scottish Farm Servants' Union, and it was agreed to recommend a scheme for Joint Committees of both organisations to discuss wages and working conditions, and to provide for a .system of making engagements without the necessity, of hiring fairs^ A report of the proceedings was published in thfe " The Scottish Farm Servant" for JSToveinber, 1916. 204.. Mr. Duncan .stated that the working .staffs of .the Scottish farm.s were engaged for either six months or one year, the engagements running from the ternis at Whitsunday or Martinmas. Married men were usually engaged for a year, and single men usually for six mouths. In the West of Scotland married men hired for six mpnths, and. in Fife and the Lothians and Border counties single men engaged for a year. Each.worker, Mi'. Duncan said, on a Scotch farm .had well-defined duties. These varied in the different districts and according 19793 ^ * 4U to the size aud class of farms. Farm labour in Scotland, iu his opinion, might be described as specialised and skilled. The ploughman took complete charge of his team and did his own stable work. In Scotland he had to be competent to do the whole of the work. Occasional labour had been steadily decreasing for a considerable time ; it was now principally confined to the labour of women. 205. Mr. Duncan handed in a statement of the wages paid to ploughmen in the different counties in which the Union has branches, showing the wages paid prior to the War, and the wages for December, 1916. He explained that grieves, foremen, cattlemen, and shepherds generally received a wage higher than those earned by ploughmen. Male workers on Scottish farms, engaged under a contract of service, were in receipt of standing wages, no deductions being made for broken time or for holidays (generally four to six days a year), but wages were not now generally paid during sickness, although part wages might be paid, according to bargain. Piece work was hardly known on Scottish farms, except in the case of casual workers, or where, owing to shortage of labour, turnip thinning and turnip lifting might be paid for, as overtime, at piece rates. Overtime had become more general in the counties from Forfarshire southwards since the Union was formed. The rates varied from 6d. to 9d. per hour, the tendency being towards the higher rate. The hours of labour, Mr. Duncan said, were generally ten per day. in two shifts of five hours each, with a mid-day interval of one or two hours, except in Fife and Roxburgh, where the nine hours day was more general. In the winter months the working day' had to be shortened to suit the shorter period of daylight. In addition to the hours stated ploughmen had to do the necessary stable work, which would add about 1^ hours daily to the above hours. There had beeii a tendency in the case of ploughmen towards a regular working week. The case of cattlemen presented some difficulty in this respect. A movement for a weekly half-holiday was inaugurated by the Union in 1913, 'and was becoming increasingly successful, when the outbreak of war- led to its suspension. It had not been tried in the dairying districts, but the movement had been generally successful in Edinburgh, Linlithgow, and West Fife, and to a less extent in Haddington, East Fife, Perth, Forfarshire, and the West of Scotland. If men were required to work on the half- holiday they were paid overtime. 206. Mr. Duncan said that in the district north of Inverness wages were very much below the standard of the other counties, and were dangerously low, and the same was true of the extifeme South West of Scotland. In the latter area, however, he believed the rates had increased greatly during the last twelve months owing to the competition for labour of the special munition industry created at Gretna Green. The wages for male workers in Scotland showed that, while the rates of wages for skilled workers were" too low — especially in view of the long hours, and the arduous nature of the work — ^the earnings were not, in the opinion of his Union, such as to call for special legislative action either in'the interest of the worker or the industry. Women's wages, however, he said, had always been scandalously low, > j> 4 ,, exactly. ,6 ,, to 10 poles. > 11 >) )) ~0 ,, , 21 „ „ 40 „ , 41 „ „ 80 „ 260 4 Houses of over 80 poles. 1 Mainsion ., 6 acres. 265 Total Dwellings in the Parish. 257. " The 35 acres of developed property are owned by 65 persons. The agricultural land of the parish is mostly composed of second-class heavy land with some decent pasture, and is msinly owned by the Lord of the Manor. It will be observed that the average amount of land to a' cottage is extremely small. Ten poles should be regarded as the minimum for a cottage plot. Here more than two-thirds of the cottages have less than that, while nearly one- third average three poles and under ! Yet, while the cottages are so crowded, there are two grass fields with long frontages to the High Street which should be utilised for the needs of the parish. What is required in this Parish is an area for quite small cottage gardens, another area to be set out in small occupying ownerships with road frontages, a cow common 19793 ^ 2 52 and, possibly, a horse common. The land for all these purposes could be purchased in suitable positions for under £30 an acre, which, on the 3} per cent, basis, could be repaid m 6b years, with the large sinking fund of 1^ per cent. In the case of land costing £30 per acre, the annual charge for interest and sinking fund would thus be 30*. per annum. By these com- paratively simple changes the village could be made a comfortable and progressive one, and life in" it" rendered far happier than it can be under present" conditions. _ And all this can be effected on strict busme^.s principles, the money required for the acquisition of the land being easily repayable by the people having the benefit of it." 258. Lord Milner, in reply to questions, said that he did not consider that the effect of a labourer owning his cottage would be to make him more dependent on his individual employer. The scheme, of which the above proposals formed part, had as one of its objects the improved status of the agricultural labourer. It was hoped that by giving him opportunities for purchasing Ms cottage, to which there would be attached a certain quantity of land, he would become more, rather than less, independent, and it was proposed to provide facilities for small ownerships which would entirely support a man and his family. He admitted that the small owner would often have economically a greater struggle to exist than that experienced by an ordinary labourer. But taking the broad human view. Lord" Milner considered the small owner's lot to be preferable. He was his own master and had independence. His Lordship's experience abroad was that although small owners often had hard economic struggles, there existed among them a corporate life which developed their intelligence and led them to manage their own affairs to a much greater degree than was known in this country. Asked how the system of cow pastures held in common which he had advocated would be likely to work, Lord Milner said that he had found it often alleged that the grass would be worn out by excessive pasturage, but that did not agree with what he had seen abroad. He admitted that the difficulty with the proposals for village reconstruction would be to get the scheme started. On the one hand, the initiative would not usually be taken by the village itself, English rural life being what it is, unless there was some local person of influence and keenness to take the matter up. On the other hand, he did not think it would be a good thing for an outside authority, such as the Board of Agriculture or the County Council to step in and dictate to the local people what should be done. He thought, however, that it might be a useful scheme to make parish councils, which at present had very limited powers, responsible for starting proposals for reconstruction. The essential thing was that the condition of a village should be considered as a whole. The following is a further extract from the Memorandum to which Lord Milner had referred : — Tithe Redemption. 259. " There is one way of rendering land available for public purposes without compulsion, which would often fit in admirably with the policy of multiplying small holdings and of village reconstruction. That way is to give landowners the option of redeeming tithe by the surrender of a certain portion of their land instead of by the payment of a sum of money. A precedent is to be found in the Finance Act, 1910, which allows land to be surrendered in payment of certain duties. 260. " If the terms of redemption were reasonable, there is little doubt that landowners would in many cases gladly avail themselves of this option, and odd corners of farms running into or adjoining villages would generally be most convenient for this purpost. But in order to make this plan work, it would be necessary to alter the existing terms of redemption. Under the present law the landowner, in order to redeem, has to pay 25 years' purchase of the commuted value of the tithe. The actual value o£ tithe last year was £72 15s. for every £100 of commuted value. Thus the landowner, in order to rid himself of an annual charge of £72 15*. now has to pay £2,500. In doing so he would be investing his money at less than 3 per cent., or, to put it differently, he would be buying an interest in land yielding less than 3 per cent, per annum. With the present value of money, such a transaction would be so unprofitable that, except for special reasons — as, for instance, when land is sold in plots — ^the redemption of tithe has practically ceased. 261. " This is thoroughly unsatisfactory from all points of view. It is, on general grounds, desirable for both the parties interested that tithe should be got rid of. It is a burden to the landowner out of proportion to its actual amount, and, in view of the present tendency of tithe to rise, he would be more than ever glad to get rid of it. On the other liand, the clergy, who are the principal tithe-receivers, would be very much better off, if their fluctuating income from tithe, subject as it is to rates and other deductions reducing the gross amount, on the average, by about 20 per cent. (£72 155. of tithe yielding an actual net income of only £58 4*.), could be converted into a fixed income of equal or slightly greater amount. 262. " The State must see to it that justice is done between the two parties but the present position of affairs is hurtful to both. No doubt the present terms of redemption are very favourable to the tithe-owner, but as they are so onerous to the tithe-payer that he prscticnlly never redeems, the tithe-owner gets no actual benefit from that fact. It would be much better for him to agree to lower, but still good, terms, which might tempt the tithe-payer ■,o redeem. Evervthing considered, it appears that if the 25 years' purchase were reduced to 20 li'i+h D-^rties would have good reason to be satisfied, and redemption would once more become •ommnn. 26"^. " In order further to facilitate this process, a special feature of the present system of redemption would have to be taken into account and dealt with. It has been stated that £100 63 of commuted value of titte is at present represented by £72 lbs. Od of actual value, and that the net income derivable from this sum is, on the average, only £58 4s. Od. It would, therefore, appear exceedingly good business for the tithe-owner to receive 20 years' purchase of the commuted value, i.e., £2,000, seeing that at the present time it is possible to invest money, on absolutely first-class security, at from 3J to 4 per cent. He would seem to be exchanging an income of £58 4s. Od. for one of £75 to £80. But in practice this is not what would actually happen. For under the present law, where the tithe-owner is a rector or vicar, the capital sum required to redeem the tithe has to be paid to Queen Anne's Bounty, and the clergyman receives from that institution a fixed income of 3 per cent, on the amount of such capital. Hence for every £100 of commuted value he would get, on redemption, at 20 years' purchase, only £60 a year, in lieu of his present income of £58 4s. With tithe tending to rise, this is not altogether a good bargain, but there is no longer any justification for fixing the rate of interest to be paid by Queen Anne's Bounty at 3 per cent. That rate was reasonable at a time when the value of money was lower than it is now. With the general rale of interest on first-class securities standing at BJ per cent, to 4 per cent, it would only be fair that Queen Anne's Bounty should pay 3 J per cent, to the tithe-owner, instead of 3 per cent." 264. In reply to enquiries from Members, Lord Milner said that he did not consider that the increased rate of interest which was now current made the above scheme in any way unworkable. The great object was that landowners should be allowed to redeem the tithe by handing over land to a public authority at a certain number of years' purchase. He agreed with a suggestion that the same principle might be applied to glebe land, which would have the effect of making the scheme more universally applicable. 265. In conclusion Lord Milner said that the memorandum from which the suggestions about Village Reconstruction and Tithe Redemption had been taken was prepared by him in oo-operation with Mr. Trustram Eve. The ideas. expressed on both the points were largely the result of sug-gestions made by Mr. Eve from his own experience and from proposals made to him by other people. He, therefore, suggested that, if the Committee were seriously going to take up either of these questions, it would be most desirable that Mr. Trustram Eve should be given an opportunity of giving evidence on them himself. 14tli Day, 6th December, 1916. Mb,, John M. Ci-abk, F.S.I. 266. Mr. Clark, who is a land agent whose practice extends to Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, and parts of Yorkshire, said that during, the last 40 or 50 years a very large area of arable land in the Northern Counties had been laid away to grass, particularly the second class arable land. The best had been fairly kept in cultivation although on some farms even this class had been put to grass as well. Probably at least one-half of the arable land in Northumberland had ceased to grow cereals; in some districts much more. On many farms where formierly there was a fair breadth of land imder the plough not an acre remained as arable. The reasons for this were, Mr. Clark said, (i/the very low price to which corn fell ; (ii) the increase in wages and the difficulty in getting' laboii't ; (iii) the dtainage system ceasing to act : these drains were put in about the 'sixties f (iv) absence of encouragement to' farmers to grow corn : the economic policy of this country had in no ^ay favoured the agriculturist. 267. The first of these reasons was, Mr. Clark pointed out, accounted for by the very large importation of foreign corn which was rendered possible by the low cost of production on virgin soils and the very low freights. The second (viz., increase of wages) was due in the North to the high wages men were able to get in coal mines and other industries, and latterly, he thought, greatly by the shorter hours and the greater attractions of the towns. The third, he said, he would deal with later in connection with the question of drainage. The fourth- was due no doubt to the f apt that so long as we could import our foodstuffs cheaper than we could produce them, it was considered better for the country as a whole. The experience of the War had, he thought, greatly altered this view. , 268. As to the possibility of largely increasing the production of cereals without in any way reducing the production of meat and milk, Mr. Clark was confident that this could be done if the best of the land laid away to. grass were again brought into cultivation. He explained that he purposely said the " best " because there was a very large area of land in the North that had at one time been under the plough which was entirely unsuited by its altitude or quality to be affain rropped This land, he considered, was best left as grass, but it could be immensely imDroved by draining, and, in nearly every case, regularly dressing with basic slag 269 To render this growing of cereals possible, Mr. Clark was of opinion that some method of assuring to the farmer some security as to remunerative prices for his corn was absolutely necessary With this security he thought it not only advisable in the interests of the country, but also in the interests of the landowners and iarmers, that a considerable^ area of this grass should be brought under the plough, as by so doing the produce of the land would be greatly D s 19793 64 increased both as to cereals and also meat and milk. His experience was ttat where a farmel- had a fair area of cropping land along with grass, he was able to keep a larger head oi stock of all classes. Mr. Clark explained that in making this statement he was, of course, assuming that labour could be obtained. He considered that, in dealing with this large increase of arable land, it was necessary to consider the question of fertilisers,, and he believed that sulphate of ammonia and basic slag were what was most required, but in order that the farmer should have the benefit of these at a fair price he thought it would be necessary that the exportation of them should either be entirely prohibited or that such an "export duty should be put on as would prevent their exportation to any large extent ; whilst Germany produced five times as much basic slag as this country, she used practically all she produced at home, whereas England exported nearly half of what she produced. To get the best results from these fertilisers, Mr. Clark considered it necessary that the farmer should be shown how best to use them. This, he said, dould only be done by educating the farmer, and the education should not be by books (although he thought they might well be more used than they are) but by actually showing the farmer on experimental and demonstration farms what can be done and what crops can be grown. The experimental farms that have been estalblished, as, for instance, Cockle Park for Northumberland and Durham, have done a great work, but more of them are wanted and also more money from the State, in order to carry them on on a larger scale. The British farmer was slow to learn from books or lectures, but when he saw what could be done he was not a fool, and would very quickly follow methods which he saw would pay. Mr. Clark thought too that lime had been neglected as a fertiliser. The north country soil was, as a whole, very deficient in lime. The old-fashioned method of very heavy liming was, in his opinion, a mistake, as the lime very quickly sinks into the soil and is lost as a plant food. He said that it had been proved at Cockle Park, and was the experience of others, that much smaller applications in each rotation were more beneficial. Farm-yard manure was also, he thought, most necessary, but by increasing the area of arable land the manure would be greatly increased. 270. Mr. Clark stated that he could not express any definite opinion as to the extent to which the production of foodstuffs would be increased by the breaking up of grass land and by improved methods, but he was confident that it would be very large. In advocating the breaking up of grass land, he explained that he did not refer to really good old grass which, if properly looked after, yields the maximum of foodstuffs, nor did he refer to the very poor land, but he would not hesitate, he said, to plough up good grass if it was on good arable land; If all grass land were properly and scientifically manured, Mr. Clark felt sure that the produce would be greatly increased. Too much of it, he said, was simply left to grow what it could without any attention whatever, and had consequently become so poor in the necessary constituents that it produced far less than it was capable of producing. He knew several farms where the application of basic slag had had an astonishing effect, making land which was dear to rent at 5.s. an acre into land well worth 20.>'. This especially applied to the poor clay hands in Durham. Again, the witness stated, it was a question of educating the farmer by seeing what could be done, and Cockle Pai'k Experimental Farm had in this work also been a "pioneer. Many farmers, he said, now use basic slag regularly, and one told him recently that he used 40 tons every year, and that on not a very large farm, yet these men a few years ago, and before Cockle Park showed what could be done, never thought of putting anything on their pastures. 271. The drains put in 40 to 60 years ago had, Mr. Clark said, alrdost enliirely ceased to do any good. Most of this drainage was done with money borrowed from the Lands Improve- ment Company which formed a first charge upon the estate and was repayable in 25 years. The rules laid down as to depth, width apart, and size of pipes had been proved by experience to be unsuitable for that part of the country, and all the different classes of land were drained on one system. He considered it an absolute necessity, before breaking up a great deal of the land laid to grass, to have a new system of drainage. Mole-draining had not been used in the north so far as he was aware. There were so many stones in the clay that' the system would not be successful. No hard and fast rule could, he said, be laid down as to method, but his experience was that drains 2| to 3 feet deep, and about 7 yai'ds apart, with not less than 2i-inch pipes, gave the best result. He also attached great importance to the drains having an air inlet at the upper end, which greatly increased their efficiency. Very little draining had been done in the last 20 years ; this, he thought, was no doubt due, to a great extent, to the lack of inducement offered by the very poor return to the landowner from his land. The rents received from land drained and improved 50 years ago were to-day, he said, no higher, and in many cases lower, than they were before the money was expended. To induce land- owners to expend money on draining, he thought it would be necessary to assure them that the same thing would not occur agaili, and this could only be done by assuring the tenant that the prices of his produce would not fall to so low an ebb as to prevent him paying a rent to cover such an expenditure. It would also be necessary, he considered, for the Government to lend money at a low rate of interest. These two essentials being secured, the State might make it compulsory for this work to be done under proper supervision. Mr. Clark thought that the same might apply to the tenant in connection with the use of proper fertilisers ; if these were retained in this country compulsorily, then some means would have to be devised to compel their use on the land. 272. With regard to the agricultural labourer's wages, the witness thought that the question of a minimum wage in the northern counties would scarcely arise, as any minimum wage fixed would be much less than that which is now paid or was paid' before the War. 55 Before the War the average wages paid in Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, and West- morland were as follows : — Northumberland Durham Cumberland ... Westmorland ... Gash. s". d. 21 6 22 6 19 20 Allowance. s. d. 4 6 6 4 7i 2 Total. s. d. 26 U 28 2 25 9 24 27(J. These wages, Mr. Clark stated, were for men hired by the year, which was the custom. For casual labour the most usual wage was 4a'. a day, and with these wages men who are thrifty, and have a family who also work, soon save money and are able to take a small farm themselves. He considered it a remarkable thing that at least 50 per cent, -oi the farmers in Northumberland and Cumberland were originally farm labourers or the sons of farm labourers. One great mistake made by farmers was, he thought, that they did not pay their own sons who worked on the farm, but simply clothed, fed them, and gave them pocket money. These young men were told that they would succeed their father, but many grew tired of waiting and drifted into other work in towns, and thus were lost to the land. He thought this a serious loss, as those were often the very best men. With regard to the question of a minimum wage, Mr. Clark considered that it would be unpopular both with men and masters; the farm labourers in the North were, he said, very well able to look after themselves, ff, however, it should be decided to fix a minimum wage by legislation, he was of opinion that it would have to be carried out by Wage Boards for each district; one Central Board for each county would not be satisfactory, as the conditions in each district vary so much. Also, if a minimum wage was paid, the tenant would have to be given some assurance that the price of his produce would be such as to enable him to pay it, or the consumer might be made to pay a part of what in some places would be an extra burden by relieving the land of some of the weight of taxations, local and imperial, which now fell upon it. 274. With regard to the tendency of young men to migrate to the large centres of industry, Mr. Clark did not think that, with the exception of shorter hours, any inducements which could reasonably be given and which would keep them on the land were lacking in the North. There could be no doubt that the attraction of the picture halls and the short hours of labour in towns did draw a large number of young men to the town from the countryside, but so far as money, outlook, and a healthy occupation were concerned, the farm labourer's lot in the North would, he considered, bear favourable comparison with any other industry. 275. Mr. Clark said that good cottages on a farm were a necessity. In the North the farms were fairly well supplied for the present conditions, but if a much larger area was brought under the plough the old cottages which had fallen into ruin in many cases would have to be rebuilt, or new ones erected, so as to accommodate the necessary labourers. A good cottage and garden should be part of the labourer's wage, and not rented to him. At present, in many districts, cottages which should be occupied by farm men were occupied by road men, policemen and others not working on the land. The employers of these men should be made to build cottages for them and so free those now so occupied for men on the land. Mr. Clark said that it had been suggested that where it is clearly shown that cottages are urgently wanted for the proper cultivation of the land, the State should step in and _ build them and let to the labourers. He did not agree with this view as it would bring in another ownership, which was, in his opinion, undesirable. He suggested that the owner of the land should be compelled to build what cottages were necessary, being granted cheap money to do so. If the tenant were given a guaranteed price for his produce, the landlord would be sure of receiving a steady and reliable rent for his land. To build at the present time was scarcely possible, as there was such a shortage of labour and the cost would be so great. Any scheme decided on must await the end of the War. 276. With regard to the advisability of assuring stability to agriculture by securing it against a recurrence of the disastrous fall of the price of its staple products, Mr. Clark stated that there could be but one answer, viz., that it was essential, if the supply of cereals was to be increased. The principal methods which he suggested were (1) a duty on all imported corn ; (2) a bounty of so much per quarter on all corn grown in this country, if the price fell below a certain fixed standard; (3) a bounty on every acre of corn grown in excess of thai grown at some fixed date. The first was, in his opinion, impracticable, as' he could nol Conceive of the people of this country agreeing to a tax on the "Food of the People." The second was much more likely to be agreed to, as it would not I'aise the price of corn but would ensure' the grower a minimum price for his produce. The great objection to this was that it might be held to be the means of increasing the rents of the landowners. If, however, the object of the bounty was fulfilled, viz., the increase of the cereal crops and thus also of the meat and milk raised in the country, the ultimate receiver of the benefit Avould not need to be considered. With this bounty he suggested a small duty or registration fee on imported flour, so as to favour the importation of grain, and thus gain the offal for the feeding of stock. This minimum price should not only be fixed on wheat, but also on oats, and, possibly, barley. 19793 . ^ ' 66 fie suggested tliat the minimuiii for wheat should be 45«. a quarter, and for oats, which in the Iforth is a standard crop, 24«. ; the latter figure, however, was rather low and should perhaps be raised to 25s. or 26s. The third method, that of giving a bounty for every acre of corn above the pre-war standard was, Mr. Clark thought, more cumbersome, and would take more administration, and had the disadvantage, in comparison with the minimum price, of giving the same benefit whether the crop was a good or a bad one, whereas the minimum scheme gave more if more and better quality was grown, and thus acted as a stimulus to produce as much as possible and of the best quality. It had the advantage of directly benefiting the grower. On the whole he favoured the second method, viz., the minimum of standard prices, below which, if wheat, barley and oats fell, the farmer would be paid a bonus. Many, he said, advocated this system only for 5 or 10 years; he could not, however, agree with this view ; it should, in his opinion, be a settled policy. If the prices of cereals kept up nothing should be paid; if they fell below the standard it would be clear that help was wanted, otherwise the farmer would cease to grow corn and fall back on laying to grass again. 277. Apart from this artificial stimulus to agriculture, Mr. Clark said that he looked to " Education " as the greatest asset. Much had been done, but much more remained to be done. Instead of having one education centre and experimental farm for two counties, one was needed for each district, with skilled teachers who- could move about amongst the farmers and give advice, and, still better, show them by reference to the experimental farm how they might get the most out of the land. They might even make experiments on each farm to show, still more directly what could be done. These farms should, if possible, be made to pay. 278. In reply to questions, Mr. Clark said that he entirely agreed that if the State were prepared to give security to the farmer in order to increase the home production of food, it could not afford to risk failure, and would be justified in taking powers to put pressure upon a landowner who failed to respond to national requirenients. While he looked to educational' methods to bring about improvements, he thought it would be fair and necessary for the Govern- ment to be given compulsory powers. Before the War, agriculturists would have received such a suggestion with great opposition, but the position had considerably changed. No doubt many farmers would object to ploughing their grass lands, and it would be necessary to set up some local organisation to decide what land should or should not be broken up — local knowledge was essential. He was not in favour of Land Courts, and did not suggest any interference between landlord and tenant on the question of r6nt.. They were quite well able to come to an agreement between themselves. 279. With regard to the method of calculating the payment due to each farmer in the event of the market price of wheat and oats falling below the guaranteed price, Mr. Clark said that the details of the scheme presented serious difficulties and would need careful con- sideration. If the payment was based on the quantity sold, there was a danger, no doubt, of the same parcel of wheat or oats being paid on twice ; there was also the more serious difficulty of the effect on the farmer who grew oats for consumption on the farm. He would either obtain no benefit from the guarantee or he would be forced to sell his oats and buy other feeding stuffs. The danger of forced sales would be that farmers would sell oats of all qualities, and thus depress the average market price, which would result in a larger payment being made by the State. On the other hand, if payment were to be based on the quantity of wheat and oats threshed, it would probably be necessary to arrange for the attendance of an official at threshing time, and, as many farmers in the North threshed weekly, this would be a serious matter. At the same time, Mr. Clark said that if farmers desired to benefit from the guarantee', it might not be unreasonable to require them to thresh in larger quantities. The. difficulty might be overcome by arranging for the standing crop to be estimated before harvest. This was commonly done in the North in connection with surface subsidencies, and there were men who were specially skilled in work of that kind. 280. Mr. Clark agreed that there would probably be considerable difficulty after the War in securing sufficient laboiir for agriculture, especially if the arable area were increased. In the North, although wages were good, there was a shortage of labour before the War. A reduction of hours would probably do more than anything else to keep labour on the land. Labourers' sons often succeeded in getting smallholdings and then larger ones; this had the effect of fixing men on the soil and was to a certain extent a counter-attraction to the towns. There was some tendency for men to change their employment as hirings came round. The giving of a half-holiday diiring eight months of the year had worked well. In cases such as that of a cowman, where a half-holiday could not conveniently be given, men were granted a few whole days' leave at slack times of the year. 281. On questions which arose in the course of the examination, Mr. Clark expressed the opinion that at the present time farmers in the North would not be prevented from extending their arable land by reason of lack of capital. He did not consider that there were any conditions of tenure which would need amendment in order to encourage increased production. He agreed that it would be a great advantage to farmers themselves if they were compelled to keep accounts 80 as to have their income tax assessed on their profits, not upon their rentals, and there would be no serious difficultv if they were required to do so. " ■ 61 Mh. W. W. Bekky. 282.. Mr. Berry, wlio iarrns 1,100 acres of land in Kent, growing fruit, hops, and market garden pi'oduce as well as ordinary farm crops, and has recently taken a further 9Q0 acres in Wiltshire, said that, while much of the land of this country was well-farmed, he had no doubt that the produce of the arable land could, with more capital and energy, be very greatly increased —in his opinion to the extent of 30 per cent. This result could be obtained without reducing, in any way, the production of meat and milk, but rather the reverse. His own experience in both Kent and Wiltshire had shown that generous treatment of the land produced much larger results. In Wiltshire, for example, the land he had occupied for two years had formerly been farmed with a f e\*^ breeding ewes ; he had altered that system and put only fatting sheep on the land, and produced every acre of corn he possibly could. He had only been there two seasons and did not suggest that he had had sufficient experience to form any final judgment, but, up to the present, he considered that, with proper manuring, land of that description could be made to produce from one-third to one-half more than on the old system. The land had responded at once to vigorous cultivation. When he took it over, the " seeds" he sowed in April realised a crop which showed that the land had been starved. He sowed sulphate of ammonia with the oats. The crop amounted only to six quarters to the acre and a moderate amount of straw-r-this might be partly due to late sowing. After applying 6 cwts. of slag to the acre, the hay crop amounted to 1 ton 15 cwts. as compared with 15 cwts. in the previous year in a similar field. The second cutting produced between 16 and 17 cwts. These results attracted a great deal of attention amongst his neighbours and proved that money could be made out of farming that land if proper inanuring was carried out. 283. With regard to the possibility of improving permanent grass lands, Mr. Berry said that he had seen Down land in Wiltshire which had been " slagged " four years previously and no one would have believed that it had been virgin Down; the grass was 3 or 4 inches high, and it was carrying and had carried three times as many sheep as the neighbouring land. He knew of no grass land that would not benefit from the application of suitable phosphates. There was, however, a good deal of second-rate grass land which had never been properly laid down and in the interest of the country it should be broken iip. In some marsh districts also there was a good deal of land which would produce heavy crops of cereals and potatoes if the conditions as to not ploughing were removed from farmers' leases. The matter would, however, need to be very carefully dealt with, as marsh land was very various. In the Eomney Marsh, for instance, there was some of the finest sheep grazing land in the world, and there was also some other land which there was no justification for keeping in grass. 284. Mr. Berry, said that at the present time therei was a great feeling of uncertainty among farmers. He mentioned the case of a good farm which the owner had been unable to let owing to the high price which any in-coming tenant would have to pay for the live-stock, &c., which might be very greatly reduced in value as soon as the War came to an end. There was quite a serious unwillingness on the part of farmers to take farms. In Kent, for example, there had been a great , difficulty in letting, not the smaller farms, but large farms. Farmers also feared that their crops would be commandeered by the Government at an unremunerative price. For these reasons he advocated the fixing of minimum prices for a short term of years. This would give farmers confidence and encourage them to produce as much as they possibly could. He suggested that for wheat 50*. should be guaranteed for three years. Asked whether farmers would not attach more importance to a lower price (say 40*.), for ten years, Mr. Berry agreed that they would, if such a proposal was practicable. He did not think the country generally would be willing to adopt a guarantee for such a long period, and he was sure that farmers in many cases did not want to grow wheat. 285. Respecting drainage, Mr. Berry said that his land required very little drainage, but it was obvious that the drains laid down 40 to 50 years ago were for the most part out of use now. He had seen a large field which used to burn its crops in gravelly patches so improved by drainage that it was now producing good crops. No one, however, would have guessed that there was water underneath. 286. In many districts, Mr. Berry said, there was a serious shortage of "cottages — so great that it was impossible to make the best tise of the land, as there was nowhere to house the men. Often cottages intended for agricultural labourers were occupied by other persons, thus accentuating the shortage. He had been fortunate in his own business in having an abundant supply of cottages, and he considered it essential that a number of cottages should be tied to the farms. He had' found that by treating his labourers well, he had been able to get and keep labour. Speaking generally, the better wage one paid the better results one obtained. Bxit this was not always true. In Wiltshire he found that the general wage was 12*. a week, and when he took oyer the farm he immediately raised wages by 4*. a week, and was now paying 19*. as a minimum and 25*. as a maximum. After paying the increased rate of wages for a few weeks he had been able to persualde women to come and work on the farm for the first time in that neighbourhood. When the men drew their fortnight's wages, each man had 8*. extra to take home ; the following week, his manager went round and asked the women to come out and help, and he offered them 1*. 6d. a day. By this means he was able to prepare the land for the new crop. At the end of the next fortnight each man "had his extra 8*. and each woman according to how long she had worked — money that they had never had before. He had had no trouble since in getting women. Mr. Berry said that there was not quite the same enthusiasm among the men now that there was when they first got the 4*. rise; but 12*. 58 or even 16s. a week was not a reasonable wage to expect any man to work for. Tne witness said that the proposal to establish a minimum wage for the ordinary agricultural labourers raised serious difficiilties. He did not see how it would work. It should be remembered, he said, that the farmers, as a rule, only got labour which was not good enough for any other industry. In the schools the bright lads were taught to find some better occupation than employment on the land. If a minimum wage was established, it would mean that farmers had to pay a large proportion of their labourers more than they were worth. He would willingly pay all he could afford to, but to be told that he had not to pay less than a certain miniinum raised the difficulty that the older and inefficient men should be paid less. At the same time, he agreed that if some form of security was given to the farmers, it might be necessary to associate with it some scheme by which the labourers received their fair share of any additional prosperity. He could not see any way round the difficulty of classifying the men according to their work. He was opposed to the proposal to set up district boards, as he very much disliked the idea of farmers forming unions to discuss what wages they would pay. In spite, however, of his objections to the scheme, if it was felt that in order to keep the agricultural labourer on the land it was necessary to secure to him a minimum wage, he would do everything in his power to help to carry it out. 287. Mr. Berry emphasised the importance of education in influencing increased produc- tion from the land. In Kent they had found the College at Wye immensely useful. Whenever be found himself in a difficulty he at once telephoned to the College and they sent a member of the stafE to advise him. He could not have succeeded as he had without the assistance of Wye. In the last few years a small fruit station had been started in connection with the College at Mailing, in Kent, and he thought that it would prove exceedingly useful. Mr. Berry looked to education and the more scientific training of the younger generation to bring about great improvements in farming. He said, however, that the nation could not wait for the results of education, and, although he would not like to suggest the form of compulsion which should be adopted, he felt that some compulsion was necessary to bring about increased production. Bad farmers should be compelled to improve their methods; -landowners who allow the farms on their estates to be run down, or who manage their estates for game only, should be compelled, by some authority to be provided, to do better in the national interest. If this were done, all the best farmers and landowners would give it their support. The fault rested generally, not with the old-established owners who were in thorough sympathy with agriculture, but with the new rich men who had bought estates merely for the shooting, and cared nothing about what they otherwise produced. 288. Mr. Berry said that a general opening up of the canals in the country would be a great help to agriculture. He believed that certain canals had been closed so that the traffic should be compelled to go on the railways ; that was not in the interest of agriculture. If that question could be looked into it would be extremely helpful. The classification of goods in respect of railway rates was. a great difficulty. If he sent a ton of plums to Manchester he had to pay about £2 15*. A ton of flour would be carried for £1, just because of the difference in classification. But an acre of a good crop of plums would grow 5 or 6 or 7 times the bulk that an acre of wheat would, so that the whole scheme of classification worked out injuriously to the farmer. Mr. Berry urged that a reclassification was necessary in the best interest of the country, and in order to stimulate intensive systems of farming. 15th Day, 7th December, 1916. Me. Henry Overman. 289. Mr. Overman, who farms, in partnership with his brother, 3,700 acres of land in Norfolk, and 1,000 acres in Northamptonshire, said that in the latter county there was a large quantity of grassland (storeland) that might and ought to be broken up, and he believed that the same could be said of other counties in. the Midlands — laud that does not now produce a sufficient quantity of beef, mutton or milk. If it were broken up and worked in conjimction with the fine old pastures in those counties, the production of cereals, and also beef, mutton and milk might be enormously increased. It was well known that the amount of beef and mutton that could be prodiieed from arable land greatly exceede4 the amount pro- duced from the same area under grass. In Norfolk, however, there was very little grassland (which would be worth cultivating) available for breaking up; indeed, in that county there was a shortage of accommodation grassland. A good deal of pasture would pay for being improved as grass, and other should be broken up. The cost of bre-aking up was, however, very considerable. Hehad broken up in May, 1916, 36 acres of storeland in Northamptonshire which he had mole-drained. The cost, allowing for two years' rent, for the reason that no crop was obtained in 1916, amounted to £13 lbs. bcl. per acre. The detailed items were as follows : — Two years' rent at £1 per acre, £2; Two years' rates, insurance, &c., 15.s. ; Drainage, £1 10.? 6d.; Ploughing by steam, May, 1916, £1 1.?.; Cross ciiltivating by steam, twice, 16.?. Gd.; Cultivating by tractor, twice, 9s.; EoUing, twice, 10«. ;- Ploughing for crop by horses, £1 175. 4:d.; Eolling before sowing, Ss. Qd.; Harrowing, four times, ds. td.; &9 Seed, £1 bs. Qd. ; Headlands, water furrowing and bird-scaring, 2s. ; Cutting down old fences, Ss. Estimated spring and summer work: — Roiling, 3s. (id.; Harrowing, twice, is. ; Weeding and Cleaning, bs. ; Haivesting and Thatching, £1 ; Threshing, 10*. ; Marketing, 10«.— Total, £13 15*. 6d. 290. In view of the above example of the cost of breaking up grassland, Mr. Overman did not consider it would be any use guaranteeing farmers 50*. to 60*. per quarter for wheat; he suggested that 75*. should be guaranteed for about four years and then reduced. He admitted that the figures he had given were based on prices prevailing during the War, and that as the land, which had been in grass for thirty years, would grow wheat for two consecutive years, the average cost might be reduced by £2 per acre. Mr. Overman explained that the difference in the cost of steam and horse ploughing was that the steam plough left a good deal of land untouched. That was why the cost of ploughing by horse for the first time was so heavy. He agreed that, although the cost per acre in the first two seasons was very great, if prices of cereals remained high the breaking up of the land would prove a paying proposition. It meant, however, laying out some £300 or £400 of additional capital. In the past, farmers had obtained more profit from their grassland than from their arable, and if, in future, they found grass farming paid better they would naturally keep their land under grass. On nearly every farm, however, there was a certain amount of arable land, and he did.^ot think that among farmers there would be any serious lack of knowledge of arable farming should it be necessary to increase arable farming. 291. Mr. Overman said that if it was desired to produce more food in this country after the War it was essential that agriculture should be protected from the criminal neglect of past years. Either a minimum price must be fixed for wheat or a protective duty imposed on all foreign grain. He favoured the former proposal. The fixing of a minimum price for wheat would, no doubt, fix the price of all other cereals. He thought the guarantee should be given for a long period, and it would be an advantage if several, say four, years' notice could be given to farmers before it was reduced or dropped. The greatest difficulty, however, would be experienced in getting farmers to break up grassland, and to overcome this he suggested that a high guarantee should be ofEered in the first instance. With regard to the amount of the guarantee, Mr. Overman said that he found it very difficult to consider after-war conditions, and no doubt the figures he had suggested had been based very largely on war prices. He did not consider that any system of bonus per acre of grassland ploughed up would work out satis- factorily, and much preferred that any inducement to farmers to plough should take the form of a reasonably high guaranteed price. He agreed that the guarantee should be given for oats as well as wheat. Mr. Overman did not consider that it would be necessary for the State, if it gave a guarantee, to interfere between landlord and tenant as regards rent. He did not anticipate any trouble arising on that subject. He owned a small amount of land, but would rather farm than own land. 292. With regard to the possibility of increasing the production from the existing arable land, Mr. Overman said that in Norfolk, given a sufficient supply of labour to cultivate the land, and a plentiful supply of artificial manures, farmers could grow full crops of cereals and produce beef and mutton equal to any country in the world. In the last few years the use of improved breeds of cereals had certainly greatly added to the yield, especially in the case of oats and barley. He admitted that in the two counties in which he farmed one could see examples of bad farming here and there, but, on the whole, the land was being as well farmed as it had ever been and he saw no need of intervention by the State td compel farmers to improve their methods. At the same time, Mr. Overman said, he considered that the smaller farmers as smallholders were not growing produce to the extent which was desired. They were handicapped with lack of " room," and very generally of the capital necessary to grow and hold their stocks so as to make the best of it. There was no doubt that in purely arable country more food was produced from large farms than from small. 293. Mr. Overman said that he had no objection at all to a fair minimum wage being secured to the agricultural labourer. He had always been rather extravagant in paying his labourers, and believed in giving them a fair wage. In fixing a minimum wage, however, it would be necessary to remember two things. First, unless a minimum price for agricultural produce was fixed at the same time, large areas of land would be thrown out of cultivation. Secondly, the more the labourer was paid the less work he would do. The Agricultural Labourer's' Union aimed not' only at increased wages but less work, and the labourer obeyed orders Mr Overman said, without fear of contradiction, that if the labourer in Norfolk — even the few that were left on the land— had done, in the past year since wages had advanced, as much work as he did for lower wages three years ago; as much foodstuff, particularly meat, could have been produced as was done in the winter of 1914. The production of beef and mutton would fall in 1916-17 30 to 40 per cent, below the normal, entirely owing to the decreased work the men put into the root crop. At present the labourers were receiving a cash wage of 22*. per week which was equivalent to about 30*. in total earnings. Mr. Overman said that he would very much prefer to convert some of the perquisites into cash. AH' his men had an acre of land (allotments) on which to grow produce for their own use, and if any of them had not land, he would let them an acre out of his own farm, and the men always used his horses and implements, for working it. Forty per cent, of his men had joined the Army since the outbreak of war. 294 Mr Overman said that he was badly off for cottages in Norfolk, and in some parts of Northampton also there was a considerable shortage. Often large tracts of land were not farmed as well as they might be owing to labour being housed too tar oft. He considered that neither the landowners nor the tenants could find the capital for the erection of new cottages, 60 and that it was a matter for the State, which might arrange to lend money to the owners for the purpose, the tenant paying his part of the cost in the form of increased rent. When wages were as low as 12s. a week, the labourer could not pay more than a shilling a week as rent for his cottage ; now, however, that wages were much higher, he thought it would be desirable to put cottage rents on an economic basis. Mr. Overman agreed that it would be impossible to carry on farming without a certain number of cottages being let with the farms. 295. With regard to the supply of artificial fertilisers, Mr. Overman said that not one farmer in a thousand was able to buy. his manure in September because he had no place to store it. He suggested that in Norfolk every assistance should be given for a large supply of artificial manures being provided through the West Norfolk Farmers' Manure Company, who practically supplied every farmer in the county; this would enable farmers to grow continual corn crops. In the spring of 1916 only a limited quantity was available and the shortage would be greater in 1917. The price would also be very much higher. If farmers could obtain manures for corn growing at an economic price, the increased growth of cereals in Norfolk would be enormous. The State should give every facility for the production and use of fertilisers. He said that there would be very great difficulty even after the War in obtaining manures. The works in Norfolk had been taken for munitions, and it would be necessary to build new premises. As regards sulphate of ammonia, he suggested that before large quantities were exported, farmers should have the opportunity to buy at an economic price. Befoi^ the War it was cheaper to buy nitrate of soda than sulphate of ammonia. 296. Mr. Overman said that the drains put down 40 to 60 years ago were practically useless now; they were put in much too deep. If grass land was to be broken up, much of it would need draining. His own experience of mole-draining in stiff wet clay had been very successful, and he suggested that great advantage would be derived by impressing on farmers the advantage of this method of draining. 297. In reply to questions as to the cultivation of sugar beet in Norfolk, Mr. Overman said that some men had been able to grow beet and make it pay; but at the Demonstration Farm at Snoring they had always lost over the crop, owing to the high cost of cultivation; moreover, on the light land there had been no benefit to the other crops in the rotation. Another reason why sugar beet would not be likely to succeed in Norfolk was that farmers needed all the turnips and roots they could grow for cattle food, and they would have to reduce their flocks and herds if they substituted beet for their, present root crops. Asked as to the value he attached to roots grown for Cattle food, Mr. Overman said £5 an acre. Sugar beet, however, he considered cost £12 an acre to grow. 298. On the subject of agricultural education, Mr. Overman said that it was very necessary that an agricultural organiser, part of whose duties it was to visit farms and advise farmers, should be a practical man, able to talk as a farmer and not as a scientific man only. He thought that money expended on scholarships to enable the right sort of boys to attend an agricultural college was well spent. He knew of some half-a-dozen men farming in Norfolk who had passed through the School of Agriculture at Cambridge. The staff at Cambridge had rendered very valuable services in connection with the Demonstration Farm at Snoring in Norfolk. This farm was started and maintained by private subscriptions from agriculturists themselves in the county, and was carried on under the supervision of Cambridge. It had proved of immense assistance to Norfolk agriculture, especially iri testing new varieties of cereals, 'from which, particularly in the case of barley, farmers had very greatly benefited. His experience of the work at Snoring justified Mr. Overman in saying that a station run on similar lines would probably prove' of the greatest value in every county. Mk. R. G. Patteeson. 299. Mr. Patterson, who farms 600 acres in Staffordshire, of which about one-half is arable, expressed the opinion that the arable land of the country was not producing as much as it could produce, nor as much as it had produced in the past. When prices became very low farmers could not cultivate intensively. Increased production would also be secured by a more scientific use of artificial manures. Farmers placed too much reliance on mixtures of artificial manures, and not one farmer in ten troubled to obtain an analysis of the mixtures he bought, which in many cases were entirely Unsuited to his particular soil. It was very desirable' that farmers should make themselves acquainted with the food required by their own land. He considered that there was evidence of a growing interest among farmers in scientific manuring. This was largely a question of agricultural education, to which Mr. Patterson referred later in his evidence. Other means of increasing the production of arable land were the use of improved seed and a constant change of seed, also a reduction in the area devoted to temporary pasture, and the better conservation of farm -yard manure, which at present is subject to great waste. He considered that the loss in farm-yard manure due to open yards amounted often to 30 per cent. In his own case only one-fifth of the area of the yard was covered. He regarded it as very desirable to cover in all open yards. By the methods mentioned, Mr. Patterson considered that an increase of 15 to 20 per cent, might be obtained in the produce of arable crops, without any reduction in the production of meat and milk. 61 300. Another means of increasing production was, Mr. Patterson said, by adding to the arable area. Much of the inferior grass land would be better under the plough, and for ihis purpose a bonus might be offered for a period of years, which would probably hasten the process, but more intensive cultivation was impracticable unless a higher level of prices was obtainable. To secure this he consid.ered a tariff the proper means, though a guaranteed minimum price for wheat might, under the special circumstances, be necessary. The variety of land to which he referred was very unproductive at present, and with reasonable prices secured it might be made to be profitable, but the farmers would not do it until they were secured of a reasonable return for their capital. One of the difficulties was the great risk of wireworms, and farmers would not undertake to break up having regard to that risk. On the other hand, there had been two cases of adjoining farms where grass land had been successfully broken up. He did not like the proposal to fix a minimum price, and thought that farmers generally would prefer that a tariff should be imposed on imported wheat which would put them on an equal footing with their foreign competitors. If a sliding scale duty was practicable, that would be the simplest scheme. If not, it would be essential to combine the State guaranteed price with an import duty. He was considering the question entirely from the point of view of national requirement and not from the point of view of farming profits. 301. Mr. Patterson said that a large proportion of grass land was at present not being economically managed; the practice of grazing large areas continuously was wasteful, and in many districts little attempt was made to improve pastures by the skilful use of artificial manures. A great deal of grass was not treated at all, and' in many cases the fences were allowed to fall into a lamentable condition. 302. Mr. Patterson said that there could be no proper cultivation of land that required draining. On well-managed estates, where proper plans of the drainage system had been kept, probably little would be required; elsewhere there might be some 20 per cent, requiring re- drainage, and a considerable quantity of patching of old drains would be wanted. He said that in many districts no drainage had been carried out for years, and where there were no plans available, it might take a week to find the drains, some of which might be as deep as seven feet. Difficulties were constantly experienced owing to outfall of water from one farm being on another farm belonging to a different owner. It was very necessary to consider the whole watershed. The same applied to water courses; in very wet weather rivers often over- flowed their banks because the water could' not get away lower down. 303. Asked as to the proposal to secure by legislation a minimum wage to the agricultural labourer, Mr. Patterson said that the scheme had many disadvantages but might be the lesser evil. He preferred tlie term " standard " wage. He considered that the establishment of a minimum wage would be putting a premium on inefficiency. It would reduce the whole of agricultural labour to a machine. Many men receiving 25*. a week were much cheaper than others earing 12*. a week. His experience, after farming in different parts of the country, was that the further south he came the less efficient he found the labour. He agreed that after the War, ex-service men would not return to employment on the land at the low wages which were often paid before the "War, and he would not wish them to do so, but he regarded th» propos'il to pay an increased wage in order to obtain increased efficiency as analogous to putting "the cart before the horse." He had always found in farming that an improvement in wages led to trouble and often to men leaving their employment. He looked to better education and the raising of the moral standard of the men, to result in them giving a good day's work, which would lead to them receiving a good day's pay. H* preferred the term " standard " wage because he thought that men seeking employment would know how much to ask. He was anxious to get round the sentimental objections to a minimum wage; if a workman for some sound reason was being paid less than the minimum, he would consider that he had a real grievance. Nevertheless, he did not suggest that the minimum wage scheme was unworkable; indeed, he thought it might prove necessary to adopt it. On the other hand, Mr. Patterson did not consider that a flat minimum rate for the country as a whole would be practicable. If the minimum was to be fixed by the wages current in the North, it was essential to see that the number of hours worked in the North were also adopted in the South. 304. As regards the housing of agricultural labourers, Mr. Patterson said that not only were more cottages required, but those in existence needed iinprovement. No family should, in his opinion, be allowed to occupy a cottage with less than three bedrooms, In hia district, no jnatter how limited the accommodation might be, nor how large the family, the labourer's wife insisted on taking in a lodger. Landlords should be compelled to build, and the Govern- ment should provide capital, where necessary, at a reasonable rate of interest, but steps woiild have to be taken to secure the use of these new cottages by agricultural workers. Many of the rural cottages were at present occupied by workers in the towns who cycled to and from their work. The scarcity of accommodation was so great that the first question he was asked \)v men seeking employment was, " Have you a cottage for me? " 305. Mr. Patterson advocated an extension in the provision of agricultural education and technical advice for farmers. He said that the attitude 'of farmers on this matter had very greatly changed in recent years. At one time the number of farmers who visited the Harper- Adams College was limited to a dozen or so each year ; now it was necessary, even in conditions like the present, to set a^ide two days to accommodate the farmers who wished to inspect the experimental work carried on at the College farm. He did not consider that farmers took full advantage of the opportunities offered by the College for seed testing, &c., but there was a growing interest in these matters. In Staffordshire,^ a scheme of agricultural education had been in operation for several years, and the County Council was alive to th? needs of the 62 agriculture 1 community in this respect. He did not consider that any money expended on agricultural education had been wasted. The agricultural instructor, in normal times, devoted much of his time to visiting and advising farmers; at present he was engaged on War Agri- cultural Committee work. The county scheme should be extended by the establishment of a Farm Institute. 306. Agricultural co-operation, Mr. Patterson said, had not made much headway in his district. One objection constantly urged by farmers was that co-operative societies asked them to buy goods but they never assisted them to sell their produce. He had an objection to co-operation on broader lines. He considered that farmers were already too much cut off from touch with men in other industries, and the result of the development of co-operation among farmers might be to accentuate this evil. 307. Mr. Patterson said that it was verv necessary to secure the farmer against dis- turbance. The breaking up of estates in recent years had been very serious and had put agriculture back very much. While the Agricultural Holdings Acts had had a beneficial effect, there were certain matters connected with land tenure which needed improvement. For example, it took a tenant years to learn how to farm the land he occupied to the best advantage, and he could not be expected to farm it to the best of his ability if he was liable to be disturbed at any time. He suggested that a law should be passed to secure to the tenant the full value of any improvements he had made on leaving a farm. While the landlord was entitled to the increase in the value of the farm due to a rise in the value of agricultural produce, the tenant should be given the increased value due to the result of his own good farming. He would give the leaving tenant the right to select his successor, subject to the landlord's approval, and a saleable right in his lease. This might involve the intervention of a valuer to prevent the possibility of a bogus offer being made. On the other hand, he entirely agreed that there were many tenants who were not making the best qf the land they occupied, and he considered that steps should be taken to remove them, as well as to see that landowners managed their estates to the public advantage. He would like to see landlords do more than just collect their rents. If they took a personal interest in their farms and were able to talk intelligently about farming to their tenants it would prove a great inducement to farmers to improve their methods. In a great many cases there was undoubtedly a serious loss owing to the over- preservation of game. At a time like the present, everything taken by game was a loss to the country, but in normal times there were corresponding advantages. Generally speaking, money spent in a district tended to the benefit of the district. It was the abuse of sporting rights which was the difficulty. 308. Mr. Patterson emphasised the need for a change in the national attitude towards agriculture. He said that the stability of agriculture could never be secured until the general public recognised its importance, and it was for the Government, by its treatment of agricultural questions, to show the way. One of the great causes of the dearth of agricultural labour was that popular feeling was so contemptible towards anyone who had anything to do with land. He had one or two young fellows working for him who were very keen horsemen, but they were sorely tempted to leave their work, because they said that if they went into Stafford they were treated as "country clods." That feeling had become common among the town population. The younger generation in the country felt that if they wanted to be treated on an equality with their fellows they must leave agriculture. When the Government took a fair stand and said that agriculture was the best industry in the country, then the people would cease to feel that they were useless meinbers of the community. The Government had never told the farmer that he was doing his duty, and the feeling of discouragement among farmers was intense. Apart altogether from the question of war, the best interests of the country were bound up with the prosperity of agriculture; the more prosperous the agricultural class was, the more prosperous would every other class be. It was the duty of the Government to put these facts clearly before the public. 63 16th Day, 30th January, 1917. The Rt. Hon. F. D. Acland, M.P. 309. Mr. Acland stated, at the outset' of his evidence, that his views on the functions, equipment and status of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries were hased to a considerable extent on his experience in othier offices besides the Board, viz., the Board of Education, the War Office, the Foreign Office, and the Treasury. The first point he made was that if there were to be a big agricultural policy directed by the State, all questions of rural well-being ought to come under the purview of the Department which directed it. He thought, for instance, that such questions as rural housing and wages should rest with the Bdard of Agriculture rather than with the Local Government Board. 310. Mr. Acland's second point was that none of the men in the Board of Agriculture were recruited from the highest Civil Service examinations, Class I., as had been the case in other offices in which he had served. The Board, he said, was admirably served by most devoted public servants, but in almost every department up to the Assistant Secretaries, there was an absence of really first class executive administrative ability. He had found that Class I. men were, as a rule, men of considerable ability and possessed of initiative and powers of taking responsibility. Men of this stamp woul(S have made a great difference to the Board in this war and would have saved money 100 times over. He did not deny that some of the men who constituted the staff of the Board of Agriculture had these qualities, but he emphasised the fact that this was mainly by accident. The effect of the different standards of staffing existing in the Board of Agriculture was that the Assistant Secretaries were flooded with masses of detail which they ought to have been able to delegate to members under them. He did not, however, believe in the product of the first class examination without some qualifications. He had been in offices like the Board of Education where these men were wholly appointed, and the War Office where they were examination products, and he had come across men of both these classes who were no good. In the Foreign Office the men were a combination of the two methods, and he believed that there was a considerable future for a system of the combination of selection and examination, in order to produce the highest type of civil servant. 311. Mr. Acland considered that no one should be allowed to enter an office and settle down to administrative work without having been compelled to work outside the office for at least two years of the first six or seven that he occupied his position. He had come across cases, as in the Foreign Office where the clerks were so good, where men had suffered from having had no experience abroad at some Legation or Embassy. He could think of no better way of getting the material which the State so much needed into offices, than by a combination of examination and nomination for obtaining men in the first place, and by making it compulsory that they should spend at least two years outside the office altogether, either in inspection or in the office of one of the big Local Authorities. Mr. Acland thought that there was a great want of touch between the services of the Local Authorities and the services of the State, and that if there were some co-operation between the two, such as training one another's men, it would be an enormous advantage to both of them. 312. Another point, which Mr. Acland thought would only be appreciated by those wh^ had been inside the Board of Agriculture, was that in principle Treasury clerks should not go direct into the Treasury. 'No one, he said, should go there until he had had a real experience of a Department which existed to get things done. 313. Mr. Acland thought, too, that there should no longer be the very big distinction and discrepancy between the salaries of Ministers who were at the head of offices of that kind. It was, in his opinion, ridiculous that some Ministers should receive £5,000 a year and some, as at the Board of Agriculture, should receive £2,000 a year. As long as this continued the Presidency of the Board of Agriculture, for example, could not be included in the highest rank of Ministers. Appointment to the hea,d of this Department should be the summit of any man's ambition ; but as long as the discrepancy in the heads of different Departments existed this could not be. One Department had already suffered from the fact that certain pushing people had regarded it only as a stepping stone to higher things and had not really devoted th»ir energies to making.it the greatest possible success. Mr. Acland thought it impossible to over-estimate the harm which could be done to an office when its Assistant Secretaries were over-worked and where everything was as much concentrated as was the case at the Board of Agriculture. Too much, in his opinion, depended on the President and the Parliamentary Secretary. Unless there were men of real standing and ability in the office in addition to the Assistant Secretaries, too much would depend on the Parliamentary phantoms who flitted through it from time to time. 314. With regard to the staff of the Board of Agriculture outside the office, Mr. Acland considered that the State should take a leading part in seeing that the land produced what it should, and for this purpose he thought there should be a set of first class men who would be links between the men on the land and the Board of Agriculture. The Board was, he thought, particularly weak in that respect at present. He did not think it advisable that all the Board's inspector^ should be all-round men, but he felt that there ought to be divisional inspectors who would be generally in touch with the work that was being done by the inspectors of all different kinds, and who should be men of very good position and experience, who could be trusted to send in a first-rate report on any matter which might arise. He thought the Board would want inspectors of general experience in charge of the inspectorate of all sorts in the district or in close touch with them, but men of the calibre on which you can hang your hat, and there were not enough of such men in the provinces at present. 64 316. Mr. Acland further suggested that Agriculture should no longer embrace Fisheries. He thought it important that Fisheries should be a unified administration covering the whole of the United Kingdom. As there had been what he considered the disastrous formation of the Scottish Board of Agriculture in addition to the English Board it was quite impossible to unify the fisheries so long as the three Departments existed, and he suggested that fisheries were more akin to the Admiralty than to agriculture and that they might not unreasonably become a sub- department of the Admiralty- The Admiralty, he said, was a very strong office, and had been more successful in its conflicts with the Treasury than had other offices. In the Board of Agriculture at the present time fisheries were practically run as a separate concern. For every one paper he saw on fisheries, he had seen several hundreds on three or four other branches in which the Board's work was- arranged, and from that point of view it was clearly advisable to put it under one Department. Agriculture, he said, had so little to give to the Fisheries that he considered it would gain strength by being unified and would become more important than it was now. Agriculturists, in his opinion, knew very little about fishing except as regards poaching. 316. Mr. Acland explained that he had spoken of the creation of the Scottish Board of Agriculture as a disastrous proceeding because, in his opinion, the fact that agriculture did not speak with one voice minimised the weight which it carried. The English Board, he said, was inclined to forget the existence of Scotland in dealing with matters, and he thought that this had acted unfavourably on the position of the Board of Agriculture. With regard to Scotland he was of opinion also that it was most desirable that the Minister at the head of the agricultural department should be one whose, attention was devoted exclusively to agriculture. He thought that the difficulty of getting Ministers to learn their department was great enough by the shortness of their tenure of office and other things, and if, in addition to all that, the Minister had half a dozen different offices to attend to, he thought the general results must be still worse. It must, he said, be tempting for the Minister to try and get other people to do the work which he should really do him.self . He believed that the system of having Ministers coming in from outside would be quite a good one if the Ministers would concentrate on one set of subjects. 317. With regard to the organisation of the Board of Agriculture,. Mr. Acland considered that its comparative weakness might be due, to some extent, to the fact that it had had entirely to change its functions during the last 20 years. It was set up simply as a body to administer certain Acts. It had been obliged, sometimes against its wish, to become a constructive and active deiDartment, and it had not fitted itself entirely into its new environment; it had not had time to develop its functions. He thought it might be possible to let men of a lower grade take over important questions if they had the right type of ability. That, he said, was often done in the Foreign Office, but when he was Financial Secretary to the War Office, there was some difficulty in getting people to take responsibility. He agreed that it was a tradition of the Board of Agriculture that nobody should have responsibility until he was in a position to undertake it, and he thought that in any office it was always difficult to prevent over-centralisation. What he would like, Mr. Acland said, would be to see the Board of Agriculture raised to a first class Department with England, Wales and Scotland as Sub-Departments, and the Fisheries as another Department. 318. With regard to agricultural organisation, Mr. Acland said he wished the Sub- Committee to understand that he spoke with great diffidence. Eighteen months' experience of the office of the Board of Agriculture during the War had not been anything like enough to enable him to speak on this subject with any confidence. He thought that obviously one of the most important things to be done was to get English farmers to co-operate with one another. It was difficult to get Irish farmers to combine, although there was something there much more approaching life in society, and in Englajid it was much more difficult. He thought that one reason for this was that, to many farmers, their trade existed in trying to "do" each other which made them very suspicious and prevented them from co-operating with other farmers. He thought also that co-operation had been kept back by the fact that life had been, in a way, too easy. There was always the landlord to lean on. Farmers also did not like to be known to be making money, having a fear, generally groundless, of increased rents; and this made them disinclined to combine. Someone who knew, Mr. Acland said, told him that probably more money had been put by farlflers into picture palaces than back into the land during the last five years. It was only a little worse in agriculture than in other things. The Chambers of Agri- culture did not, in his opinion, do much more than state their grievances, but neither did the Chambers of Commerce. As to the Agricultural Organisation Society, he felt that it did not pull its weight. The novelty of the work had somewhat worn off and the number of people who had given a considerable proportion of their lives at headquarters was very small. He had iiot seen much evidence that it had been possible to substitute for the vitality at the centre a real vitality in the provinces. That, he said, brought him to the question of how to get real vitality in the unit bigger than the county. He felt that the vitality had rather left the Society in the centre and had not, perhaps, developed sufficiently in the provinces. While feeling it rather stupid to make these criticisms and suggest no cure, Mr. Acland said he had great hopes that Lord Selbome and one or two others, having agreed to help the Society and look into certain matters, would have a good effect on the work. But it ought not, he said, to be a postulate that under no circumstances could the State take over the work and try to do it itself. The Society and its agents and representatives had tended not to be quite clear as to whether their job were better agriculture or better trading. One did not feel, Mr. Acland said, that the movement counted for very much. A good many people joined a local society, but did nothing ; they did not get the best out of human association, so to speak. There was a lack of interest in the society, and it became a set of individuals who found it paid to deal with certain matters only. In his 65 experience as a Governor of the Socipty, lie had found that the energy of Governors and others was not directed to the real proljlems of organising ; he had not given that energy himself, and there were too many others like him. He agreed that local success depended very largely on the individual who_ took a hold on the society. He thought it difficult to get either the people in the central governing hody or the members of local associiations to take a sufficiently active interest in the development of co-operation. That, he considered, was partly due to the fact that co-opera- tion came to them as a factor introduced from outside and not as remedying a grievance of which they were intimately conscious. Mr. Acland felt that the scope of agricultural organisation and co-operation among large farmers was a very difficult thing to dogmatise about. His own feeling was that even among large farmers a great many had still a good deal to learn, and^organisation in general among them might be carried with advantage to a higher pitch in agriculture with regard to newer methods, &c. Mr. Acland considered, however, that there was a great disadvantage in the suggestion that the Agricultural Organisation Society should work on small holdings to begin with. Whenever one mentioned it to a big farmer, he would say: — " Oh! yes, that is all very well for the little farmer, but it's no good to me." That, Mr. Acland thought, gave it a bad name. He did not want to oriticise the Agricultural Organisation Society; he thought that their task was one of almost superhuman difficulty with the material they had had. _ 319. With regard to the question of whether the State ought to take over the whole agricultural organisation, or whether the organisation of each county should not be definitely a function of the county staff, Mr. Acland thought that the State ought to preserve an open mind, and watch very closely, and not take it as a foregone conclusion that agricultural organi- sation must remain outside the public authorities. There was very little to stimulate the organisation movement without a good deal of State assistance put into it. Mr.iAcland admitted, however, that those weaknesses which he had pointed out might be developed by departmental control. Co-operation, he said, roused a good deal of local antagonism in interested persons, but he felt that it might become so vital to have agriculture properly organised that it would be necessary for the State to face such antagonism, either through its agents employed from headquarters or by the counties. He preferred a movement which had active enemies to one that had none because it was not worth fighting about. He admitted that if the work of co-operation were associated with the work of a County Organiser, it might handicap him, and that he would only advocate the co-operation of this work with the Department of Agriculture if it were quite clear that the present voluntary method were a failure ; in fact, he said, it was up to the present method to prove that it was a success. Local societies, he agreed, were very dependent in practice upon local interest, and support ; it was work which reauired a good deal of voluntary assistance. He thought that might still be got with a State-aided policy, and in any case, he felt that if more real work could be done, such m,atters should be pushed aside. He considered that co-operative societies could not do much until they really had the interest of both farmer and landowner behind them ; any success depended on getting those concerned really interested and working hard at it. He could not go beyond saying that, unless means were found of really developing the policy of the Society, the State ought to consider whether the present state of things should go on. 320. Mr. Acland stated that, while the last two years had been rather a bad time for forming a valuable opinion as to the scheme of agricultural education which the Board of Agri- culture and the Development Commissioners had decided upon, he wished to say that he had a very great belief in the scheme, which had now been worked out and set going in skeleton form. He thought what had been done for agriculture by the Development Commission was quite a splendid piece of work, ^lid it seemed to him that the whole scheme of what should be the require- ments of the agricultural population and of improving agricultural knowledge and agricultural practice was well founded and well devised. As more institutions of certain types were estab- lished, more money would be required and would be given automatically under the different > schemes at work, particularly the Farm Institute Scheme, and therefore, althouerh he did not say that enough money was now spent on agricultural education, he pointed out that the grants actually given were five times as much in the year 1913-14 as they were in 1909-10. That, he said, was a very great advance, so far as the State was concerned, and he only wished the agricultural community had taken full advantage of it. He thought, however, that there was not at present a sufficient supply of money to work the system, and he believed it would be found that in agriculture as in other things, if good teachers were to be secured the general position of teachers all round would have to be very considerably improved. That, he said, was particularly essential in any subject such as agriculture, which was based on science, because, in his opinion, it was clear that a man of any sort of -quality of brain-power who had had scientific training would have such good prospects in industry that there would have to be a real improvement in the prospects of teachers if teaching were not goins to be merely the dregs of teaching. That, he said, was true all round and of agriculture as well. While the latest figures of* the Board of Education showed that an assistant teacher in a State-aided secondarv school had an average salary, after eleven years, of £168, in future, Mr.iAcland stated, really good men would not be attracted until they could look forward to being paid say. £500 or £600 a. year. He thought it would be impossible to obtain men of the right stamp for County Oreranisers or Advisory Officers (in the technical sense), or teachers either in the Agricultural Collesres them- selves, or the Farm Institutes, unless that sort of prospect were held out to them, and in that he included the lower type of Institute, viz., the Farm Institute as well as the Asrricultural_ College. There was a tendencv, he said, in some quarters, to regard agriculture as a. simple nuestion. He thought, however, that there was still an immense amount to be learnt in aerirujture. even hf the very best men that we had, and he wished to make it quite clear that everything which was needed for the highest development of the science of electricity, physics or optics would be 19793 ^ 66 equally necessary for agriculture, which could not be put on a lower plane. Mr. Acland believed that agriculture was one of the most difficult sciences, because it was ground on which many others joined. The highest knowledge of chemistry, physics and biology came into play, and had to be combined and related to one another if the highest work was to be done. The only practical application he wished to suggest in that respect was that the period for which research scholarships should be tenable should be extended in certain cases, and that the State should not be afraid of extending the number of such scholarships. He believed that, if they did not try to be too quick, they would get very good results which would be well worth the expenditure. Mr. Acland considered that the Provincial Councils were rather on their trial. They had not executive powers — ^that lay with the County Councils. There was the difficulty, he said, of gettiifg real patriotism, real keenness, into an area smaller than the country and bigger than the county. Obviously, he thought, if the local Agricultural College were to be of the highest .use, it ought to be started on rather broader lines than could be done in any particular county. However well a particular county might be supplied with particular Farm Institutes, it would be necessary to have some real organisation to ensure that the best use was made of the advisory officers and the work of the Agricultural Colleges. If, Mr. Acland said, he were to criticise agricultural education as it now is, he would say that the weakest point was the small amount of actual teaching given to students during the years of maximum teachability (from 18-23). There was wonderful and splendid work being done in the Agricultural Colleges, very good research work in the Research Institutes, and very good work by the counties, but the weak point was the small number of young men Tvho were actually in attendance at colleges and institutes for regular agricultural instruction. He believed it was necessary to develop the Farm Institute, and that this would have a good, rather than a bad, effect. If he had to concentrate in one phrase the next step to be taken, he would say, secure the. universal setting up of Farm Institutes in each county. It was good, of course, to have instruction in cheese-making and in all the other agricultural arts, but in some counties the county staff thought that no one need bother about anything more than this. He thought the existence of a central Farm Institute where they would be really carrying on their own studies and their own investigations in practical matters, and not simply relying on what they had learnt some years bef-ore, and where the. provincial advisory officers would come to help farmers and the county staff, would help to improve the standard. The idea of a Farm Institute was, Mr. Acland said, that the instructors should have somewhere to practise what it was their job to preach. He did not think the ordinary boy who had been a,t an ordinary secondary school was in a state to benefit from a course of instruction at an Agricultural College, but thought that a short course at a Farm Institute, developing habits of mind and thought, and demonstrating and teaching the arts of agriculture, would often lead students to go on to the Agricultural College, where the equipment would be better and there would be visions of research. Mr. Acland said he would like the six months' course at the Institute to be the rule for farmers' sons who were going straight back to the farm. These Institutes, he explained, were fina.nced by the counties with generous grants from the Board of Agriculture. He considered, however, that still more liberal assistance should be given, in order that the teachers should be better paid. 321. With regard to the specific education of the labourer, Mr. Acland said he hoped that a system of education would be made compulsory for boys and girls from 14-17 years of age, and that many varieties of courses would be contained in "that education. He thought that schooling should be compulsory up to 14 and then agricultural training compulsory for three years after. The Farm Institute, he considered, should be capable of taking pupils who had had that training, as well as those from a secondary school. It ought to ba open to both classes of pupils. He did not think it would do at all for secondary schools to take the place of farm schools; they were probably the best set of schools we possessed for giving a modern education. Mr. Acland did not think, as a matter of fact, that if general sciences were well taught in the secondary school side by side with other subjects, it would matter very much if agriculture were not introduced. He thought it might be better to exclude it, because the type of teacher there would not teach it sufficiently well, while if he were good enough he should be a teacher in a Farm Institute, and not in a secondary school. 322. Then, Mr. Acland said, there was the question as to whether the counties would set up Institutes of their own without grants. It would be very difficult to have educational Institutes in a county run purely by the State apart from the County Council ; it would be difficult, he thought, to secure that the county made full use of Institutes of that kind, and to prevent the slack counties being rewarded by the State stepping in and doing their job. But he thought that the State would have to be ready to contemplate having to step in and get the work of setting up schools to which farmers' sons would go started. That was what, in his opinion, ought to be the basis of the whole pyramid of agricultural education, and the absence of that was brought home when one remembered that Lord Reay's Committee prophesied with some confidence that there woiild be some 50 to 60 Farm Institutes set up within the next ten years. 323. With regard to the education of the future landowner, Mr. Acland regarded the subject as of most vital importance if the system of landowning, as we knew it, was to survive at all. He thought it was studied from the point of view of the science and economics of agriculture to a greater extent in other countries than in England. A house-master at Eton, he said, had done his level best to get his pupils to determine that they would go through an agricultural course at a University, and had entirely failed. An entire indifference to learning was characteristic of our wealthy classes. The business man had, for instance, never shewn any keenness to send his son, after his University course, to the London School of Economics. He thought more might be done if it could be impressed upon parents that, after the son had taken his Degree at the "P'niversity, he should then take a Diploma in Agriculture. 67 17th Day, 31st January, 1917, Mr. T. H. Middlbton, C.B. Tir ??^i ji "^^^^ *^® ^-^^ ^®^^® preceding the establisliment of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Middleton said that a good deal of dissatisfaction had been expressed by agriculturists at the type of general education provided in country districts, and complaints were also common that, m this country, no facilities for technical education were provided by the State. When, therefore, the formation of a Board of Agriculture was under discussion, prominence was given to the educational functions of the new department, and when the Act creating the Board was passed. Section 2 (2) provided that the Board" of Agriculture "may also undertake the inspection of, and reporting on, any schools which are not public elementary schools, and in which technical instruction, practical or scientific, is given in any matter connected with agriculture or forestry, and the aiding of any school which admits such inspection, and in the judgment of the Board is qualified to receive such aid, and the aiding of any system of lectures or instruction connected with agriculture or forestry, and the inspection of, and reporting on, any examinations in agri- culture or forestry." 325. In the year 1888-89 the Privy Council had made certain grants of a tentative nature in aid of agricultural education, and when the Board began their work they continued making grants of the same type. As soon as possible they sought out and examined every institution or association engaged in fostering either the study or teaching of agriculture ; they sent inspectors to confer with those directing the work, and on receiving favourable reports they made small grants in aid. The immediate policy was to direct and encourage all movements likely to benefit agriculture, and in the year 1890-91 some half-dozen types of organisations for instruction and experiment were aided in England and Wales alone. 326. The allocation of the Eesidue Grant (Whiskey Money) for technical education m 1890 provided County authorities with ample funds for the development of local educational work,, and as a consequence the Board thenceforward adopted a different policy which aimed at building up collegiate institutions in different parts of the country. These institutions as they were established acted as centres for all the educational activities of a particular area. Within the Colleges instruction both of an elementary and advanced type was provided, while outside the College, teachers were employed in lecturing to farmers, conducting experiments, super- vising dairy instruction and generally in promoting in all possible ways the spread of education iimong agriculturists. As indicating the effects of this change of policy on the grants made by the Board it may be noted that while in 1890-91 grants to Collegiate centres accounted for £550 only out of a total of £2,830, in 1905-6 grants to colleges represented £9,150 out of a total of £10,550. 327. The aim of the Board, Mr. Middleton stated, was to induce all Local Education Authorities in England and Wales to associate their work with one or other of the Colleges, of which there are now 12 — 10 in England a^d 2 in Wales. While they succeeded in securing some measure of co-operation in 44 administrative counties, 18 counties remained outside the "sphere" of any College, and either made their own arrangements or provided no form of agricultural education. Althotigh the Board made no grants in aid of local classes, in those districts in which Collegiate centres existed their grants did, as a matter of fact, indirectly assist local work. This was recognised by many Local Education Authorities, and the Board were invited to inspect all their agricultural wbrk and not only that carried on by members of a College staff. The result was that while no close or formal system of inspection was adopted such as would have been necessary if money grants were being made, the Board were able to keep in touch with all kinds of agricultural education and thus to exert an influence on local activities quite out of proporticn to the expenditure incurred by them. At this stage a good deal of work was begun which could only be carried on successfully so long as those who first gave their services remained available. As time went on the young teachers of agriculture first appointed on low salaries began to ask for increased remuneration. To add to the difficulties of those responsible for College finances, as institutions developed the demands became more complex, and instead of one or two special agricultural teachers, it became necessary to appoint three or four. The Board's grants were not much increased, and after the passing of the Educa- .tion Act of 1902 the finances of Local Authorities were sorely strained by the requirements of elementary and secondary education. 328. In 1905 a powerful movement w.as organised for the purpose of securing greater State aid for agricultural education. Lord Barnard brought the subject before the House of Lords, with the result that a Departmental Committee to enquire into the whole position was promised. This Committee was appointed, with Lord Reay as chairman, on March 20th, 1907. It met for the first time on April 30th, 1907. It examined over 100 witnesses, representing all interested in those forms of education which the Board of Agriculture had fostered, ^and reported on July 14th, 1908, The issue of this report marks the close of the second stage of the develop- ment of agricultural education in England and Wales. Mr. Middleton considered that any student of the evidence would admit that a notable advance took place between 1889, when the Board first aided agricultural education, and 1908, and that for the expenditure incurred by the Board (^142,236 in all) an ample return had been secured. 329. The third stage in the recent history of agricultural education related, Mr. Middleton said, to some complex questions which arose between the Board of Education and the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. These difficulties originated with the passing of the Education Act, 1902. Section 2 (1) of this Act provided that the Local Education Authority " shall consider the educational needs of their area and take such steps as seem to them desirable, after con- sultation with the Board of Education, to supply, or aid the supply, of education other than elementary, and to promote the general co-ordination of all form of education." Much of the 1979* ^' 2 68 work wliicli tlius came within the purview of the Local Education Authorities was of a kind for which hitherto the Colleges had been held responsible, and overlapping between the work of Colleges and the Local Committees became possible. As a matter of fact, very little overlapping did occur, for the Higher Education Committees continued, as in former years, the Technical Instruction Committees had done, to co-operate with the Colleges. The objection to the dual system was of another kind. In many places very little work of any sort was being done, for the Colleges had not the funds to carry it on properly, and the Higher Education Committees were apt to be content with the meagre service rendered to them by the Colleges. Two ways of ending the situation were possible: — (1) The Colleges might have been given additional aid for the purpose of enabling them (as in Scotland) to provide and supervise all agricultural work; (2) the Local Education Authorities might be required to carry out more efficiently the provisions of the Act of 1902, and for this purpose should be further subsidised by the State. It seemed clear to Mr. Middleton, in view of the provisions of the Act, that, apart from any question of efficiency or economy, the second course was the desirable one, for the Act expressly required the Local Authorities to make provision for the needs of their respective areas. None the less, a somewhat difficult situation arose, for the ending of which a number of conferences between the two Boards were necessary. 330. The view of the Board of Education was that the Board of Agriculture had no locus standi with Local Education Authorities, and that they could therefore take no part in the supervision of their work; and further that, as it was desirable that all forms of State aided education should be under one Department, the higher institutions now aided by the Board of Agriculture should be transferred. On the other hand, the Board of Agriculture claimed that they were specially charged by Parliament with the duty of promoting agricultural education ; that they had been engaged in this work for nearly twenty years, and that, as a matter of fact, the enquiry made by Lord Reay's Committee had shown that their" direct interest in this work was very much greater than that of the Board of Education. They also pointed' out that their immediate object as a Department of State was to develop agriculture, and that a close con- nection between themselves and the institutions responsible for higher education was essential for the satisfactory progress of their work, for through these institutions they were able to keep in touch with the agriculture of every district and to aid local development. 331. With regard to the County Education Authorities, the Board took the view that though responsible to the Board of Education for the preparation of schemes, they were free to consult any department of the State that could effectively aid them, and that in organising agricultural education it was most desirable that they should not be cut off from the benefit of such advice as the Board of Agriculture could offer. On the other hand, Mr. Middleton stated, it was admitted by the Board of Agriculture that as the Board of Education made large grants for other forms of education to Local Authorities, they were in the better position for coercing defaulters, so that if they had control of the grants for agricultural instruction they might be better able than the Board of Agriculture to force neglecting authorities into taking action 332. It seemed to him obvious that in dealing with agricultural education the two Boards must regard the subject from a somewhat different standpoint. On the one hand, the Board of Education looked on it as a part of the whole subject of education, in the development of which they were directly interested; while on the other, the Board of Agriculture regarded agricultural education as a means of advancing the industry with which they were especially concerned. • Clearly it was necessary that a compromise should be effected in respect of such work as might come within the sphere of Local Education Authorities. The view put forward on behalf of the Board of Agriculture was that the Board of Education should be responsible .for all forms of instruction adapted for pupils of school age — i.e., up to 17 or thereabouts — such work as Nature Study for the elementary classes, courses on the principles of agriculture and gardening in evening schools, and lessons in chemistry, botany, mensuration and other subjects useful to young agriculturists in secondary and evening schools, while the Board of Agriculture would take responsibility for the kind of instruction required by young men who had already begun farming, such as lessons on the manuring and cropping of land, the feeding of cattle, and the marketing of produce. These subjects are of a kind on which the Board of Agriculture have special information ; application is constantly made to them by the public for advice on such matters; it would be reasonable, it was argued, that Local Education Authorities should avail themselves of this advice, and that the State should employ the Board of Agricul- ture to supervise the practical teaching of agricultural subjects. . 333. The Board of Education would not agree to this division, as they felt that they alone must be responsible for the educational work of Local Education Authorities. Finally the compromise contained in the Memorandum of Arrangements (handed in by Mr. Middleton) [Cd. 4886] was arrived at, which provided that while the Board of Agriculture retained Higher Agricultural Education and all forms of experimental work, the Board of Education should undertake responsibility for county instructors and for the winter agricultural schools, the creation of which was urged by Lord Reay's Committee. The general effect was to shut out the. Board of Agriculture from the share which they asked for in the education of farmers (except of those of the class who attended or came under the influence of Universities or Agricul- tural Colleges), and to exclude altogether from their purview the education of small!. fdders, allotment holders and labourers, except in so far as they might be influenced by demonstrations and experiments. On the other hand, it left the Board free to develop higher forms of instruction and research, and they were able to satisfy the Treasury that an increased grant in raspect of the work at the Colleges was desirable, and in the year .1910-11 grants of the total swriunt of £18,840 were made to 23 institutions. The rise of about £8,000 represented sonie d9 recognition by tlie Treasury of the useful work being done by tlie higher institutions, but it did not in any way indicate how greatly their possibilities of usefulness had increased. 334. ^ The first real opportunity of agricultural education and research came, Mr. Middleton said, with the passing into law of the Development and Eoad Improvement Funds Act, 1909-1910. As soon as the Development Commissioners were appointed, steps were taken to bring to their notice the needs of the agriculturist. After several informal communications, a letter was addressed to the Treasury on the 26th August, 1910, asking for an advance of £50,000 per annum in aid of research and advisory work. The Board were informed that the Commissioners assented in principle to their proposals, and were asked to prepare a complete scheme for consideration. An enquiry was accordingly made as to the work and needs of all institutions in England and Wales, and on the information obtained a detailed scheme was subihitted to the Commission on January 27th, 1911 (a copy was handed in). While general principles requiring careful study were under consideration, it was necessary to provide for the temporary needs of institutions which, like Rothamsted and the University of Cambridge, were in a position to utilise research funds to advantage at once. Institutions were therefore invited to submit proposals for such work, the schemes which were sent in were subjected to detailed examination by the Board's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Science, and those which were approved were submitted to the Commission. 335. The consideration of the Board's General Scheme occupied several months, and was the subject of correspondence and interviews with the Commissioners. After undergoing modifications it was fi.nally approved by the C/ommissioners, and on August 22nd, 1911, almost exactly a year after an application for £50,000 had been sent in, the Board had the satisfaction of hearing from the Treasury that a sum of approximately £50,000 per annum had been granted for the purposes for which their original application had been made. The main features of the Scheme, as approved by the Treasury, were : (1) A grant which provided 36 scholarships worth £150 per annum, each tenable for three years, the best holders to form recruits for the Research Institute; (2) Graijts to the total amount of £30,000 per annum provided for twelve institutions, with a view to strengthen existing departments or create new centres for the investigation of those branches of science which most closely affected agriculture; (3) A sum of £3,000 to be distributed in aid of researches not provided for under (2) on the recom- mendation of the Board's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Science; (4) A sum of £12,000 for developing advisory or consultative work for farmers, at twelve institutions to be associated with twelve distinct areas in England and Wales. 336. Mr. Middleton indicated briefly the main purpose of these Advisory Grants. Experi- ence, he said, had shown that instruction of the ordinary type did not exercise so direct an influence on agriculture as might be expected. It was of great value in aiding young people and the less experienced, but as a rule it was too elementary to appeal to an experienced farmer. He met with difficulties in his work which could not be answered off-hand even by a well- trained scientific man. Investigation was necessary, and sometimes prolonged investigation might be both necessary and desirable. It had not been possible to give much time to solving the difficulties of individuals in the past, and the new effort aimed at creating consulting staffs at certain Universities or Colleges, whose business would be to investigate such difficulties as arose in practical agriculture, and especially to deal with the difficulties of the best farmers. Careful study and considerable expenditure on solving the difficulties of an individual might seem, Mr. Middleton said, to be out of place in a public institution, but it must be remembered that the " ailments " of a farm were not purely of interest to an individual. If a good farmer had a difficulty, and that difficulty was solved, he became more successful, and his neighbours saw and copied. The practice of agriculture was developed, Mr. Middleton said, chiefly by imitation. A skilful man might soon increase the prosperity of a parish, for though farmers might be slow to listen to oral instruction, they were quick to see that a change in practice enabled a neighbour to grow better crops. The principle which, he considered, should be adopted by the administrator intent on increasing the production of a -community was that most attention should be given to the wants of those who had the reputation of being the most skilful farmers. These men were usually the most ready to learn, but they must be convinced that the advice offered to them was worth having. They had too often been disappointed in the past. 337. The Memorandum of Arrangements [Cd. 4886] proved in practice, Mr. Middleton said, to be very unsatisfactory to the Board. As printed it was comparatively unobjectionable; but the Board of Education took the view that a document put in by them in the course of the negotiations between the two Boards (but not assented to by the Board of Agriculture) must be read into the printed arrangements. The effect of this claim, if it had been admitted, would have been to restrict the sphere of the Board of Agriculture narrowly to education of Univexsity grade — that is, to the inspecting and aiding of the long courses provided at the Colleges. Extension lectures, short courses, &c., were, it was claimed, essentially county work, and there- fore should come under the supervision of the Board of Education. A further difficulty arose over the scheme for providing advisory work for farmers. It was held, by representatives of the Board of Education, that the advice provided by the Colleges must relate exclusively to scientific questions of the type which could only be answered by a trained scientist. This, would have precluded advice on many of the subjects on which farmers must often want informa- tion. The view was also taken that the farms to be attached to Institutions could only be used for administrative and teaching purposes, and that experimental work in association with the Colleges was not permissible. The discussions which arose over such points made progress very slow, and when Mr. Eunciman came from the Board of Education to the Board of Agriculture he saw that it was impossible to continue the existing conditions. In consultation with 19793 E 3 70 Mr. Pease, a fresh Memorandum of Arrangements [Cd. 6039] was drawn up, which transferred, the supervision of county work as well as of work carried on by the Colleges to the xsoard oi Agriculture. In practice this meant that all agricultural education, except that carried on m elementary and secondary schools, was to be supervised by the Board of Agriculture, bmce this arrangement was made, Mr. Middleton said, there had been no difficulties of an administra- tive kind between the two Boards, and it was believed that no inconvenience had been caused to any of the Inspectors of either Department. He thought it should be noted, however, that these satisfactory results depended entirely upon a Memorandum of Arrangements made between two Ministers, and that at any time the arrangements might be upset by their successors. It was essential, he thought, that the position in future should be safeguarded, and that statutory authority should be given to the arrangements now in force. 338. At the time when the supervision of agricultural education was transferred to, the Board of Agriculture, the Board of Education were discussing with the Development Com- missioners a scheme for the provision of Farm Institutes. The Board carried on these negotiations, and as the policy of the Board and of the Commissioners was practically identical there was little difficulty in reaching a satisfactory arrangement. This arrangement, Mr. Middleton said, was stated in detail in the Regulations for Farm Institutes, printed as Appendix II. to the Board's Regulations for Agricultural Education. 339. The only subject which gave rise to considerable discussion between the Board and the Commission at this stage was the amount of the financial aid to be accorded to counties. The Development Commission originally proposed that a grant of 50 per cent, of the cost of new work should be allowed. It was a.rgued by the Board that while this might be a generous grant to some counties which were spending practically no ratepayer's money on agricultural education, the position was very different in those cases in which a rate approaching 2d. in the pound for Higher Education was already being levied. The Development Commissioners admitted the force of this argument, and/jn their recommendation the Treasury, as a temporary measure, agreed to aid new expenditure on a sliding scale. The counties were classified in groups, and received grants varying from 75 per cent, as a maximum down to 50 per cent. 340. When the arrangements for the Farm Institute Scheme were well advanced, Mr. Runciman held a series of conferences with the Local Authorities in all parts of the country, except the north-west. (The Lancashire Local Authority refused to attend a conference at which it was proposed to meet representatives of the University of Manchester, the county of Cheshire and themselves.) The main purpose of these conferences was twofold: — (1) To explain the general character of the arrangements proposed ; (2) To advocate combination between the counties themselves and between groups of counties and the College. Provisional groups of counties were arranged, and on the invitation of Mr. Runciman proposals were sent in for the election of certain representatives on Advisory Councils. The original intention was to make these Councils small in size, consisting of two or three representatives of the College Governors and two or three members from each of the County Education Authorities. Ultimately, however, it was decided to use the Advisory Councils for the purpose of working the Live Stock Scheme, and a number of prominent breedefs of live stock were made members. From an educational point of view, Mr. Middleton considered this a mistake ; the interests were separate, and it would have been better if the Live Stock Scheme had been run independently. The Advisory Councils were just beginning to get to work when the War broke out, and he thought it too soon to form any estimate of their permanent value. In certain districts, however, they had already accomplished a very useful purpose by getting adjacent counties to agree to a common policy. The main drawback to their success had been that, having no funds at their disposal, interest had been apt to flag. When these Advisory Councils were first discussed, the intention was to have provided them with funds, and to have made them responsible for the work of certain peripatetic lecturers, many of whom could be more usefully employed in a " province " than within a single county. 341. In outline, the arrangements for the administration of agricultural education had now been completed,, but a serious financial difficulty remained. The terms of the Development Act precluded the Commissioners from aiding work in existence at the time when the Act became effective. They were, therefore, only able to assist new work. The consequence was that counties which had already spent considerable sums on agricultural education found themselves, in a sense, less liberally treated than those which had spent little or nothing ; for counties which had incurred no higher education rate, or spent little of the Residue Grant upon agriculture, could easily increase their expenditure, and thereby earn grants varying from 50 to 60 per cent, of their outlay, whereas counties which Jiad reached the limit (2d.) of the Higher Education Rate, and could not raise more money, were practically debarred from any sxibstantial help. This view was strongly pressed upon Mr. Runciman at his conferences, and was subsequently taken up by Essex, Yorkshire and other counties among the most progressive in agricultural instruction. It was manifestly impossible, Mr. Middleton said, to secure the healthy development of the subject, in view of the discontent of those who had been the most active workers, and a full examination of the whole financial position of the Local Authorities was therefore undertaken. 342. It was resolved to approach the Treasury with the object of secuiing funds which would enable the Board to make grants in respect of work which could not be aided from the Develop- ment Fund. Mr. Middleton gave the following as an outline of the argument presented: — CI) It was pointed out that Local Education Authorities had been providing agricultural instruction for about 20 years, without system, with little State supervision and little State aid except the Residue Grant, which had been handed over unconditionally. Some counties were spending a good deal, both from the Residue Grant and from the rates; others were spending chiefly from the Residue Grant; others, again, were spending little or nothing on agricultural n edueation. (2) The expenditure bore no relation to the needs of agricultural education within the County. As a general rule, the industrial counties aided agriculture more liberally than the agricultural counties. In the illustration, cases were cited, most of the " pairs " being adjacent counties. Figures, without names, are reproduced: — Expenditure on Male Agricultural Agricultural County. Population. Education. A 40,000 £3,500 B 36,000 600 C , 18,000 2,400 D 14,000 3 E 21,000 1,700 E 12,500 11 G 40,000 7,700 H 47,000 1,700 (3) Since 1902, funds for agricultural education had been increasingly difficult to secure, owing to the pressure of other forms of education on the Whiskey Money and the ratepayer. (4) The Board's policy was to establish a special Committee, usually a Sub-Committee of the Education Committee, in each county, and to secure to this Committee a definite income made up from (a) Rates, (6) Eesidue Grant, (c) The Board's vote. To secure economy in expenditure the counties were to be grouped into Provinces, and linked to central Colleges. It was intended that the arrangements should secure a common policy, an exchange of instruction and free interchange of services between the schools to be established within the Provinces. (5) The grants paid by the Board of Education to counties in the past were unequally distributed. ISl early tlie whole of these grants were given under a Regulation (Article 34) which only suited the conditions of certain counties. The result was that in 1910-11, 25 counties, spending £39,000 on agricultural education, received grants of £4,800, while 23 counties, spending £34,000, received grants of £700 only, and of the latter amount £396 was paid to a single county. , (6) Not only were the grants unequal in amount, but the system of grant-aiding was most complicated. In 1912, at the time the work was transferred to the Board of Agriculture, agricultural instruction was aided in the following different ways : — (a) Block grants to Colleges, which, in effect, were frequently grants in aid of county expenditure. (6) The Residue Grant, which might be used to aid any form of Higher Education. Before 1902 it might also be used to reduce the rates; after 1902, although technically not available for the reduction of rates, in practice the Residue Grant saved the ratepayers of many counties from the necessity of raising a rate for Higher Education. It remained, therefore, in effect, a grant in relief of rates, (c) Block grants paid under Article 34 of the Technical Schools, &c. Regulations of the Board of Education, (d) Small grants paid under Article 32 of the same Regulations, (e) Further small grants paid under the same Regu- lations, in aid of certain schools. (/) The Farm Institute grants, about to be awarded, were to be paid on an entirely different principle, i.e., the partnership principle. 343. It was clearly necessary that means should be taken for simplifying the grants, and the Board proposed that, in future, all new grants should be either in the nature of block grants to institutions or partnership grants to Local Authorities. The " partnership " grant had not only been approved in principle by the Development Commission, but had been at work satisfactorily in Scotland and Ireland. There was, however, a difficulty in making it applicable to England, because the Residue Grant had been handed over unconditionally to the County Councils. The principle of aid which the Board proposed was that two-thirds of the cost of agricultural educa- tion should come from the taxpayer, and one-thixd from the »atepayer. Since the Residue Grant was contributed by the taxpayer, and since its amount was not regulated by the State, it was not possible to give direct effect to this principle. While the Board had no power to redistribute the Residue Grant, they would be able, Mr. Middleton said, to give effect to the principle if means could be devised for distributing their own grants in such a way as to provide the amount by which the Residue Grant fell short of two-thirds of the net expenditure on agricultural education. A method of securing this object had been devised. As a preliminary to fixing their own grants, the Board proposed to distribute (on paper) the Residue Grant between counties, in such a way that each county should contribute to agricultural instruction the average amount contributed by all counlies in proportion to the need for such instruction in the particular county, and its ability to pay. It was ascertained that the approximate expenditure from the Residue Grant on agricultural education in the three years 1909-12 was £24,500 for England and £1,600 for Wales. If the sum of £24,500 had been universally distributed over English counties it would have provided for an annual expenditure of 49s. per 100 males engaged in agriculture. The average need of each county for instruction might be estimated from the male population engaged in agriculture, and this figure was easily ascertained, but the average ability to pay raised a more difficult question, since the Residue Grant was not distributed on any basis that measured "ability." The usual basis for estimating ability, Mr. Middleton explained, was the proceeds of a uniform rate.- The receipts of each county from the fixed Residue Grant were, there- fore, compared with the receipts from a uniform rate, and in this way a figure was reached indicatingthe ability of each county to aid agricultural education. The grants under the ."partner- ship " scheme could then be' calculated in the following way :— First, the expenditure due "by the county from the Residue Grant was set down ; then, one-third of the net expenditure of the County was added, representing the ratepayers' contribution. The balance, if any, would show the amount due from the Board. It was estimated that to give effect to this method of aiding counties the maximum sum necessary would be about £17,000. After prolonged negotiations, Treasury 19793 • ^ * 72 sanction to the new scheme was obtained, and was embodied in the Regulations for 1915-16. Mr. Middleton pointed out that the two-thirds and one-third rate was the maximum, and applied generally to certain forms of education {see Class I. in the Regulations, 1916-17, page 9). For the forms of education, arranged under Class II., a variable rate was paid. 344. It should also be noted, Mr. Middleton said, that the new Regulations included the grants made under the Farm Institute Scheme from the Development Fund. The practice was to calculate how much was due to a county from the Development Fund, and to make up the difference from the special grant authorised by the Treasury. A few counties benefited largely by the new Regulations; most were no better off than before, but they were just on the border line, and as their work progressed they would benefit more and be able to recover up to two-thirds of their expenditure. About one-third of the total number of counties could not earn grants under the Regulations unfil their expenditure had been largely increased. By a special arrange- ment made with the Treasury, these counties received a block grant equivalent to the grants which they formerly earned under other Regulations. It was claimed, Mr. Middleton stated, that, so far as the expenditure of Local Authorities was concerned, the aid given by the State was now on a liberal scale. On the other hand, the funds available for the support of the Colleges were much too small to maintain institutions charged with the important functions they must fulfil. The next raid which the Board makes on the public purse in aid of agricultural education must, he considered, be on behalf of the Colleges. 345. Money, Mr. Middleton said, would be hard to get aftier the War, but he did not anticipate failure in securing more aid for agricultural education, for when the country had had time to consider its position it would, he thought, be agreed that one of the State's best invest- ments in the past ten years had been that made in agricultural education. We were just ready, but no more than ready, when war broke out, and investigators, teachers of agriculture and County Organisers had served their country well. Had we been given a few years' respite, during which the new system of agricultural education would have had time to develop, pressing problems of food production would, he felt certain, have been less difficult than they are now. 346. In cross-examination, Mr. Middleton supplemented his st^itement with regard to Farm Institutes by pointing out the difficulty of establishing them in counties where the Local Authorities were opposed to it. In reply to a question as to whether, if the State made financial arrangements for a county, they could not be persuaded to accept an Institute, he said that a sense of unfairness would be created by such counties being given preferential treatment. So long as the Local Authorities were responsible for agricultural education, they must either be allowed to retain their share in the responsibility or be passed over altogether. The usual procedure was for the Board's Inspector to report when a certain county was prepared to estab- lish an Institute, the Board then making arrangements to get it started. It was difficult, Mr. Middleton said, to decide the number of Institutes necessary to satisfy a particular area; a county boundary was not a sufficiently large one. When Lord Reay's Committee reported they indicated that an Institute was required in each county with the object of providing some centre at which the instructors for the county could have their demonstration farm, and to which the people could look when they wanted instruction. The scheme for Farm Institutes, drafted by the Board of Education for presentation to the Development Commission, contem- plated rather large schools, a great deal of building and an expensive staff. It was subsequently transferred to the Board, who decided to strengthen the existing Institutes rather than rush into large building schemes. I^ewton Rigg Farm School, in Cumberland, for instance, where eight or ten boys were formerly trained each year, had been considerably enlarged, and about twenty pupils could now be accommodated. He thought that after the War the Board would probably test every area carefully, by means of the peripatetic teacher, before doing more than give the county a headquarters « As pupils at a Farm Institute he suggested lads of nineteen or twenty, who had done a good deal of farming and really wanted to learn. The peripatetic classes, h« thought, should provide for lads of eighteen to twenty-four. Mr. Middleton was of opinion that there should be close co-operation between the Institute and the Agricultural College in a district. The nature of the relation between them depended, he said, on the particular conditions of the area and the Institute. There should be at least a desire on the part of the county to get ail the help they can from the College, and the College must be willing to give the help. Asked whether he considered a University the proper place for the education of ordinary farmers, Mr. Middleton replied that he thought they were in some countries. Scotch farmers, for example, might very well get fheir higher education at the Universities. 347. With regard to the staffs of the Colleges and Research Institutes, Mr. Middleton felt that conditions must be improved if the best men were to be retained. Some slight improvement had been made in the scale of pay, biit he was not yet satisfied. He thought it a very good suggestion that if his salary were raised the young teacher should be compelled to spend, part of it on his own development. It was necessary, he considered, that anyone who was going to teach agriculture should have not less than five years' study, whereas at present he seldom had more than three. An agricultural teacher needed a fairly wide outlook over the agriculture of his country, and this could best be gained by experience in other districts besides his own, the conditions of which he already knew, and to which he would return with a more intelligent interest. 348. One of the chief difficulties in the development of Institutes was, Mr. Middleton said, that funds had been so inadequate. From the point of view of the Colleges themselves, he would favour supporting them by State funds ; but, dealing as he was with the administration of agricultural education, he thought that, to some extent at any. rate. Colleges should be dependent on the contributions of Local Authorities; without a financial tie it was difficult to 73 Bring , about effective co-operation between local agricultural education and tbe Colleges. He was of opinion that, in tke higher forms of Farm Institute, State aid should form the larger share. On the whole, he agreed with the suggestion that there would be some advantage in haying the .whole system of agricultural education centralised in the Board of Agriculture as it is in Scotland, but it would involve the sweeping away of |he Residue Grant and a reconstruction of the. whole position. ^49.. Mr. Middleton said that Elementary School education did not come into his province, but he considered that some means should be taken to continue the instruction of boys and girls after they leave school. This, he thought,, should be compulsory up to the age of seventeen or eighteen, but not later. He agreed that there was something to be said for insisting on a winter course of instruction in place of part of the summer course. The farmers would be more easily reconciled to further instruction for their sons if they were able to keep them on the farms during the busy summer months. Mr. Middleton considered that it was very difficult to reach the labourer directly, except through the instructor in the subject in which he was personally interested. The type of horticultural instruction provided, e.g., in Northumberland, was, he said, very useful, while in districts where there was no objection to poultry-keeping by labourers, the poultry instructor would be most helpful. The labourer's surroundings should be made as congenial to, him as possible; this would help to keep men on the land. He thought that demonstration plots might be very usefully extended. In the Elementary School the chief need was to change the outlook of the teacher, who frequently favoured an industrial rather than an agricultural career. 350. Questioned as to the education of landowners, Mr. Middleton said he thought that they should avail themselves of the coiirses now held at Oxford and Cambridge. A course in Economics would, he considered, be of more use to many young landowners than a scientific course. It would not be difficult to devise a suitable curriculum for him. He agreed that it was of great importance to get the landowner to understand that he must study estate management. Pkofessoe R. H. Biffen, F.R.S. Development of Agricultural Research. 351. Professor Biffen, of the School of Agriculture, Cambridge, gave, in reply to Lord Selborne, some general examples of the economic value of plant breeding. 352. One of the most important of these examples was, in his opinion, that provided by the sugar beet industry. The whole of this had been built up on a basis of plant breeding. It had reached a very high pitch of perfection, yet even now persistent research work had t efficient maintenance was a condition of advance. 442. Sir Ailwyn Fellowes subsequently referred to the question of a minimum wage. Sir, Henry Doran explaining that he was against the adoption of a minimum wage for agricultural labourers, adding that he did not believe it would lead to increased employment, and it was regular or permanent employment that the labourers most urgently wanted. •• He said that casual labourers in Ireland who were paid in cash were much underpaid for long periods, but permanent labourers who received less cash plus perquisites such as niilk, potato ground, cottages, were in a very different position, and it was desirable to extend the system of payment in kind in Ireland, and labourers would prefer it. Sir Ailwyn Fellowes expressed the' opinion that an increased cash wage might prevent the emigration that was going on from Ireland, but witness said the difficulty in securing satisfactory wages for agricultural labourers lay in the fact that farmers were not themselves in a position to pay higher wages out of the prices current for agricultural produce for some years before the War. The value of agricultural produce in Ireland did not admit of a standard of wages much higher than the present one, because the farmer could not for many years get sufficient profit out of the products of his land to pay his labourers more. Witness also pointfed out that in Scotland the agricultural wages were higher because there was the best of markets at the farmer's door and in some districts a larger quantity of manure was more readily available from towns. Dr. Douglas, however, stated that some means must be found to improve the wage of the Irish labourer, otherwise the increased improvement in the condition of labourers in England and Scotland would aggravate the position of men in Ireland, and result in a large number of them leaving that country for Great Britain. 443. The question of a minimum price for cereals was then introduced, when witness argued that it was quite exjDedieut for a time like the present, ~but it was impossible to continue to grow cereal crops for many years oh the same land, and the guaranteed price only applied to what was sold and not what was consumed on the farm. After careful consideration of this point, Sir Henry Doran said that as the increased (guaranteed) price to be given to the farmer applies only to that portion of the crops which he sells, it would have little or no effect in helping him to pay higher wages, because the raising of cereal crops represents a very small proportion of his labour bill.. Witness was convinced that a guarantee of price was only suitable for an emergency like the present, and only^ good for a certain time. He also laid emphasis on the futility of encouraging the growth of a crop which was not suitable to the climate and soil, e.g., the wheat grown in Ireland was too soft to be milled easily in the modern mills, and so that country could not compete in the production of wheat with countries whose climate was more suitable. He preferred a general tariff to a minimum price on a few crops for the encouragement of agriculture. The tariff rates should be such as to enable the farmer to pay a satisfactory wage to his labourer and have reasonable remuneration himself out of the prices realised for the produce sold. 444. Sir Ailwyn Fellowes then drew attention to the question of sugar beet and its growth and prospects in Ireland, witness expressing the view that although experiments had been made 90 with the crop, they were not at all encouraging. He stated, however, that the crop had not been sufficiently tested. 445. In conclusion, Sir Henry Doran mentioned the great improvement which had taken placeduring the lust 20 years in the cattle of Ireland, and, in order to maintain this, suggested that improved farming was necessary so that young stock might be well fed, adding that an extension of agricultural education would effect this end. Eev. A. A. David, D.D. 446. The Rev. A. A. David, Headmaster of Rugby, gave evidence on the education at Public Schools of those who contemplate careers on the land, whether as owners administering their own estates, tenant farmers, or land agents. 447. He referred to the education of the Public School boy up to 15 years of age, which was usually of a uniform character, consisting of foundational training in English, Latin, French, Mathematics, and preliminary jScience, including Nature Study based on observation of birds, flowers, &c., together with handwork, laying particular emphasis on the latter; it is good for a boy to feel that while he is at work he is making something that is of use. 448. The next stage of training, usually after 15 years or thereabouts, would include Physics and Chemistry and a third language, preferably Greek for the Classical side and German for the Modern side. 449. At the age of 16, the average boy would reach the final stage in his school career, and it was at this point that schools had hitherto failed to provide sufficient opportunities for the boys to follow their own aptitudes. At this age boys should not only be allowed " to study what they most affect " but should also begin the training that leads to their chosen career, provided that subsidiary subjects of study are selected and handled with a view to their educa- tional interest. Witness explained that at present it was possible to provide on Science sides for boys who were going to be doctors and business men, and it was desirable that a boy should be put in the right category of the school curriculum — Science, Classical, or Modern- — for which he was most suited, thus bending his energies in a direction in which he was personally interested. These views, witness explained, represented those of the majority of the Headmasters' Conference. 450. Lord Selborne pointed out that it was on the Science side that a boy interested in the land would best be placed, and it was in this division that the witness thought there would be no difficulty in arranging an agricultural course parallel to the course for doctors, engineers, and one or two other courses already recognised. 451. Dr. David then referred to the hope which he entertained that boys would continue to have the opportunity while at school of some practical work on the land. He said that the experience gained from Farm Squads had proved the educational value of such work during the present war, bu^ he hoped they would remain a permanent feature of school life. He suggested that something on the lines of a School Farm providing milk, eggs, and vegetables for the boarders, and containing experimental plots for the Agricultural Course, might be insti- tuted with advantage to those boys whose interests, physical and otherwise, were not completely satisfied by compulsory games. 452. Witness then mentioned that in 1915 and 1916 boys were sent out from Rugby in squads to help farmers in the neighbourhood, hoeing turnips, &c., and though, at present he could not trace that any real interest in agriculture had resulted therefrom, they took to the work with much interest and physically benefited by the exercise. 453. Dr. Douglas asked if Rugby had a large proportion of boys with a prospective interest in the land, witness replying that there was not a great many, perhaps a little over 10 per cent., biit that even that proportion would justify an Agricultural Course being introduced into the school curriculum. 454. Witness concluded his evidence by calling attention to the need for some similar course at the Universities which would supply an intellectual stimulus and interest at present much needed for a large class of " Pass Men," many of whom might find careers on the land. 22nd Day, 27th February, 1917. Mr. R. A. Anderson. 455. Mr. Anderson, who is Secretary of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, opened his evidence with a brief history of the agricultural movement in'Ireland. In 1889, he said, when the agricultural organisation movement began, the farming indxistry was emerging from a very serious depression, brought about by foreign competition, a bad system of education and a very bad system of land tenure. The agricultural industry in Ireland was, in fact, completely neglected. There was only one small institute in Dublin to provide instruction for the whole country. A few creameries were in existence, some of them joint stock, some proprietary, and some co-operative. 456. Sir Horace Plunkett, who introduced the co-operative movement, was a Unionist, and this fact did not make his work easier with men who held opposite views. For a long time the farmers would not trust each other and work together ; no instance of co-operation among farmers in Ireland could be pointed to as having been successful, and they were sceptical of illustrations taken from another country. For five years the work was carried on by Sir Horace Plunkett and a few associates and friends until, in 1894, the Agricultural Organisation Society 91 was fcumed, and a fund was raised amounting to £5,00U a year for five years. This money was administered by the Committee of the Society, and was used for maintaining the staff. The Society was formed m order to give coherence and energy to the co-operative movement, and to give people of different political views an opportunity of joining in the promotion of co- operation m Ireland, and its non-party and non-sectarian character had, Mr Anderson said, been maintained throughout. 457. In starting co-operative creameries, the Society had managed to retain the profit? and control of the farmer's industry for him. 458. With regard to the collective purchase of agricultural requisites, the main achieve- ment there had been m the bringing down of prices from- the retail to the wholesale rate, by bulking the orders, and in this way a reduction of from 25 to 40 per cent, had been obtained, accompanied by a guarantee of analysis. 459. The policy as regards seed, Mr. Anderson said, had always been to try and get farmers to use the best — to be more particular as to the quality than the price. Formerly, however, the trade had been carried on by the ordinary country shopkeeper who had no knowledge of the seed trade at all, with the result that the quality of farm seeds generally was inferior. 460. As regards credit, the smaller Irish farmers were at that time badly situated; they could generally borrow froni a Joint Stock Bank, but on terms and conditions often unsuitable- to the farming industry. In Mr. Anderson's opinion, banks varied a great deal; some dealt liberally with the farmers and others did not. A great deal of credit, moreover, was obtained not through banks, but through butter merchants and local traders whose rates of interest were extremely high and whose system of business was very unsatisfactory to the farmer. 461. The Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, he said, was managed by a President and Vice-President and a Committee which consisted of 16 members — 4 for each province ; 4 members elected by individual subscribers, and 4 others co-opted by the whole body. In addition, the Development Commissioners, as a temporary expedient, on the refusal of the Irish Department to have anything to do with the Society, had the right to elect seven persons to serve on the Committee. The members of the Committee took part personally in. the work of organisation, and the whole management of the affairs of the Society was vested in them. Their services were gratuitous, only travelling expenses being given them, and even this sum was often handed back as a subscription to the Society. Regular meetings of the Committee took place quarterly, and there was also an annual general meeting, which was always very well attended. In order to give the members elected by the Society an opportunity of getting into closer touch with a£B.liated societies, the Committee had been divided into four bodies, one for each province in Ireland. There were also district conferences held in about 25 or 30 districts, where repre- sentatives of societies could meet, and by this means the Society was able to get into touch with the leading men of the societies in each particular locality. At the annual general meeting opinions were taken as to the •government of societies, and the policy for the whole movement was decided. The societies' representatives, Mr. Anderson stated, showed a great deal of common sense and understood thoroughly the proble'ms with which they had to deal because their knowledge of them was first hand. No societies were being started now until it seemed certain that they were going to be a success, but in the earlier stages many societies had been formed which did not ever come to maturity. 462. The staff of the Society consisted of 5 senior organisers, ,4 creamery inspectors and 3 junior members, and an audit staff of 10. There was also an office staff consisting of Mr. Ander- son himself, an assistant secretary, and a staff of typists and clerks. There was, he said, difficulty in getting a good type of organiser, as many were not successful in dealing with farmers; and the difficulty was increased by the fact that the employment was not permanent and the Society could not offer any pension or retiring allowance. This fact put the Irish Agricultural Organisa- tion Society at a disadvantage in competition with the Agricultural Colleges. The men they got were usually of the same class as College lecturers, &c., but possibly of less agricultural experience. Mr. Anderson's opinion was,' however, that a thorough knowledge' of organising work was of more importance than the mere technical part of the training. The Audit Depart- ment audited all such accounts as the societies desired. It was self-supporting, and able to assist in inspecting the societies. 463. In the rank and file of the movement 60-70 per cent, of the total number were of the same religious and political views, and it had been strictly enjoined upon societies that they must not discuss matters leading to political or religious controversy at the meetings. This undertaking had been freely given and honourably observed. 464. Of the many societies formed by the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, the creameries, which were at work all the year round, were, Mr. Anderson said, by far the best managed, and the most numerous. An important feature of their work was the Butter Control Scheme, the object of which was "to establish a national brand for Irish creamery butter, of guaranteed purity and uniform excellence of quality, for the exclusive use of selected co-operative creameries, affiliated and subscribing to the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society." In order that the produce of those participating in the Control might realise its- full market value and ultimately obtain such recognition as would secure special classification in the markets of the United Kingdom, it was decided to admit to participation in the Control only those creameries whose standard of equipment, cleanliness and general business methods fulfilled the conditions of the scheme. This had enabled the creameries in question to increase their production of butter, and had also minimised complaints as to its quality. He went on to say that in some of the creameries cow-testing societies had been started to level up the production of milk. There were about 90-100 of these stations in Ireland, but the most active, in Mr. Anderson's opinion, was the Beltrim Co-operative Agricultural and Dairy Society's Cow- testing Association for Improving the Milk Supply. Composite testing was done once a month 92 at the creamery. The average cow in Ireland gave 450 gallons of milk in the year, but it was believed that this could be increased by at least 33 per cent, without interfering witli'ith^" production of beef at all. The creameries made very little cheese, but Mr. Anderson thought this might develop later. He considered that the Irish creameries were among the best in the world. They had all the latest equipment,, and the cost of building and plant was about £3,000 for a creamery where churning was done. 465. The agricultural societies, Mr. Anderson said, were for the most part purchasing societies. They had done very little in the direction of selling farmers' produce, but had reduced the price of fertilisers and improved their quality for farmers all over the country and even across the Channel. This had had a very beneficial influence on cropping. Where men were able to get three tons of fertilisers at the cost of two tons they naturally used a larger quantity. The Agricultural Department taught them the suitable manures for each crop, and this tended to improve the character of the tillage. In Ireland the seasons were very uncertain and spring weather was often unsuitable for cultivation, and it was necessary to watch for an opportunity to put in the crops, while in the autumn the weather was often unsuitable for harvesting. In Limerick and elsewhere the farmers took to growing '' catch crops," which could be planted at seasons when it was convenient to till the ground. The men who took up this system had kept to it, and now said that they oould not get on without it. This development of tillage lad led to " continuous cropping," which, in its turn, demanded co-operation in the ownership of machinery, because that kind of tillage oould not be carried out without very expensive plant, and small farmers could not, except by co-operating, purchase the machines individually. Even if the Co-operative Society were able to purchase only a few machines for the members it would be a great advantage. In each of the societies which owned the machines, young men were being trained to carry out repairs. There was no bad feeling about the sharing of the machines ; the farmers usually arranged it by drawing lots. Farmers, labourers and others worked together in such societies as if they had % common object. 466. The credit societies were formed on the lines of the Eaiffeisen system, and the chief objection, in Mr. Anderson's opinion, was that where a society of that kind was started in a mixed community, the well-to-do man would not join it, because in the case of anything going wrong he would be made responsible for the debts. None of these societies were being- started now by the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society because it was felt that they had done their work ; but a special clause had been added to the rules of all the agricultural societies enabling them to make loans to their members on the same lines as the Eaiffeisen, system. It was difficult, Mr. Anderson said, to find a money-lender now who would lend hard cash. A needy farmer wanting to borrow £10 had recourse to a strange device. He would sell one of his cows at what was known as a " Trust Auction " for £10, and three months after he would have to sell another and more valuable cow in order to pay the debt borrowed on the first one. But the strange thing about the transaction was that the cows did not change hands. The credit societies had been advanced some capital by the Congested Districts Board and the Department of Agriculture. Interest was paid on these loans annually at 3 per cent., and the amount by which the capital had been curtailed owing to the withdrawal of these funds had been made up by increased deposits from people living in the neighbourhood, at a rate of interest varying according to the length of time the money had been left in. The Joint, Stock Banks lent money to the credit societies at a fixed rate of 4 per cent. They made no objection to the societies receiving deposits, because the latter were so small. 467. There were about 20 societies for the sale of poultry and eggs. Some of them sold only eggs, but in other cases .they had begun to run co-operative supply stores on their own initiative in order to hold their own against the competition of the " higgler." The " higgler," or egg dealer, paid in kind and the society in cash. The societies had introduced the purchasing of eggs by weight, and so the people who supplied large eggs got the most money. The poultry also was bought by weight, dressed for the table. Many creameries and agricultural societies also dealt in eggs as a branch of their business. 468. The milling societies, Mr. Anderson said, were of very recent growth; they were started just before the War. It had been found useless to ask Irish farmers to grow wheat unless they were provided with the means of utilising it as food. Now that they had the co-operative mills they could grind their whe'at, and they had their offals for feeding cattle, &c. An efficient flour mill for local supplies could be set up for about £1,000, worked either by steam power or an oil engine. Each man brought in his own wheat and it was ground for him ; oats were also grown, but chiefly for cattle-feeding. The wheat in most parts of Ireland had to be very care- fully cleaned and artificially dried. Smaller and less expensive mills were worked with great advantage by many co-operative creameries. 469. There were one or two large bacon curing societies, notably one at Roscrea which was very successful, but Mr. Anderson considered the small society, which bought the pig from its members and cured it for them, even more useful. Abroad, especially in Denmark, where pigs were fed in large numbers, experiments were carried out as to the best way of feeding them. He believed that such societies would help greatly in promoting the production of pigs, for the owner was helped by his factory to see the defects in his animals and to set them right. He did not, however, think it a very wise thing for any but a very well organised and well capitalised co-operative society to start a bacon factory. At Eoscrea the people had started it themselves, with some assistance from the Organisation Society, and although they had been asked to assist other bacon factories on the same lines, the Society had always refused until it could be seen how the pioneer society would succeed. As to payment, the best plan, Mr. Anderson considered was to pay the producer of the animal by results, as this method eliminated the element of speculation find followed the safe example set by the Co-operative Creameries. In the case of the meat 93 trade, tli,e witness thought any other method would be risky. There was one case of co-operative mejat seeing in County Wexford, where the meat was only paid for when it was actually sold. Hie did notjthink that dealers had, as a rule, made large sums of money, but he considered the system a very bad one. In very few places were the cattle weighed, and this often resulted in a kind of guessing competition between farmer and dealer, in which the farmer came off second best. The cattle were sold at fairs and the small man was no match for the cattle dealer. 470. Mr. Anderson attached great importance to the Fishing Society in the Aran Islands. Most of the fish, he said, was cured and sold to America through the Congested Districts Board at Liverpool, and the selling results had been nearly doubled. The fish was chiefly mackerel and herring. Some was sold locally, but better transit facilities were needed in order to cater for the home demand for fresh fish which was practically unobtainable in Irish country towns. 471. There were two Irish co-operative trade federations, i.e., the Irish Co-operative Agency Society and the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society. The function of the former was to sell the output of the Co-operative Creameries, and of the latter to act as the purchasing and selling agency for the other Societies. The Irish Creamery Managers' Association — a body distinct from the Irish .Agricultural Organisation Society — did a very useful work in issuing a weekly market report, so that although there were still great differences in the prices obtained by some creameries as compared with others, the differences were getting less and less, In connection with purchase, great advantage was found in getting societies to pool their orders., A large part of the work done by the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society was the fertiliser business, in which there was an advantage in large transactions. The Wholesale Society operated throughout Ireland by means of branches in different parts of the country. 472. About 12 years ago co-operative industries societies were started for lacemaking, and some of the women were also engaged in knitting and embroidery. The Templecrone Society employed upwards of 100 girls regularly at knitting, and these girls earned on an average over £1 a week, which, Mr. Anderson said, was an astonishing amount in that part of Donegal where poverty had been very great. This particular Society had a trade turnover of £34,000. 473. There were also societies for the sale of various things, such as honey, fruit, vegetables, &c., which would be an impossible business without a trade federation. 474. Live stock insurance had proved a very difficult thing to introduce in Ireland. Mr. Anderson thought it was rather an unknown risk, and an instance in which the State might help with a scheme of guaranteed re-insurance. 475. The following table illustrates the position of the movement at the end of 1915. The figures for 1916 are not complete, but it is known that there are substantial increases in the number of societies, in their membership and in their trade turnover. It is anticipated that the latter .will exceed £6,000,000. Part of this increase must, of course, be attributed to war prices, but, quite apart from this, the dealings of the members with their societies show a most healthy increase in volume. SumTtiary of Statistics, 1915. Classifloation of Societies. No. of Societies. Membership of same. Trade Turnover. Observations. Dairy 344 45,385 £ 3,499,264 Auxiliaries 95 — — Agricultural 219 23,450 301,341 Credit 225 20,260 48,196 Poultry Keepers 13 4,042 84,922 Home Industries 9 627 170 Miscellaneous 27 7,928 156,p81 Pig and Cattle 50 — — (No returns.) ' Flax 7 562 4,352 Federations 2 337 552,910 Totals 991 102,591 4,657,036 - 476. The witness considered that the affiliation of societies with the Organisation Society was of very substantial benefit to the former. He did not think some of the societies could hope to do their business satisfactorily without the help given them by the Organisation Society. At the' start, he thought, every society needed a Central Body, and afterwards they could come and ask it for advice about new developments. Leafiets were issued by the Society dealing with all manner of subjects of interest and importance to societies and advice was given to all the affiliated societies by letter. The Society had access to a library, where information could be Dbtained from all over the world. They arranged a scheme of Workman's Compensation Insurance with the Co-operative* Insurance Society, and each regular hand was insured at a premium of 5*., and casual labour at the same rate; the minimum ordinary rate per cent, now for any kind of workman's compensation was 15*. The small farmer, therefore, with 10 or 15 acres employing one man could get his insurance for 55. 477. The terms of affiliation for societies with the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society were 10*. per £1,000 of trade turnover per annum. A society's auditing was paid for separately, Mr. Anderson said that his great hope was to make the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society telf-supporting. He anticipated a very large income for the Society this year. In 1914, societies had paid in affiliation fees £1,066, and in subscriptions £904; in 1915, £1,163 and £1,432; last year, £1,466 and £1,792, and the totals for these three years were £1,970, £2,695 94 and £3,258. Contributions had been received from both pfiyate and public funds for organi- sation work. The amount contributed from private sources for organisation work since 1889 was £118,895, and from public funds, i.e., the Congested Districts Board and the Development Commission £56,885, making a total of £175,780, or an expenditure of £1 lbs. per head of the total organised farmers. Formerly, the Society had received a grant from the Department of Agriculture, but this had been withdrawn in 1908. The Development Commissioners gave the Society a grant of £5,320 based^on the contributions of societies for 1915, at the rate of £2 for every £50 contributed and ignored all the rest of its income, thus helping the Organisation Society to stimulate the affiliated societies to contribute as much as possible towards the upkeep of their Association. 478. It had been found lately that in a number of districts where the farms were small and the farmers practically only labourers, they had not benefited at all by the war prices, and organisers were being clamoured for to start co-operative stores, as the people complained bitterly of the high prices charged for domestic requirements by the local shopkeepers. At present the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society was debarred, under its agreement with the Development Commissioners, from organising such sociefies, but he hoped that, having regard to war conditions, this restriction might be removed^ 479. Asked as to the steps which the Society had taken to increase the production of food, Mr. Anderson stated that at the outbreak of the War they had instructed all the organising staff to urge on the farmers the necessity for increasing their tillage, and had brought out leaflets and posters on the need for economising in every way possible. These had had some result, but there had been no marked increase in tillage where it was not accompanied by milling for home consumption; and where that had been done, the tillage had been increased in some instances by over 100 per cent. Mr. Andersori considered that if tillage were to be increased to any great extent in Ireland, co-operation was essentip,l. The chief difficulty, he said, would not be reluctance on the part of the farmer to do his duty, but the scarcity of horses, manures and seeds, especially seed potatoes. 480. In some parts of Ireland the conditions of agriculture were very primitive. Even in Donegal, where they had had agricultural instruction for the last 16 or 17 years, the spade was still used on most holdings and they had never learnt the use of the plough. A, good deal of that land in the West of Ireland was very rocky and the number of farms large, but Mr. Anderson thought there ought to be no difficulty in getting the farmers to use the plough on all suitable land, provided they were shown how to do it. In some parts of Donegal they had been successfully taught how to use threshing machines. In parts of Ulster, where the farmers tilled 60-70 per cent, of their land, they had not much objection to tilling more since they had all the necessary implements, but in other parts of the country he thought there would be difficulty in getting farmers to increase their arable area. Mr. Anderson thought, therefore, that this object would be accomplished best by a guaranteed minimum price, compulsion and co-operation. If prices went back to their old level, he considered that tillage would go back also without a full measure of co-operation. 481. Amongst the farmers' families iu Ireland there was a large amount of unpaid labour. Mr. Anderson did not suggest that these workers should be paid at the same rates as outside labourers, but felt that no one should work for nothing at all. The farmers could not, however, he admitted, pay this kind of labour unless they improved the cultivation of their farms. He considered that agricultural labour generally was badly paid and badly fed, the value of allowances being less than 5s. a week in most parts of Ireland (including the balance of their house rent which they did not pay). The highest war bonus he had heard of was only Ss. a. week. The Department had informed him that applications had been received from 5,000 migratory men, 500 of whom were ploughmen, to go and work in southern Ireland, but that they would not go because all they could get was 15^. a week. It was estimated that 300,000 Irish labourers had emigrated during the last 40 years. At present the labourer had little or no benefit from co-operation, and Mr. Anderson thought some co-operative scheme might be devised for bringing farmers and their servants together. Mr. Anderson's impression . was that the educational system in Ireland was most defective. There was nothing in a farmer's early education which fitted him for the work he had to do, although technical instruction was now available for him. With regard to communal cultivation, Mr. Anderson considered that the co-operative society should help to further it. He had had experience in the joint letting or grazing of land worked on the same. plan. Societies, he said, used to take farms on the co-operative system, and their members had the advantage of a large range for their cattle, watering, &c. Speaking generally, Mr. Anderson said it was the policy of the Society to apply co-operation to every branch of agriculture, always considering the fitness of the community to carry out the scheme, and provided there was money to do it. He was of opinion that if this were not done all over Ireland, and done quickly, the outlook for that country would be very serious. . 482. The chief need of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society at present was an independent income. It would be better, the witness said, both for the Society and for the pubjic, if it could live on its own resources. Many people objecteid to public funds being used to promote co-operation. He thought that if the Society had enough money of its own to carry on all the work which was necessary, and if the Board of Agriculture or another Department wanted it to take on some new work, the Society might fairly bargain with them for some remuneration for that purpose. If the levy system, which was now established, were main- tained, the Society would before long be self-supporting with regard to work in connection with existing societies, and would need to turn to the State only in unremunerative enterprise. Mr. Anderson said that the Society would like the Department of AgricuUnre to undertake a certain amount of research work, and advise them on scientific problems, and hoped that the two bnlips would be able tn work ton-ether without further trouble. . 95 23rd Day, 28th February, 1917. Mr. NouMAN Reid. 483. Mr. Norman Reid stated that, altliougli a member of the Scottish Land Court he appeared before the Sub-Committee in his individual capacity and not as representing any- body or society. The main objections to deer forests might be shortly summarised under the following 12 headings, which he would like to elaborate :—(l) Reduction of the sheep stock of the country; (2) Great reduction of wool production; (3) Reduction of the supply of store cattle ; (4) They lead to the use of arable land for sheep and cattle rearing that should be used for feeding and grain production ; (5) The amount of food produced on a deer forest is so small that it IS almost of no account as a food supply; (6) The consumption of Indian corn, &c., used as hand feeding for deer for which there is no return in food supply; (7) Deer trespass on neighbouring farms and do much damage; (8) Deterioration of grazing land owing to its not being properly grazed, drained, and burned in rotation; (9) Deer are a great drawback to afforestation, as all plantations would have to be deer-fenced and kept up for 25 years at least; (10) De-population of the country ; (11) Deterioration of people of the country owing to country being devoted to pleasure and not industry; (12) The employment of unproductive labour. 484. He desired to impress upon the Sub-Committee that mere altitude ought not to be taken as an indication that the land should properly be used for deer. The Deer Forest Com- mission of 1892 had adopted the view that land over the 1,000-contour line might properly be used for that purpose, but the Commission had looked at the question from the point of view of the small tenant and not from that of . the greatest economic production. He was strongly of opinion that in many eases the higher land was even better for sheep than the lower. They were more hardy and freer from disease. It would be unnecessary to fence such land, there would be natural divisions, and in practice it was found that few sheep strayed away from their own flock and over their particular boundary. Existing large farms of 4,000 sheep, for instance, were not farmed as a single organisation, but as a number of separate divisions, each under its own shepherd. Even without fencing, the sheep in these divisions kept together and did not stray. 485. Such land inight be worked on the Club System, under which a number of small .men combined to farm their several interests together as a single holding. They engaged a shepherd, and elected a treasurer, who was responsible for the finance of the undertaking and made no division of the profits until all the liabilities had been settled. But there was a good deal of land in the Highlands only suitable for large sheep farms. A certain amount of arable land was necessary for the men, and in districts where this was limited in amount, only sufiicient to provide* for the shepherds, the land could only be used profitably for large sheep farms. 486. Mr. Reid drew special attention to the disproportion between the amount of food produced by land under deer and that from the same land under sheep. A forest let with a limit of 25 to 40 stags would cast, if used as a sheep farm, 1,000 to 1,500 sheep, and produce from 20,000 to 25,000 lbs. of wool each year, with some store cattle in addition. Although some land might carry very little, a fair average for the forest land of Scotland as a whole would be one sheep to four acres, and one lb. of wool for every acre. 487. A return he got out in 1904 as to the area under forest in the crofting countries of Sutherland, Ross-shire and Argyllshire showed 2,920,000 acres, and Mr. Reid calculated that the total amount would now stand at 4,000,000 acres. From this he estimated that from three- quarters of a million to a million more shefep might be kept were this land deforested. It was incorrect to suppose that this land would not carry sheep. It had done so in the past, and the system of valuation which had been blamed was merely employed as an excuse by those who wished to get rid of the sheep in favour of deer. Had these 4,000,000 acres been under sheep they would have produced annually wool sufiicient to have clothed the first Expeditionary Force. Mr. Reid did not wish to imply by his third objection that large numbers of store cattle could be reared on forest land; it would be impracticable to form any estimate of the total, but the number capable of being kept over the whole area would be considerable. 488. After touching shortly on objections 5, .6, 7, 8 and 9, Mr. Reid dealt with 10, 11 and 12 together at some length. He stated that there could be no question that population had fallen to a greater extent in afforested parishes than in others. The attendances at schools showed it, and he knew cases where schools had had to be closed in afforested districts as there were no children to go to them. Depopulation was, unfortunately, proceeding in practically all rural districts, but it was more rapid in those where sheep had been displaced. He was not able to give figures for a particular parish showing the population before and after afforestation. Afforestation also had a deteriorating influence on the population — the keepers' was an idle occupation, high pay, and a certain amount of non-productive work during a few weeks of the year, but little to do during the remainder. The atmosphere in which such a family lived could not be compared with that of a shepherd. The English keeper was different. He was largely employed in killing vermin, looking after nests and the like, but the keepers on a deer forest had little to employ them, except perhaps some 'feeding in the winter, as there was little poaching of deer. 489. The witness did not suggest that deer should be entirely prohibited — some land, though small in quantity, was of no use for sheep — nor did he recommend that deer forests should be subject to special taxation, as that might be easily evaded. He would propose two means of dealing with the question: — (1) By giving everybody the right to kill the deer, and (2) by throwing open the land to the public. He did not think that sheep farmers would object to the latter, but the right of the public to walk over the land would stop stalking, and deteriorate the sporting value, so that it would pay better to use the land for more productive purposes. 96 490. Where the Club System was in use a certain head of cattle was kept on the land, but by individuals and not as the property of the Club. One of the advantages of the Club System was that the land was well stocked, and each family had its proper proportion. Where the families did not combine, but merely had the right to run their sheep over a certain common area, it resulted in some stocking to their full amount, while others had practically none. Such a system was less economic than the Club System, both in the labour involved and in the amount of food and wool produced. In reply to Dr. Douglas, who questioned him as' to the accuracy of the view that land when afforested carried a smaller population than when under sheep, the witness maintained the opinion that he had already expressed, and stated that there would be four times as many persons on a sheep farm, unless there was some factor, such as a valuable fishing river running through the same land, which might affect the number of people. 491. Questioned by Dr. Douglas, Mr. Reid agreed that a reason given for the creation of deer forests was the failure of the sheep farms to pay their way. Sheep farming had become depressed, and tenants had said they must have great reductions either of rent or lease, the matter being complicated by the great cost of taking over the sheep at the acclimatised values, making it practically impossible to find new tenants, except at about half to one-third of the old rents. But in his opinion the fault was not in the value attributable to the acclimaitisation of the flocks, which was justifiable, but in the sheep rents having been far too high. It was true that the land when afforested made high rents, but these did not approach those previously charged for the land under sheep. He himself had a farm which was rented at £1,260, and was afterwards let for £5C0 as a farm. It would be diificult to lay down any rule as to the land which might legitimately be given up to deer; but deer existed before any land had been afforested, and it was the loss in food production, owing to the clearances of sheep, rather than the presence of a reasonable number of deer, against which he protested. For reasons already stated the findings of the 1892 Commission had no bearing on the question of sheep versus deer. It was not a question of altitude, as the older sheep did well on the higher lands. From, the point of view of the food output early maturity was not economically expedient where sheep might be kept on high ground, although fashion now favoured young mutton. 492. The high rents commanded by deer forests were doubtless an important factor in connection with rating before the War, but in the present time of need they had failed as a source of local income. The return from the land let for sheep combined with grouse would have been as great, while the depopulation caused by afforestation had given rise to the anomaly ' that there were no people to benefit from the expenditure of the rates. Roads were kept up with no one to use them, and schools maintained with not enough children to fill them. Had there been sheep farms there would have -been plenty of children to fill the schools. Forestry also would be of value in providing additional employment for the population all the year round. With regard to the gradual reintroduction of sheep, he anticipated no difficulty if the land were thrown open to them. They would increase and spread over, the new land, thus obviating any large and immediate outlay of capital in stocking. The drainage of much of the land had been allowed, under deer, to fall into disrepair, but this would be remedied if the land were again used for sheep. 493. It was difficult to compare the rents derivable from deer and sheep— the latter would be calculated at so much a head — but the witness was convinced that the rent obtainable from sheep, combined with grouse, would compare favourably with those which had been commanded by ,the deer forests. A return to the sheep farms would necessitate an outlay in the erection of cottages, but this could be provided gradually as the numbers of sheep increased. Under the Club System there were usually two managers, who gave instructions to the shepherd, and were responsible for buying rams and for general supervision. Mr. Reid advocated an extension of the system, particularly in the case of common lands, which were often badly grazed. At present prices it would be a costly thing to restock, but he did not anticipate a continuance of war prices after peace had been declared. Enquiry would show what breeds of sheep had in the past been found most suited to the land about to be restocked, and the production of miore mutton on this land would free a greater proportion of the existing arable land now used for rearing stores for the production of grain. When grain was fetching a very low price, it was more profitable to breed lambs on the arable farms than to grow grain, but these conditions seemed unlikely to prevail now. Mr. F. T. HoAVARD. 494. Representing the Board of Education, Mr. Howard, Divisional Inspector of Elementary Schools ; Mr. Stead, Staff Inspector in Science for Secondary Schools, and Mr. Peet, H.M. Inspector of the Technological Branch in Rural Subjects, gave evidence. Elementary Education. 495. In reply to the Chairman, Mr. Howard explained how the Board of Education, through their code, encoiiraged teachers of elementary schools to make use of the school environ- ment in their instruction. 496. They allowed rural schools to adopt a restricted syllabus in. Arithmetic, Geography and History in order to make room for Nature Study and Practical Subjects. The curriculum of any particular school is decided by the Local Education Authority. So far as the Board are concerned, every school is encouraged to fit itself to its own circumstances. 497. Asked when the Board began to encourage rural schools in this way, witness pointed out that about 1895 the system of annual examination, which implied one type of curriculum for all schools, town and country, was abandoned, and this involved a fresh outlook. 97 498. In the best rural schools, Mr. Howard said, the school enviroument is habitually drawn upon for material to illustrate lessons in Arithmetic, Geography, History and Drawing, while much emphasis is laid upon Nature Study. A fair number of schools give a practical turn to Nature Study with older children of 11 to 14— e.g., by studies of useful and useless meadow grasses, helpful and harmful birds and insects, sampling soils and testing seeds, the keeping of bees, poultry, rabbits and, very occasionally, of pigs and goats. These are allowed wherever the particular interests and capacity of the teacher justify them. Experience has shown that when intelligently handled these branches of Nature Study can be made quite educational, given that they do not absorb too large a proportion of the school time. 499. In 1906-7, Gardening was taught in 942 English schools to 16,988 boys; in 1913-14, 56,037 children, of whom about 3,000 were girls, were taught in 3,011 schools. Since the War-- broke out the number has grown very rapidly. As classes must be small if the training is to be thorough, not more than 20 scholars to a teacher are allowed, so a small extra grant of is. a head per year is given by the Board. It is important that the subject be treated as an integral portion of the school curriculum, not as an extra, for which reason a member of the ordinary school staff, if he knows the subject, is more successful usually than an outsider — e.g., a practical gardener. Pressed on this point, witness explained that a practical man generally holds the- utilitarian view too strongly, failing to give the scholars the necessary opportunities for experiment in his desire to cultivatie skill in manipulation, while he rarely undei'stands Gardening as a training in scientific method for which purpose it is mainly adopted in schools. 500. Some counties — e.g., Surrey, Staffordshire and East Suffolk— =-have encouraged school gardening greatly; in others — e.g., Hereford and Nottingham — only a f6w schools take the subject. In others again, where a large number of children leave at 13, the course is too short to be of much value. The Chairman asked ii. children could be sorted out, and those without m.uch intellect and physically strong permitted to go to work earlier. Witness thought 14 was young enough for anyone to leave; besides, the so-called "manual method," in which training is largely through the hand and the eye, has been shown, in large towns and in some rural districts like Lindsey (Liiicoln). to be successful in awakening the intelligence of many children seemingly dull and backward. It is so important to have an intelligent rural popula- tion that the method ought to be given a full trial. 501. Most county authorities have developed handicraft instruction for boys and domestic subjects for girls, but separate figures to show how far they are taken in rural schools are not available. In most country schools handwork iixstruction is confined to wood-work, but a few, e.g., in Lindsey (Lincoln) and Somerset, include such things as the making of garden frames and implements and metal objects involving filing and soldering and also repairs to hinges, gates and the like. A few schools too have begun to train children in the practical use. of otlier materials, e.g., string and rope, cane and willow, glass and cement. The Secretary to the Cheshire Education Authority has recently submitted such a scheme for a " Handyman's Course." The Board are encouraging experiments in handwork in order to secure more ,va,riety and greater utility. 502. The development of a rural outlook in the county school depends mainly upon the teacher. Most village schools are under mistresses. The older country teachers were trained when the ideals of education were very different; some were too old when the change caine, or too stereotyped to develop fresh methods and to readjust their outlook. Asked if inspectors were not a hindrance to the change owing to their academic training, witness said that the Board have now among their district inspectors a number who understand rural affair*, and in recent years have deliberately chosen some of the assistant inspectors because of special acquaintance with rural schools. Every divisional inspector has under him one or more persons capable of inspect- ing gardening and handicraft. 503. Another difficulty, witness pointed out, is the size of the country school and conse- quently its limited staff. Various methods have been suggested and tried on a small scale with the view of improving the education of country children, e.g. (a) the establishment of schools centrally situated under masters to which older boys and girls are transferred from small- schools under mistresses (e.g., in Warwickshire and Cheshire) ; (6) attendance at a Centre for practical subjects only by children from neighbouring villages, the children being conveyed where neces- sary. The Board have recently published a pamphlet entitled " A Rural Special Subjects Centre," describing such an experiment. Schemes for small local educational endowments occasionally make expenditure of income upon instruction of this kind possible; (c) experts in various subjects, e.g., butter making and poultry tearing, visit schools and give short courses with demonstrations to the children ; (d) classes for teachers' on Saturdays and during vacations are arranged by Local Education Authorities at Horticultural Colleges, farm schools and other centres, the travelling charges and out-of-pocket expenses of the teachers iisually being paid. In this way teachers are encouraged to start gardening, fruit culture and other practical subjects. 504.. In recent years specialisation in the training of teachers has been recommended by the Board; thus rural science, including arardening, can be taken as one of three special subjects by students in Training Colleges. Before the War five Colleges offered facilities in this subject, but few teachers chose it owing to the unattractiveness of salaries in rural districts and sometimes the difficulty of obtaininsr lodsrings. In 1913, 35 men and 26 women; in 1914, 42 men and 49 women; and in 1915, only 36 men and 41 women, presented themselves for examina- tion in this subject. The Board have now gone further and have invited Colleges to train men in handwork, one or more of the courses suggested having special bearing on rural conditions. Persons desirous of going further in these directions may spend a third year in an Agricultural 19793 '^ 98 College or Technical Institution; so far only one woman has done so by entering Swanley Horti- cultural College. The experience of Training Colleges is that students, who are allowed to choose their own courses, will not take groups of subjects which will fit them specially for work m rural schools. Until salaries are improved the prospect is far from bright ; with the present shortage of teachers, the urban schools with higher salaries and better prospects absorb the best and most highly qualified men and women entering the profession. The great majority of teachers without the full teacher's 'qualification (45,000 uncertificated and 13,500 supplementary teachers) are m rural schools. The average salary for a woman uncertificated teacher is 22s. to 23*. a week and for a supplementary teacher only 14s. to 15s. a week. The Chairman concurred in the view expressed that better salaries were imperatively needed. 505. Witness agreed with Mr. Bryner Jones that one difficulty in producing teachers really qualified in rural subjects lies in the fact that a two-year course is not long enough. As matters stand rural teachers must be trained to take general subjects, so little time can be spared for practical work. Crewe Training College manages to give six to eight hours a week for 32 weeks each year to practical work, but this is abnormal. He agreed further that where future teachers stay three years, as in University Colleges, they usually study for degrees and conse- quently are drawn away from subjects of rural importance. Higher value, in his view, must be attached to agriculture and horticulture in advanced education if this is to be set right. 506. Witness disagreed with Dr. Kelly as to thg probable effect of improving the quality of teachers in rural schools. So far from persuading children to leave the country, teachers certainly since 1900 have become more interested in their surroundings and have studied them with beneficial results' to the schools. To his knowledge, farmers in Cheshire (and Mr. Peet concurred as regards Lincolnshire) pay tribute to the improved intelligence and mental alertness of boys leaving school to work on the land. Cultivation of intelligence is what the Board look for. Education for children under 14 cannot be pushed far into practical affairs and general training must remain the chief aim of elementary schools. The Board are not definitely attempt- ing to keep boys from going to the towns, but they know that the effect of bringing the circum- stances of the school surroundings into the instruction helps to maintain the children's interest in country life. Witness doubted if even the best and most devoted teachers could enthuse children so far as to believe in " agriculture as a noble profession " as long as the wages of farm workers are so low. Evening and Technical Education. 507. The Chairman expressed appreciation of the good work done in evening schools. Mr. Peet explained that compulsqiy attendance in the evening was impossible, since lads cannot benefit fully after 10 hours' work on the land. A few are strong enough to do so but compulsion all round implies in his view classes held not later than 7 p.m. in any case. Witness agreed with the Chairman that the aim of rural day continuation schools should be the continuance of general education, even though it be given a rural bias. 508. Ques.tioned by Mr. Douglas as to the practical work in such schools, Mr. Peet explained that the scholars would be mostly labourers and sons of small holders. If compulsion comes he anticipated that farmers' sons will not attend such classes but will generally go first to Secondary Schools and later to winter courses in Farm Schools. Thus farmers will be brought into close touch with agricultural education in which many still have little belief. The older scholars of Evening Schools should take up different work from that of scholars in Farm Schools, such as the care of animals, machinery and the things they must see to themselves in their work. 509. Such work is best taught on the farm itself, though in connection with the school. Experience shows that knowledge of farm processes cannot be left satisfactorily to farm employ- ment. Agriculture is calling for a higher quality of brain, but the best intellects which might thus pick up the knowledge usually leave country districts. 510. In reply to the Chairman witness said he thought that no real difficulty will be found in getting boys to school up to 16 except those on small farms ; but he felt that difficulties will be great with regard to older persons. Farmers generally give no encouragement to boys going to classes and seem to think it unsettles them. 511. Much loss occurs through boys not joining classes immediately they leave the day school; they forget a great deal before joining, and in picking up the lost knowledge become disheartened. Occasionally boys are allowed to leave early on condition that they join evening classes at once. He agreed with Dr. Douglas that this plan could be developed if boys are not too tired to get full advantage from the classes. 512. Again, teachers are a difficulty ; most are elementary school teachers and some are very good ; but classes often cannot be started because the day school teacher is too old or is disinclined to take evening classes. 513. Occasionally women assistants run classes successfully. For farm processes the type of teacher required is a smallholder who has risen from a farm labourer. Agriculture should be taught by those with experience of farming, e.g., young farmers who have come from Agricul- tural Colleges. 514. In reply to Mr. Bryner Jones witness said it was difficult to find suitable'practical instruction for girls. Dairying was taken occasionally but it did not develop the intellect very much, being largely repetition of processes. Secondary Education. 515. Mr. Stead said that the Regulations of the Board of Education give grant-earning Secondary Schools wide liberty in framing their curricula. The requirement as to the inclusion of n foreign language might be relaxed if the circumstances demanded it, an exemption which 99 is intended to meet, for example, the case of scliools in which the work has a rural bias. It is the Tiew_ of the Board that many Secondary Schools in country districts would gain in usefulness if they substituted a ruralised curriculum for that usually followed. By a " ruralised curriculum" is meant one in which (a) detailed courses of work in Science, Geography, Mathematics, and Manual Instruction are modified so that the teacher makes use of the opportunities afforded by the school's environment, and (b) the work is not of a purely technical character suitable only for the future farmer. Witness agreed with Mr. Bryner Jones that the examinations taken by boys from Secondary Schools constitute a real difficulty in the way of the adoption of a ruralised curriculum, but added that under the Board's new examination proposals it was hoped that examinations would be arranged so as to suit the needs of schools with ruralised curricula. Detailed suggestions in regard to the character of a ruralised curriculum were set forth in Circular 883, issued in 1914. In reply to a question, witness explained that schools are not encouraged to include any specific teaching of Agriculture in their courses of work. On the other hand, it is recommended that agricultural illustrations should be freely used in connection with the teaching of Biology. It is thought that a curriculum of the type suggested would be as suitable for those who do not intend to follow the rural industries as for those who do. By Article 39 of the Regula- tions, the Board were empowered to make special grants for educational experiments. Five schools are in receipt of such a grant. Of these, two are schools following a ruralised curriculum and another is a school providing a special course designed as a preparation for the working of smallholdings. In 1913 there were 34 schools (16 boys' schools and 18 schools for boys and girls) Tin which more or less successful attempts were made to introduce a rural element into the curriculum! In reply to Mr. Bryner Jones, witness stated that it is of the first importance that the Headmaster of a ruralised Secondary School . should have the knowledge and sympathy requisite to direct the work of his assistants and to preserve the special character of the school, even if he is not himself qualified to give instruction in rural science. It is by no means sufficient to rely on the services of a single assistant with agricultural qualifica- tions, who may be a young man with little or no experience of teaching. Witness added that one of the difficulties in the way of the development of Secondary Schools with ruralised curricula is the want of belief among farmers in the value of Secondary Education in general and of a ruralised curriculum in particular. There is, unfortunately, little or no tendency for boys from ruralised Secondary Schools to pass on to Universities or Agricultural Colleges. Mr. Kenneth Chance.' 516. Mr. Kenneth Chance stated that he was Managing Director of the British Cyanides Company, Limited, and in that capacity had been carrying out investigations with others for upwards of two years on the recovery of potash from blast furnace gases. Up to the end oi 1916 the object in view had been to increase the quantity of potash given off m the gases m the form of carbonate which had been refined into carbonate of potash of great punty for the manufacture of optical and other glass. ,,,-,, j x j i. • i. 517. He stated that after many disappointments methods had been adopted which were successful in largely increasing the output of carbonate of potash in such gases, but that on the instructions of Mr. A. S. Esslemont, Director of the Optical and Glassware Department of the Ministry of Munitions, to whom representations had been made as to the urgent necessity of supplementing the national supplies of potash fertilisers, he had, early in January, temporarily discontinued that work and inaugurated a new line of experiment designed to produce increased Quantities of potassium chloride instead of carbonate in the gas with a view to meeting this demand These experiments had met with a marked degree of success from the commencement, and a new process, a patent for which had been applied for, had been m operation m two blast furnaces for some weeks with very satisfactory results. Although adverse weather conditions had prevented investigations from being carried out on the comprehensive scale decided upon, the results already obtained from the operation of this process and from such myestigations arit had been found possible to make at other blast furnace works rendered it possible, m his opinion to tatetSatTsufficient supply of potash could be obtained from the ores now deal with in this country to provide for all the potash requirements of the country for all kinds of '''^' 518 Mr Chance referred to the existing difficulty of obtaining the potash from the gases Plant and machinery were necessary, and in the prevailing circumstances it would be almost impossfble t^ secure^any large amount of new machinery. . But there were already m course oTereSn pCrsufficlent to give about 10,000 tons of muriate of potash m the year provided ?hattheTreSion could be completed and they could be put into operation immediately. He recommended ttt pressure should be brought to bear upon the Ministry of Munitions to give urgent prionHyt^th^com^^^^^^^^^ as recovered from the blast furnace gases contSd JelirUportions o^ cyanide a.d<.r^^^^^^^ to^e injurious for * ^/t^l^^^^^ P^^^ ;.t ut^' producr toget^^^^^^ an analysis, showing that and he produced a sample of ^^e resulting pr^du^^^^ together ^^^^ ^^ .^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^ 19793 100 assistance from the Board of Agriculture in deciding the most desirable composition of fertilisers derived from the material obtained from blast furnace gases. It was all a question of cost, but he thought that potash in available form could be produced in this country on a large scale at a price not greater than that at which it was sold before the War if the same pre-war basis were taken for cost of labour, raw materials and other manufacturing charges. 520. Even without new plant Mr. Chance said he could quickly supply 50 tons for experimental purposes, but it would be desirable for an agricultural chemist to decide as to the purity of the product which was suitable for fertilising purposes, and he hoped that arrangements might be made with the Board of Agriculture to send a representative down to his works at Oldbury at an early date in order to discuss this question with him and his staff. As soon as that point was settled the Ministry of Munitions should be pressed to give priority to the supply of refining plant sufficient to enable his firm to produce from ten to fifteen thousand tons per annum. 521. Mr. Chance stated that through the courtesy of Mr. B. Walmsley, who. was in control of the Pig Iron Department of the Ministry of Munitions, he had obtained a good deal of information upon the potash contained in the dust collected from the stoves and boiler flues at blast furnace works, and he handed in a statement dealing with this source of supply, to be forwarded with any recommendations the Committee might wish to make to the Board of Agriculture. 24th Day, ISth March, 1917. Mr. T. P. Gill and Mr. J. E. Campbell. (Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland.) 522. Mr. Gill prefaced his evidence by stating that, in view of the announcement made on behalf of the Government on the 23rd Eebruary, neither he nor Mr. Campbell had considered it necessary in their preliminary memorandum to the Sub-Committee, to refer to the questions of special means for increasing food production, agricultural organisation and credit and agricul- tural labour. The Department, however, fully appreciated the importance of these matters, and Mr. Gill expressed a wish to be allowed to deal with them later. 523. He proceeded to outline the factors which led to the creation of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, its constitution and its operations. The Department was the outcome of the Report of the Recess Committee — a body of Irishmen repre- senting different parties in the country who in 1896 drew up a scheme for the application of State aid and instruction in regard to agriculture and industries as well as for their development. With certain modifications rendered desirable by events that elapsed between the date of that Report and the creation of the Department in 1900, the general policy advocated in the Report had formed the main features of the Department's work up to the present. The idea was the constitution of a department of State with a degree of representativeness unusual in these countries — representative at once of the Crown, the local government bodies created a couple of years previously, and of those classes of the people with whom its work would be chiefly concerned. The guiding principle was that its functions should be to aid, improve and develop the agriculture, fisheries and other industries of Ireland in such a manner as tq stimulate and strengthen the self-reliance of the people, and that it should include the whole work of technical instruction as it was commonly understood in its relation to industries, and to urban as well as rural conditions. It meant not merely the creation of new powers and machinery, but the taking over and co-ordination of certain existing activities which had been scattered amongst eight other departments. 524. The Irish Department was directly responsible to Parliament through a Minister of its own — its Vice-President. It differed in that respect from all the other Government Depart- ments in Ireland. There was a permanent staff, at the head of which were the Secretary, Assistant Secretaries and heads of branches with expert and administrative officers. Replying to Dr. Kelly, Mr. Gill added that he was the present and first Secretary, and that for all practical purposes the Vice-President and Secretary were really the Department. The Chief Secretary for Ireland was President of the Department of Agriculture, as he was of other principal Irish departments, but from the beginning successive Chief Secretaries had acted as if the Department of Agriculture was directly responsible "to Parliament. Of course there had been the closest co-operation between the Chief Secretary and the work of the Department on all matters which seemed to call for it. The Department had a wide and varied range of functions, and one of the main duties of the Vice-President and Secretary was to co-ordinate these numerous activities, and he thought it could be claimed that a special feature of the Department was the harmony and organic unity which characterised its work. 525. The Department was divided into the following branches: — -Agricultural, which included forestry, at the head of which was Mr. Campbell, as Assistant Secretary; Technical Instruction, Fisheries, Statistics and Intelligence, Veterinary, which carried out the provisions of the Diseases of Animals Acts, and Accounts. An Assistant Secretary (Mr. Fletcher) was also at the head of the Technical Instruction branch, while each of the remaining branches was in charge of an administrative officer. 526. From an administrative point of view the work fell into two main divisions, that directed by the Department from the central office, and that administered through local bodies such as the county rnmmittees of a,!?riouHur«, nnd county and urban committees of technical 101 instruction, all of wliioli were bodies created by statute. The first of these main divisions might itself be classified into work aided through the Parliamentary Vote of the Department, all the permanent staff being paid from this vote; and that aided through what was called the Depart- ment's " Endowment Fund," administered with the concurrence of the representative Boards attached to the Department. 527. The work centrally administered included the control of a number of institutions, chiefly educational and scientific, such as the Eoyal College of Science, the Eoyal Veterinary College, the National Museum, the Metropolitan School of Art, the Eoyal Botanic Gardens, the Albert Agricultural College, certain training schools for teachers and agricultural stations. 528. The Department was assisted by, and had the co-operation of, statutory bodies, partly representative and partly nominated — the Council of Agriculture, the Agricultural Board and the Board of Technical Instruction. The Council of Agriculture comprised 104 members, two- thirds elected by the County Councils, and one-third nominated by the Department. Im- mediately after its own election, which took place at triennial periods, each of the thirty-three administrative County Councils formed a County Committee of Agriculture, and also elected two members to the Council of Agriculture, the Department nominating one member for every two so elected. The Council of Agriculture usually met twice yearly, and its functions were partly advisory and partly those of an electoral college to help in«the constitution of the Agricul- tural Board and the Board of Technical Instruction. In its first capacity the Council advised the Department on all matters of public interest connected with agriculture or with the working of the Department itself. In its second capacity it elected two-thirds of the membership of the Agricultural Board, and for this purpose the Council was divided into four provincial com- mittees, which met separately and elected two members from each to the Agricultural Board, or eight in all. The Department then nominated one member for each province, bringing the total to twelve. The Chief Secretary and Vice-President of the Department were ex-officio members, and one or other presided at the meetings of the Board. It would, therefore, be seen that the Council and Board held office for a period of tKree years, and that one-third of each was nominated by the Department. Eeplying to the Chairman, Mr.. Gill stated that he, as Secretary, was not a member of the Board, except that under the Act constituting the" Department it was provided that any power or duty of the Department might be exercised or performed by any person appointed by the President to act on behalf of the Vice-President during the temporary absence of the latter ; and each President had appointed the Secretary as that person. Questioned further, he mentioned that about a month before the meeting of the Council of Agriculture a summons was issued by the Department, and the members were asked to send in notices of motion on any matters they wished to have placed on the agenda for discussion. These notices were expected to arrive about a fortnight before the meeting, so that an agenda paper could be issued in good time for the consideration of members. The J)epartment also, when it wished to have a question specially discussed, put down a notice on the paper, and in this way had often obtained valuable discussions which had helped to guide its action. One of the main advan- tages of the Council was that twice a year it brought public opinion to bear upon the questions with which the Department was dealing. An officer of the Department acted as Secretary to the Council ; the public and the Press were admitted, and the representatives of the county bodies had a full opportunity of getting problems discussed, and of putting questions face' to face to the Department on all matters concerning their activities. In fact, these questions were a special feature of the meetings. The Department was thus given a foundation in the public life of the country that was an imimense source of strength in carrying out its policy. 529. Eeplying to Dr. Kelly, Mr. Gill added that the Council could vote on any question before it. Eesolutions passed by the Council were considered carefully and at the next meeting reference was usually made by the Department to the action taken thereon ; or an explanation furnished should the Department have found that they could not for any reason take the action indicated. 530. In addition to electing two-thirds of the Agricultural Board, the Council also elected a number of members to another body associated with the Department — the Board of Technical Instruction, but he assumed that the Sub-Committee was not interested in that side of the work. 531. The Agricultural Board dealt with and controlled what was called the Department's Endowment Fund or that part of it available for the purposes of agriculture, fisheries and rural industries. Accordingly, if the Department submitted any scheme of which the Board disapproved, that scheme could not go through ; and he agreed with Dr. Kelly that though the Board had nominally no direct initiating power — the Act describing its functions as being to advise on all matters and questions submitted by the Department — in practice it worked out quite differently, and it could not be otherwise. The Department had been guided by the Board in its policy and work to a most valuable degree. The meetings of the Board were held as occasion and questions arose, six, eight, or perhaps ten times a year, but at least quarterly. 532. The Endowment Fund was made up mainly from the following Irish sources: — (1) Local Taxation ; (2) Customs and Excise, from which £78,000 was obtained annually — the equivalent of what was called the "whisky money" in England; (3) the Irish Church Tem- poralities Fund, £70,000, which was subject to reduction on certain contingencies; .(4) the equivalent of salaries of certain Irish judgeships, abolished, yielding £12,000 a year; (5) the equivalent of expenses (£6,000) of the Glasnevin and Munster institutions, hitherto paid to the Board of National Education; (6) the annual sum (£5,000) given, to the Eoyal -Dublin Society for horse and cattle breeding; and (7) the sum of £19,000 given under the Congested Districts Board Act of 1909 to defray the cost of special work undertaken by the Department in the congested areas. The total was thus £190,000, made up of. Irish money gathered from 19793 ^ ^ 102 vatious sources. Not all of it, however, was available for agriculture. £55,000 had to be taken for technical instruction, administered through the Board of Technical Instruction, £10,000 for fisheries, £1,000 for certain recurring charges, and, as stated, £19,000 had to be applied exclusively to the congested districts, so that there remained a balance of £105,000. only for agriculture. This amount was entirely at the disposal of the Department within the limits of the Act, and was administered with the concurrence of the Agricultural Board. The Treasury had nothing to say to it, though the accounts went through the Auditor-General, and the Department was responsible to Parliament for its use. That Endowment was applied mainly in two ways, (1) on schemes undertaken and managed directly by the Department, and (2) on those administered through the local bodies. The latter schemes were carried out by statutory Committees, one such Committee being appointed by the County Council in each of the 33 administrative counties. The Committee might consist of county councillors, county councillors and outsiders, or outsiders altogether. The usual practice was to appoint a number of county councillors and outsiders, the latter selected mainly on account of their knowledge of agriculture or some of its branches. It did not at all follow that the majority of the Committee were members of the appointing body. 533. The County Committee when appointed became, a statutory body, and in the administration of its schemes was independent of the County Council. The latter raised a rate for the purposes of agriculture*and technical instruction, the proportion for agriculture being handed over to the Committee of Agriculture to administer. From the Endowment Fund, previously referred to, the Department made a grant to the Committee which, with the amount of the rate, formed what was known as the " Joint Fund," over which, subject to the sanction of the Department, the Committee then had entire control. 534. As to the assistance given by the Department to County Committees of Agriculture, Mr. Gill said that the Department's grant was not made unless there was a local rate raised, but the grant was not necessarily in proportion to the rate. The poorest districts would suffer by such an arrangement as that. Account was taken of the circumstances of the locality. If the County Council had done all that it ought to do in the way of raising the rate, then the Department held that it had discharged its responsibility. The grant was calculated by taking into account such factors as the live stock population of the county, the area of land covered, the yield of the penny rate, the human population, and so on. 535. Each year the County Committee drew up a scheme for the ensuing year in respect of the various subjects of agricultural instruction and development devolved upon the county body. These provided for instruction in agriculture, horticulture and dairying, and for improvement in the breeds of live stock, poultry, &c. For this purpose the Committee employed a staff of expert instructors. The schemes were reviewed annually at a special meeting at which an inspector of the Department attended, and were then submitted by the Department to the Agricultural Board for approval. 'The Committee appointed its own secretary and expert officers, whose qualifications, however, had to be approved by the Department. In the case of the initial appointment of a secretary, the Department held an examination of the candidates and forwarded to the Committee the names of those qualified. In this way probably a better class of officer had been secured than in any other branch of local administration. He must be a whole-time officer, giving all his energy to the work. Each Committee would have at least a secretary, and agricultural, hortiQultural, buttermaking and poultry-keeping instructors, although usually one person attended to both poultry-keeping and buttermaking. In the larger counties two or more expert officers might be employed for each subject. The number of county officers at present included 33 secretaries, 43 horticultural -and bee-keeping, 44 agricultural, and 50 poultry-keeping and buttermaking instructors, or a total of 170. A number of additional officers were at the moment temporarily employed to deal with the compulsory tillage schemes. The County Committees usually met monthly; they were representative of their counties, and through their agricultural and other instructors got into touch with practically every agriculturist. . 536. In addition to the direct instruction by itinerant officers, the Department had agri- cultural schools for pupils of both sexes, as well as training establishments and higher educa- tional colleges. The great majority of technical officers employed by the county bodies had been trained by the Department in one or other of these institutions, the chief of which was the Royal College of Science, analagous to what used to be the Royal College of Science in England, but which, Mr. Gill understood, was now called the Imperial College of Science. The Irish College was of university grade, its faculty of agriculture being the one through which the Department's experts and investigators were trained. Associated with that College was the Albert Agricultural College at Glasnevin, near Dublin, or, as it was usually called, the Model Farm. The Royal Veterinary College, which some years ago had been assisted through the Agricultural Board, had now been taken over by the Department. It was the College at which all Irish veterinary surgeons were trained, many of them finding employment under the Department. There were schools for the training of women in domestic economy for the urban side of the work, and the Munster Institute at Cork and the Ulster Dairy School at Cookstown for the rural side, as well as a number of other schools and colleges dealing either with agriculture or domestic economy, or some phase of practical work for both sexes. 537. The Department also administered a Parliamentary Vote known as the Science and Art grant, formerly in charge of the Board of Education at South Kensington. This grant was employed for the development of science teaching, which incidentally included rural science and school gardening in the primary schools, because it was considered that at that stage the future man of the field could be truly interested in his work. One of the Department's guiding principles was to keep in view the general, as well as the special, aims of education, i.e., that it should have regard to the calling in life for which the pupil was intended. While that principle 103 was kept in mind, tlie idea of the general culture of the youth was not subordinated to it — one of the great mistakes which he believed had been made in regard to specialised or vocational training. In other words, the aim was less, to train for, than through, the calling. 538. Outlining the steps taken on the creation of the Department to initiate agricultural development, Mr. Gill, in reply to questions, stated that the nucleus of a staff was got together, at the head of which was Mr. Campbell on the agricultural side. With his assistance and that of several other experts, including a professor of agriculture at the Eoyal College of Science, the Department were in a position to set to work to train instructors. The demand had to be met in a soine'what hurried fashion ; a three years' course had to suffice where a four years' course was now insisted upon. But so sound were the methods adopted, both from the scientific and practical point of view,, that the results were generally excellent. In nine cases out of ten, the witness -said, the instructors sent out had been a marked success. They had helped to carry out and co-ordinate a series of valuable experiments ; and as the training had been extended there had, he thought, been an improvement in the type of man employed. The agricultural instructors were usually young men who had a thorough practical knowledge of farming. They were selected as the result of a competitive examination, when they were given scholarships at the Eoyal College of Science, which enabled them to complete their training without further expense to themselves. Those who had a preliminary training at the winter classes conducted under County Committees of Agriculture, or at oae of the Department's agricultural schools, had a certain advantage. Arrangements were made which permitted the students to be constantly in touch with the work of the farm attached to the Albert Agricultural College, where a number of them also resided while attending lectures at the College of Science. 539. Asked for his views on co-operation, agricultural organisation and credit, Mr. Gill said that he regarded these as necessary methods of advancing agriculture. He took rather a broader view, however, than probably an out-and-out advocate of a particular system would do. He considered that there was good in all the credit systems, as well as in many of the forms of agricultural organisation not necessarily labelled co-operative. He looked upon all the activity now going on through the County Committees as an excellent example of agricultural organisa- tion. But from various causes, into which he did not wish to enter, as good an advance in this direction had not been made in Ireland during recent years as he would have desired. He believed that much more could be done by the advancement of co-operative methods in agri- culture, and he regretted that from the causes alluded to there had not been so much progress in that respect as there might have been. He hoped it was one of the ways in which they would advance in the future. At the same time he wanted to make it quite clear that there was a great deal of agricultural organisation going on, and different circumstances produced different forms in which that principle expressed itself. 540. He had observed the tendency of societies in Ireland to co-operate, not only for the production and sale of agriciiltural commodities, but to form themselves into trading bodies to buy not merely seeds, manures and agricultural machinery, but even household requirements, thereby coming into collision with shopkeepers and traders. He thought that was a mistaken policy because in the ordinary legitimate work of farming co-operation there was quite as much as could be done for the next twenty years, and probably those side lines had caused a lot of friction and trouble that had tended to retard the movement. 541. Mr. Gill concurred in the suggestion that agricultural co-operation was a matter of broad principle, and that the problem was how to adapt that principle to local requirements, local temperament and local circumstances. The system that might be good in one country among a certain set of people might not suit another. He also agreed that co-operative methods could be made use of in the way of production as well as in facilitating the adoption of improved methods and marketing. In Germany it had been found possible to avoid trenching on trade interests ; and agricultural co-operative societies did not go into the class of trade that brought them into conflict with the general trader because as a natural piece of wisdom and good sense they found there was no use in doing so. 542. In regard to co-operative agricultural credit, he had merely to refer to the exhaustive Report of the Departmental Coj^imittee, of which he had been a member. A copy of this Report had been sent to the Sub-Committee, and it contained a complete statement to date of the whole position of co-operative agricultural credit not only in Ireland but throughout the world. 543. Questioned as to the tillage scheme, Mr. Gill stated that in effect the Regulation obliged every occupier of a holding of over ten acres in extent to till 10 per cent, of the arable portion, in addition to the amount, if any, tilled last year, but subject to a maximum of 50 per cent. Failure to comply with that Regulation was an offence against the Defence of the Realm Act, entailing liability to a fine of £100 or six months' imprisonment, or both. Still more effective, probably, as a compelling influence, was the power of the Department to enter upon the lands of defaulters or recalcitrants, and arrange for the necessary tillage. The Department could also delegate all its powers in this connection to a local authority. Unfortunately, only a short space of time was available this year for carrying out the Regulation, but the effect had been better than was anticipated. The principle had been freely accepted, and the work was being voluntarily and cheerfully taken up. The recent bad weather, however, had been a serious handicap. Those who, from slackness or lack of good-will, were likely to default would be very few. 544. Mr. Gill agreed with the suggestion that when the "War was over a stimulus would be required in the way of compulsion, to secure continued cultivation, if these countries were to be more independent with regard to food supplies. The fact that the principle of compulsorj tillage appeared to be generally accepted in Ireland was significant. It showed that the mind 19793 ^ * 104 of the country Had come to the conclusion that some such provision in one form or another was needed, and he believed it would have to he a permanent arrangement. He recognised that there were outstanding differences m the land tenure existing in Ireland as compared with Great Britain. He was of opinion that it would be easier in Ireland to arrange for measures of this kind. The Land Acts made a large propoi-tion of occupiers owners of their holdings; and where landlords still continued they had not at all the same authority over their tenants as the landlords in England had. Consequently, if pressure had to be put on occupiers in Ireland, it would have to be in some other form than through the landlords. Either a fine or tax would be the best method, diminished in proportion to the amount of tillage done by the occupier. Under the operations of the Land Acts as they stood, a number of men were in occupation of land which they did not appear to be able to deal with or put to a proper use. No matter how taxed, they could not be made into skilful and capable users of the land. In such cases in Great Britain it was proposed that the State should take over possession and arrange for cultivation. Probably a similar principle should be applied to Ireland, though perhaps in a different fashion. The best course would probably be for the State to take over by purchase the land in the hands of such a man and give him compensation on an equitable basis ; then to arrange a scheme for breaking the land up into smaller holdings. He would like to see a road open to the thrifty labouring community in Ireland. The labourer in Ireland was stereotyped as a class. It was a defect of the land- system; the other defect being ^hat th6 cultivators themselves were stereo- typed. One of the advantages of the landlord system in England was that it afforded an opportunity for the man of energy and thrift to get a farm; he had not to pay a big price for what was called tenant right. A smaller class of holding could be created out of those taken up under the arrangement suggested. A labourer who had saved some money and was able to put down a deposit towards the payment of such a holding could be assisted by the State with an advance towards the rest. A system on these lines would, Mr. Gill said, be an immense advantage to' farming. Merely dividing up the land amongst a number of small holders did not ipso facto meet the case of providing for the more skilful men. They might have a better proportionate opportunity for making the most of the bit of land they had got, but it did not necessarily secure an outlet for the pick of the district and encourage the ablest and thriftiest. 545. Mr. Gill said that the compulsory food production scheme of the present year was merely a rough and ready emergency measure. If there was to be a permanent arrangement of this nature it might be necessary to have a thorough survey of the country. The method adopted this year, however, had this germ in it — that it laid down a maximum, .or, rather, a minimum, that must be cultivated, and it imposed a penalty for not coming up to that propor- tion. That much might, he said, be embodied in a permanent scheme, but he would not have the penalty what it was now — i.e., a fine or imprisonment under the Defence of the Realm Regulations, but in the form either of a tax or fine per acre short of the amount required to be cultivated. He assumed that the operation of such a permanent scheme would get a large proportion of the work done, but there would be some people who, from their character and cir- cumstances, could not possibly, no matter how fined or taxed, manage their holding successfully. It was for that case that he considered expropriation the remedy. He would be quite inclined, in most instances, to leave the occupier part of the land— just so much as he was able to manage. For all these purposes he would use the Land Commission. The Department of Agriculture would make a case to the Land Commission, and the latter would decide. 546. As regards the question of compensation in cases of expropriation, he explained that practically every holding in Ireland had already been valued more than once in recent times under the Land Acts. In the majority of cases the holdings would have passed under the operative of the Purchase Acts ; the occupier was paying a fixed annuity to the Land Commission against the purchase money, and they knew its value to a penny. There was, of course, the occupier's interest as well as that of the old landlord. All that was wanted was a fixed number of years' piirchase of the landlord and tenant right combined. It was an actuarial matter in nine cases out of ten. The rent would continue to be paid to the Land Commission. The occupation rent would amount to anything between ten and twenty years' purchase. Where the two interests had been sold, the landlord's and tenant's, the purchase price had not infrequently run to forty years' purchase. 547. Arterial drainage was an important question. Large districts of the country were habitually flooded and there was no machinery now available by which the drainage of those districts could be carried out. There used to be drainage boards under which the landlords and tenants of the district formed a combination, raised a rate and got assistance from the Board of Works. That machinery was obsolete now, because the landlord did not exist and other elements were not there. Then again some of the schemes necessary were too big to be carried out in that way ; they should be Government public work. One farm at present might be entirely governed by the situation of another, owing to the absence of power to compel the cleaning of ditches by adjacent farmers, &c. The County Council had a county surveyor and staff; the Committee of Agriculture, which was a committee of the County Council, had an agricultural instructor and other agricultural experts. There was thus already provided' the nucleus of a technical staff which could very well look after these matters. The keeping of small local woods, attention to drainage that ran through several holdings, and so on, should naturally come into the work of a County Committee through the county staff. For arterial drainage on a large scale he did not think the County Councils would do. That would have to be taken up as a Government measure, and special Boards, which might be formed from a number of County Councils covering the district, established. 105 548. Taking into account the importance that everybody recognised now attached to secur- ing the maximum production of food from the soil, and the degree to which these countries were dependent upon foreign supplies, the State would be justified in adopting very comprehensive measures to mate sure of that production — it could not be left to chance. Personally, however, as regards the individual occupier, he would prefer to rely far more upon persuasion and education. 549. In regard to the maximum proportion of tillage to be aimed at ultimately he was not prepared to offer an opinion at that stage. Mr. Campbell, however, suggested that 33 per cent., or one-third of the cultivable land, would not seriously disturb the Irish economic system of farming ; that would be one-third of 14 million acres under rotation. 550. Up to recently, the greater part of the cultivation in Ireland had been done by the smaller holders. 80 per cent, of the farms of Ireland were under 50 acres in extent, the largest number being those between 15 and 50 acres. He agreed that about 400,000 of the 550,000 holdings comprised not more than T million of the country's 20 million acres, and the major portion of the tillage was done on that 7 million. About 8,000,000 acres were held by 30,000 persons. The really large farms were not tilled at all; they were mainly grazing pastures. Moreover, as the outcome of historical causes, the land included in the large holdings was the b.etter-class. For food production purposes, therefore, it was really the large holdings that had to be tackled. He submitted a return of the production on large and small holdings which showed that on those under 50. acres, 21'5 per cent, of the area was ploughed annually, and on those over 100 acres 91 per cent. The smaller holdings had 20"1 per cent, under hay, and those above 100 acres 12'9. The smaller holdings carried 138 milch cows, the larger 5'6; and as for other cattle the smaller carried 22'7 and the large 23"1 per 100 acres. 551. It would accordingly be observed that the smaller holdings had as many young cattle as the others, while they had more milch cows and pigs, as well as horses (which were 4'9 to the smaller and 2'9 to the larger). The smaller had 13'6 pigs to the 33 on the larger, and 295 poultry to 52 on the larger. 552. Mr. Gill pointed out, that Ireland was the principal, and a growing, factor in meeting the food requirements of Great Britain; and that the work of the Department had a direct influence in increasing Ireland's food production for Great Britain. Ireland was now, of all the countries of the world with the exception of the United States, the largest supplier of food to Great Britain. In 1912-13, to take normal times, Ireland supplied food and drink stuffs to the value of 33 million pounds, or almost as much as the United States; then came the Argentine with 31 million pounds, Denmark 21 million, British India 18^ million, Canada ISJ million, Russia 16 million, Australia 14 million, the Netherlands 15 million, and New Zealand 9 million. That gave an idea of Ireland's relative importance! She was increasing that food supply, and after the extra tillage of this year would have made a still greater advance. The produce of the crops and their value was also steadily increasing. 553. In the districts where a more intensive degree of instruction was carried on under the Department, in Connaught for instance, the increase in yield had been much greater than in the other districts. That illustrated the direct relationship between the work of the Department and the increased production. The total tillage area of Ireland had been declining for a long time. It had declined since 1897-8-9 (the average of those years from that period to 1913-14-15) by 175,000 acres or 7 per cent. ; nevertheless the increased yield from that diminished area was greater than the yield of the area in 1897-8-9 by 25 per cent. Thus while there had been a decline of 7 per cent, in the area under tillage, there had been an increase in recent years of 25 per cent, in the yield of the tillage. There was not the least doubt but that an immensely greater amount could be done in that direction if the Department were placed in a position to intensify their work. He would put it to this Committee that it was of very great importance to look to Ireland in a special way for an increase in food production. Great Britain was an industrial country — a great manufa,cturing country; and the industrial factor in its economy was a huge one. To think of extending British agriculture at the expense of the industrial side might be a mistake : ut any rate it was something that might be overdone. But there was no danger of that as regards Ireland. Ireland was a purely agricultural country except for one small spot; and efforts could be piled on to agricultural development with perfect certainty of getting the best results. He ventured to anticipate that as the' result of all the fresh attention now directed to agriculture adequate provision would be made for its future development. Already the funds of the Irish Department were shorter than they used to be. The War had depreciated the value of securities, and consequently, the Department's income from that source. The Department was badly in need of financial assistance to meet the demands of its growing work. He wanted the support of the Sub-Committee in securing additional funds for the Department to enable it to increase considerably on its educational and general agricultural sides the work on which it was engaged. 554. Mr. Campbell, Assistant Secretary in respect of Agriculture, Department of Agri- culture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, emphasised the fact alluded to by Mr. Gill that to understand and appreciate the work the Department were doing in connection with agriculture it was necessary to bear in mind that Ireland was a country of small farmers ; that the system of land tenure differed . entirely from that of Great Britain ; that the main industry was agriculture; and that the soil and climate were specially adapted for certain forms of food production,' and particularly for dairying and stock rearing and for the production of commo- dities .suitable to the small cultivator. The variable climate accounted for many things that were strange to the English visitor. An outline of the agricultural schemes had been given by Mr. Gill, and Mr. Campbell proceeded to deal with these in greater detail. As far as possible, they blended instruction with direct aid. 106 555. Improvement in the breeds of live stock was being effected by securing the location of high-class sires. This had been done by means of subsidies to persons maintaining the animals, provided the latter were made available at reasonable rates. A special Treasury grant was given out of the Development Fund to supplement the monies at the disposal of the Department and County Committees for horse breeding. 556. Agricultural instruction was provided for by at least .one officer in each county, who acted under the immediate direction of the Committee. This officer, or, where more than- one was employed, the senior instructor, was paid directly by the Department, for whom he acted in special cases, the Department having the right to call upon him for special services or reports. These men, while giving close attention to the individual needs of their respective counties, were required to carry out investigations in consultation with the Department's central officers and experts, and the work was thoroughly co-ordinated. The county officers were brought to Dublin for a short period each year, when they were given lectures and instruction with a view to bringing them thoroughly up-to-date. They were kept in close touch w^th the Department and with each other; a respect in which the Irish system differed from that in England, where the instructor, say, from Lancashire, had no connection with the instructor in Kent. Then, .for special duties, for a limited part of the year, they were sent from one county to another. For example, the County Committee gave prizes for the best kept farms; these were adjudicated upon by the agricultural instructors, but they changed counties for this particular purpose. The instructors also acted for the Department in connection with the administration of certain Acts of Parliament, such as the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act, Weeds and Seeds Act, and others. 557. Before an instructor was given full charge of any work in a county he was placed for a tipae under the charge of an experienced officer who gave him suitable assistance and advice, and thus prevented him from making those mistakes to which a young and inexperienced instructor would be liable. When the instructor was a long time in a county the tendency was for him to get dragged down to the level of his surroundings. Every effort, therefore, was made to induce him to continue his studies. When brought to Dublin annually he had an opportunity of attending lectures by recognised experts, such as the Director of Rothamsted. 558. For horticulture and bee-keeping there was at least one instructor employed in each county, paid by, and under the direction of, the local committee. He also acted for the Department in connection with the administration of statutory enactments dealing with the destruction of insects and pests, &o. 559. One or more butter-making and poultry -keeping instructors were employed in every county, and in some cases a separate instructor for each subject. Instruction in butter-making was afforded by means of visits to private dairies and by courses extending generally over periods of three weeks, at local centres, in no way differing fundamentally from the system formerly adopted in Great Britain, except that in Ireland the courses were more systematic. Poultry- keeping instruction was similarly afforded ; but, in addition, the County Committees established a number of stations from which pure-bred fowl were distributed at reduced prices. The holder of the station was facilitated in obtaining suitable birds and was paid an annual premium in respect of the number of eggg distributed. 560. A feature of the county schemes was the organisation during the winter months of local schools of agriculture, attended by the sons of farmers who could neither spare the time nor the money required to send a boy to a residential institution. The latter practice was not encouraged in Ireland. The aim was to bring the instruction to the farmers. For that reason, what were called winter schools were arranged — schools which lasted about 16 weeks and were intended for the sons of farmers who were going to reside at home on the farm. The class was held on two, three or four days in the week, and was usually taken by the county agricultural instructor, assisted by outside teachers for special subjects such as horticulture and veterinary hygiene. There might be two, three 'or four of such winter schools in the county, supplemental teachers being employed if necessary. It was hoped that these schools would be a little more permanent in their character, and that suitable buildings would be available in which to carry them on. The present plan was to secure a good class-room fitted up in the very simplest manner. The instruction was severely practical. Students were taken to neighbouring farms for demonstrations. Mr. Campbell said he would prefer to develop on these lines rather than on those of the institute or college. 561. The boys who attended the winter agricultural schools had been away from school for a couple of years at least, and he acknowledged that they had lost a great deal of their education. There was an idea of having an upper primary school devoted to agriculture and linking them on with the primary school. One or two experiments had been made on those lines. How to have the gap filled between the primary and the later training was a problem everywhere. In regard to agriculture the experiment consisted in selecting a rural primary school so situated that pupils from a few other primary schools who had finished their sixth standard — the normal extent of a primary school course — could attend. An agriculturist gave instruction on certain days of the week — something like that which he gave at the winter schools, though not of so practical a nature. Added to the general course of education was a continuation in mathematics, science and English for the boys who had not yet given up going to the primary school. Another experiment was under trial as a further type of school — the so-called secondary schools, whose grade of education really began at what, in other places, was called " upper primary." A considerable proportion of the pupils in attendance at these schools came from the farming class. The better class of farmer liked to 107 send his boy from the primary to one of these secondary schools, which were usually residential. The Department had tried an experiment with a couple of these. There was an agricultural side, with a preparation in elementary science, leading up towards some agricultural applica- tions. 562. As regards higher training, the Department concentrated upon one system and one institution, the Royal College of Science, and endeavoured to make it a first-class one. That institution was capable of training all the men required, and it might even do more. It was co-ordinated with the Universities of the country, the arrangement being that the latter train the student for the first two years ; the last two years, or the more technical agricultural course, being spent at the Royal College of Science. Next to that College was the Albert Agricultural College, representing some of the residential colleges of the Holmes Chapel type, where a boy went into residence, and the instruction aimed at being fairly technical, perhaps half technical and half practical. Below that came two or three institutions, described as agricultural stations rather than schools, where the instruction was chiefly practical. The work of the farm was done mainly by the students, who were practically farm apprentices. Instruction in the elementary principles underlying agricultural practice was given, but was confined to the evenings, wet days, or periods of the year when the students had some spare time. Below that again were the county winter schools. Accordingly, there was a regular ladder from the work of the agricultural instructor, who gave lectures through the winter, the county winter school, the agricultural station, the Albert Agricultural College, to, finally, the Royal College of Science. 563. Replying to a number of questions, Mr. Campbell stated that the great advantage of the winter schools was that they got at a large number of young men of limited means, the cost of the instruction being comparatively low. There was the further advantage that the boys did not have to reside away from their own homes or from their farms while attending the courses, and there was nothing at the school to attract them to get some other appointment. At the agricultural station the boy cost a considerable sum of money, probably f 30 or £40, as compared with one-tenth of that at the county winter school. Of course the instruction was not quite so complete, but it was of a practical character and suited to the needs of the students. No really proper buildings were available for the classes. Some suitable room in the locality had to be obtained, which was generally given rent free. The ordinary primary school rooms were not to be had, as the agricultural course was given in the daytime. It was not,' for many reasons, considered desirable to hold these courses in the evening. 564. The remainder of the agricultursil operations were administered directly by the Department, and to these were applied the balance of its funds, plus certain monies from the Developmeiit Commission. This section included operations for which the county was not quite a suitable unit. Broadly speaking, the schemes administered by the county bodies were applicable to work from which any ratepayer could benefit, while a good deal of the work centrally directed .did not so fully bear upon the individual ratepayer. Flax growing, for example, wa^ confined 'to certain parts of the country, and every ratejaayer could not benefit from the application of funds to that particular purpose. The same applied to creameries, and so on. This section also included provision in iconnection with the settlement of new occupiers, under the land operations of the Congested Districts Board, which dealt with eight of the poorer Western counties. Whilst the ordinary schemes of the County Committees operated in the con- gested districts, a secondary set of officers were employed, to the number of between fifty and sixty, who gave instruction of a more individual and practical character. An overseer was placed in charge of a group of farmers, who by means of practical demonstrations and an intensive use of the methods of the itinerant teacher rather than by technical instruction, facilitated the new occupier in the working of his holding. Extra provision was also made for live stock in those districts, and a scheme of veterinary dispensaries was in operation. Questioned, he added that the Congested Districts Board had large estates of untenaated land upon which, when suitably divided up, tenants were placed, and it was for the Department then to take the new occupiers in hand and look after them. These men were migrated from small holdings of perhaps four to ten acres of very poor land, to holdings of probably thirty acres of good land. They had formerly been " spade " men, and now the object was to introduce suitable farming implements and methods. They had to be taken in hand individually by practical agriculturists. As a matter of fact, each instructor was in charge of a group of perhaps 200 or 300 small holders. His duty was to be their technical and practical adviser on all farming matters. In witness's opinion this class of work was yielding by far the best restilts in Ireland ; and this, the witness said, led him to the conclusion that in no way could the Department better spend more money in the ordinary parts of Ireland than by increasing and intensifying its agricultural instruction system. He would build on the present system, and intensify it rather than seek new methods, as he thought sixteen years' test had proved that the Department were on the right Lines, and that the system only wanted to be fully developed. 565. The portion of the live stock work done by the Department directly included the maintenance of a stud farm in connection with the purchase and resale of stallions, encourage- ment of the breeding of pure bred cattle, and the loan of high-class stock bulls, cow-testing associations, ;&c. 566. As already explained, the training of teachers had been concentrated upon at one institution, i.e., the Royal College of Science, and at the Albert Agricultural College a com- bined course was provided in technical and practical agriculture suited to persons who would later take up the management of the larger farms, while three provincial and three special schools were in operation for instruction in practical farming. For women students there were' the Munster Institute and Ulster Dairy School for instruction in the duties of the farmhouse 108 and farmyard. These schools also provided the necessary training for the women instructors who taught dairying and poultry-keeping under the County Committees. The Munster Institute was in existence before the Department was created. When the Department took over this work two institutions were transferred from the Board of Education — the Albert Agricultural College and the Munster Institute. Courses of a more severely practical character were provided at nine schools of rural domestic economy, chiefly in the West of Ireland. 567. The work centrally administered by the Department in regard to dairying was mainly connected with creameries, of which there were a large number. There were about eight instructors, under an inspector, who devoted their whole time to these creameries. When it was proposed to start a creamery in a district, the Irish Agricultural Organisation in many cases organised the farmers for the purpose; and when this was done the Department stepped in to advise on matters connected with erection and equipment, and later on as to costs of production; and the various processes of butter-making and sale of the produce. The Department's officers continued to visit the creamery, provided certain conditions were complied with, and to afford advice on all matters connected with the making and marketing of the butter, &c. This instruc- tion had to be curtailed owing to the war depreciation of the^ Department's finances. Cheese- mafi-ing had not been extensively practised in Ireland, but was being steadily developed, the Department training a number of practical cheesemakefs whose services were quickly utilised. The quicker ripening classes of cheese was very suitable, particularly the Caerphilly. Cheese- making, incidentally, did not quite harmonise with the system of calf rearing and stock raising followed in most parts of the country. Farmers liked to get the separated milk back to enable them to go in for the rearing of pigs and calves, especially the latter. 568. As he now learned that the question of forestry had been referred to another Sub- Committee, Mr. Campbell said, he would pass on to flax. This industry received considerable attention as regards the cultivation of the land, selection of suitable seed, and subsequent retting and handling o± the crop. A number of instructors were constantly- employed under an inspector who devoted his whole time to the subject. This crop was mainly grown in Ulster, but efforts were being made to extend its cultivation to other parts of the country, 569. An officer was maintained in Great Britain to encourage the sale and facilitate the marketing of Irish produce. He was in touch with the various branches in Ireland engaged in encouraging food production. Another section of the Department dealt with the detection of frauds in connection with the sale of Irish agricultural products. 570. Reference had already been made to the control, statutory or otherwise, which the Department exercised over the sale of seeds, manures and feeding stuffs, the eradication of weeds, and the suppression of plant diseases. They formed an important feature, and were associated with agricultural research and advisory work, the Development Commissioners contri- buting about two-thirds of the cost of a small scheme for this purpose. This was divided into sections for (1) seed testing and the control of seeds, as well as the investigation of plant diseases ; (2) plant breeding ; (3) chemical analyses in connection with the control of fertilisers 'and feeding stuffs and for investigating problems of a chemical nature ; (4) investigating diseases of animals other than those scheduled under the Diseases of Animals Acts. 571. The beneficial results of the operations of the agricultural branch of the Department, of which the witness had given but a brief summary, were generally recognised. In Great Britain they were to be seen in the improvement of Irish cattle, butter, bacon, eggs and poultry; while those who knew Irish agriculture sixteen years ago could testify to the all-round improve- ment in farm practice. The work, however, was not more than well started. Food production could be doubled. The minimum prices recently announced by the Prime Minister would act as a stimulus ; but if not followed up by action on lines already begun there was danger lest some farmers should rest content with net returns sufficient for- their immediate needs. More tillage involved increased instruction and direction for farmers, more especially in those parts where the art of tillage had suffered decay owing to the grazing system. New or extended efforts for increased food production should be grafted on to the existing schemes of the Department. Such of its activities as had yielded the best results in the past should receive special attention, and should be extended and intensified. The results which the Department had secured were got mainly by voluntary effort, but a large section of agriculturists made little or no response; and the Department had long recognised that more progress might be made by a judicious applica- tion of compulsion to the backward as well as by instruction to those willing to advance. To this end the Department had secured legislative power to enable them to enter all premises where seeds were sold, to take samples, have them tested, and the results published by placarding the district with the names of defaulters. In Ireland, power to compel the destruction of weeds also existfed. It had been difficult to get the Weeds Act through. It was only got on the understanding that the concurrence of the county bodies was obtained before the Act became operative in the respective counties. A few councils refused, and it was easy, on going through the country, to tell the county that had put it into operation, and the one that had not. A good deal of inspection was involved, and inasmuch as it was inadvisable for the agricultural instructors to be employed for the purpose it became somewhat costly to work.. When the Bill was before Parliament a promise was extracted that the police would not be used in its administration. These, however, were incidental difficulties of a rather drastic Act of Parliament. Clause 12 of the Fertilisers Act gave the Department special powers in Ireland ; and as a matter of fact the Department itself, from the central offices, controlled the whole fertilisers and feeding stuffs trade. Every manure advertised was sampled and tested. Wherever anything was found wrong the necessary action was instituted. The Department had practically taken over the entire responsibility of the local authorities in this connection. 109 572. In 1913 the Vice-President of the Department introduced a Bill to give the Depart- ment power to prevent the use of unsound and unsuitable stallions. It was proposed to follow this up with similar powers in regard to the use of bulls, boars and rams. Compulsory powers were also in contemplation to secure the destruction of the warble fly pest, and to secure the spraying of potatoes. The temporary compulsion of tillage of 10 per cent, of grass lands in 1917 and the proper future use of the land, as foreshadSwed by the Prime Minister, were all in the direction of the same policy — ^that the occupier of the land must be made to use it in the national as well as in his ow;i interest. This, however, should be subject to proper safeguards, and with the fullest provision .for instruction and assistance on the lines followed at present. The Department's work suffered from a lack of provision for scientific research — a source of information and inspiration to the technical staff, and through them to the farmer. But still more did it want an institute at which practical problems of special interest to Irish farmers could be investigated — a separate establishment with a special staff, undisturbed by administrative or other duties. The present system of relying upon teachers and inspectors or members of the overworked administrative staff to deal with such problems was obviously inadequate. Mr. Campbell cited several examples to indicate the practical utility of the kind of institute he suggested, and added that he was not referring to pure research. That was another matter for which provision was also wanted, but it could be done in the higher institutions. The institute he advocated would be a fitting crown to the work the Department were gradually building up, and he sincerely hoped that before long an institution on those lines would be available. • 573. Replying to the Chairman and Dr. Kelly in regard to the wages question, Mr. Campbell pointed out that there was a considerable difference in the conditions of the three countries. The majority of the holdings in Ireland were so small that the occupier was himself very often the laboiirer for his holding — ^in fact, landlord, occupier and labourer. 574. In reply to general questions, Mr. Campbell expressed the view that if the cultivated land were increased substantially but steadily, it would not interfere with the store cattle trade. The farmer who did not till his land now had to mow a considerable area for hay. The alterna- tive was to plough some of the inferior meadow and pasture land and get straw, roots and grain off it. In that way tillage would be largely increased, and more cattle could be raised. One of the results, of course, would be a tendency to have those cattle fed at home with the increased grain and roots, and to send them over to Great Britain in the form of beef rather than as stores. He had, however, ■ thought out that question carefully, and there was no doubt whatever that Ireland could double its area under oats and -wheat and still turn out the existing number of stores. 575. Asked for an expression of opinion as to the increase that would be possible in the arable area, Mr. Campbell replied that Ireland now grew roughly a million acres of oats, and he would like to see two millions. At. present 700,000 tons of maize were imported; the equivalent of that could be easily grown upon a million acres of land now under inferior grass. Fifty years ago Ireland grew just about twice as much oats as she now did, and that, he considered, was a conclusive answer to any doubt about its being possible now. 576. He quite agreed that certain parts of the country might be left in grass, and other parts of the country tilled up to 40 or 50 per cent. Eventually some consideration of that kind should come into play. For instance, he was not in favour of ploughing up the whole of the county Meath. There was not, however, a single farm in any part of the country that would not be more economic if a certain proportion of it were ploughed, sufficient to give permanent work for a labourer and to provide winter food for young Cattle. He did not wish to interfere with the summer beef production, but there was plenty of second class land, even on the best fattening holdings, which should be tilled. 577. There was a belt from Dublin, right west, roughly speaking, mainly under grass. If that land were broken up into farms larger than the farmer could work himself, provision would have to be made for the erection of cottages for the labour required. At present, undei a number of statutory enactments, cottages and allotments were provided for agricultural labourers by the rural district councils. The total number erected up to 31st March, 1916, was 47,044 ; of these, the number with allotments not exceeding half an acre was 17,327 ; with allot- ments between half and three-quarters of an acre, 2,192; and with allotments exceeding three- quarters of an acre, 27,525. The numbers in the different provinces were: Ulster, 8,857; Munster, 18,873; Leinster, 16,956, and Connaught, 2,358. The maximum area of land which could be allotted to a cottage was one statute acre. The lands were acquired either by lease for a term of years not exceeding 99, or by absolute purchase, compulsorily or by agreement. They were usually purchased compulsorily, an arbitrator determining the compensation payable to the parties from whom the lands were taken. In the case of lands taken on lease, the Irish Land Commission fixed the rent to be paid therefor by the rural district council. The average weekly rent of a cottage with half an acre plot was lid., and of a cottage with an acre Is. 2^d. ; but the rents varied according to the circumstances of each rural district. These rents were not sufficient to discharge the annual liability in respect of the loans advanced for the cottages and plots, the deficit being made up partly by a Government subsidy and partly by the ratepayers of each rural district. The tenancies were weekly or monthly, and might be determined at any time by either party. The cottages and plots remained the property of the local authority. The Acts did not contemplate that the tenants should become owners. The central administiative authority for the purpose of the Acts was the Local Government Board for Ireland, on whose no recommendation loans were made to tlie local councils by tlie Irish Land Commission on tlie same terms as they advanced loans under the Land Purchase Acts, viz., at the rate of £S 5s. per cent, (covering principal and interest) for a period of 68 J years; 36 per cent, of this charge was defrayed by .Government, thus making the net charge falling on the local authority £2 Is. 7d. ■ for every £100 advanced, of which a portion was made up by the rents and the balance out of local rates. The average cost of providing a cottage had been £18Q. 578. Considerable areas of Irish land, Mr. Campbell said, needed drainage and re-drainage. If public monies were available for the necessary arterial drainage, he did not anticipate difficulty in having the minor work done. 25tli Day, 14tli March, 1917, Mb. Leslie Scott, K.C, M.P. {Chairman of the Agricultural Organisation Society.) 579. Mr. Leslie Scott opened his evidence by saying that he would divide his remarks into four main heads : — (1) the need for agricultural organization in England and Wales ; (2) what the A.O.S. has done ; (3) a few criticisms on the A.O.S. and the ways in which it has been limited in its activities or, it may be, failed; and (4) what the A.O.S. think of doing by way of strengthening and making more useful the organization that now exists. 580. The first point, of course, was to realise the importance of organization, and he con- sidered that the time had come to interpret the objects of the A.O.S. as having a wider application than the furtherance of co-operation in agriculture, and to treat them as covering, as the title of the Society implied, the whole field of organization in agriculture. 581. It is worthy of note that nearly one-half of the cultivated land of England and Wales is held by men whose holdings are under 150 acres, and that these small farmers and smallholders amount to about 87 per cent, or, say, seven-eighths of the total number of farmers in the whole country. The smaller the man, the more need he has of organization to help him in his business, and Mr. Scott explained that he regarded any holding of less than 150 acres as a smallholding, inasmuch as such a farmer is not likely to have much personal capital or to be a man of great scientific education. Organization is, therefore, needed to help him to do, by means of that assistance, what the bigger man could do without it, both in regard to the carrying on of his business (i.e., the purchase of requirements at a low cost and of good quality, the utilisation of the best type of machinery which he could not afford to get by himself, the obtaining the best value for his money by bulking the orders), and, in overcoming all those difficulties which he has to meet as a result of his want of financial strength and his want of skilled knowledge of the process of farming. Then by organization the small man can get the advantage of all that scientific knowledge which, broadly speaking, characterises the big farmer. Another incidental advantage of organization is that the small man rubs shoulders with the big man, the ignorant with the knowledgable and experienced man, and so gets a further advantage in that way. The witness, said that the success of the smallholder in Denmark and Belgium is almost entirely due to the organization tjiat they have. On the other hand, the want of organization has two harmful results, which have been brought home to us very much just lately : — (1) great loss of efficiency to the individual, and (2) a great loss of efficiency to the nation. 582. The A.O.S. had a very small beginning, Mr. Kugent Harris being practically alone for a couple of years, with an income of next to nothing; the Society is indebted to him for his valuable services rendered both at the inauguration of the Society and during the subsequent years 'of development. Mr. Scott called attention to the statistical figures at the end of 1915, which shewed that there were then in existence 561 societies with a membership of 55,831 and a turnover of £3,428,960. Of these 561 societies, 213 were farmers' trading societies having for their object the purchase of farming requirements and the sale of produce. Of these 213 societies, 22 had a turnover of over £20,000 with a combined turnover of £1,828,814. Up to 1908 the A.O.S. was greatly handicapped by want of money, depending entirely on volunt^y contributions. Then the opportunity arose of obtaining a grant from the Government for work that was of national value, and the Society received a grant from the Small Holdings Account of £1,600, subsequently increased to £2,000. In 1910 the Develop- ment Commission was appointed, and the development of agricultural co-operation was one of the first objects contemplated by the Act as a means of aiding and developing agriculture and rural industries. In that year the Board of Agriculture itself made an application to the Development Commission for an annual grant of £20,000 in order that they might develop agricultural organization. The A.O.S. also made an application estimating the amount which they could usefully spend at £30,000. The Development Commission considered the matter and made a report, and the witness said he would like to call particular attention to that considered report, wherein the Commissioners expressed the opinion that co-operation is particularly the kind of movement in which it is essential to retain the enthusiasm of voluntary workers, and that they felt the spontaneous character of the movement had a better chance of surviving if the Govern- ment assistance were given to a voluntary organization rather than to official bodies. Over- emphasis of the official element would be disliked by farmers, who preferred dealing with some- one with whom they could get into close and friendly touch at their markets, &c., and who would sympathise with them at all times. Mr. Scott referred also to the landowners of this country, who, he said, broadly speaking, were a high minded, unselfish, and patriotic class, and anxious to help agricultural organization ; but their help would be lost, he felt sure, if the rnove- ment was handed over to officialdom. Ill 583. Dr. Douglas at this stage put questions to the witness as to the income of the A.O.S. The latter in reply referred him to a Report from which he read extracts as to the Society's income, explaining that if the Society increased its income, the grant which they received from the Development Commission would automatically rise, up to a limit of £12,000. Mr. Scott, however, held strongly the view that a Society which is performing national functions like the A.O.S. ought not to be looking to voluntary subscriptions at all. In doing that part of its work which was required in the national interest, it should have all its expenses defrayed by the nation. The A.O.S. has other functions, of course, viz., to help the individual farmer and cultivator, and for that work the individual ought to contribute in proportion to the value received. The two sources of income, Mr. Scott held, ought to be Government grants and contributions from farmers and smallholders for value received. But he explained that the A.O.S. does not come into direct contact with the individual farmers, but through the Farmers' Co-operative Societies which they set up, and so, if the farmers really get value through the organization which is created by the A.O.S. there should be a substantial contribution from these Co-operative Societies. »As an instance of the work the A.O.S. might undertake directly affecting the .individual members of societies, he referred to the necessity of establishing a sound system of book-keeping among farmers, which is sadly lacking at present. 584. The witness then referred to the aims and objects of the A.O.S., suggesting that the first necessity was the establishment of a strong farmers' co-operative trading society in every district in England and Wales — lack of money for organization purposes had been the chief hindrance hitherto; secondly, the establishment of Poultry Societies, Credit Societies, &c., in addition to Trading Societies; lastly, the linking up of Trading Societies with a central whole- sale agency, having its depots at suitable provincial centres, particularly the chief ports. Mr. Scott then referred to the methods of working adopted by the A.O.S. under the headings of propaganda, organization and assistance rendered to individual members of societies. He pointed out the limitations placed on propaganda and organization work owing to the want of sufficient staff. He explained that the A.O.S. was managed through a Board of Governors consisting of 36 members, partly elected and partly nominated, the Governors working through sub-committees which dealt with different branches of the work. Mr. Scott expressed the opinion that in practice the constitution of the A.O.S. as set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association was cumbersome and would need revision. He then referred to the staff of the Society both at head- quarters and in the country and pointed out that the organizers employed needed to be men of special qualities, and should have a special course of training. They might be mainly selected in normal times from men leaving the Agricultural Colleges; they could come to Head Office for a time, then go to one of the A.O.S. branches, and finally, to finish their training, spend a short period with one of its large societies, and in this way get a. good grasp of the whole , business. 585. Mr. Scott then dealt with the A.O.S. Branch policy. He considered that the Society should be staffed on the basis of at least one Organizer for each administrative county. The question as to whether it was more economical and efficient to control these organizers from headquarters or to work through branch offices was, he thought, a matter for further considera- tion. The branch policy probably increased local interest. It might be well to try both plans for a time before coming to a final decision. 586. Dealing with future work to be accomplished by the A.O.S., Mr. Scott drew special attention to the great and important field of organization in respect of the co-operative use of labour-saving machinery for which the small man has neither the capital nor the labour ; of the disposal of produce, the better organization of markets and means of transport. He drew atten- tion to the bureau of information which the A.O.S. had already set up to supply societies with information as to prices ruling for certain classes of perishable produce in different markets. Another question of very great importance was the possibility of using the A.O.S. movement in connection with agricultural education and expert assistance. The matter was, he submitted, one which deserved the earnest attention of the Reconstruction Committee. Mr. Ilea asked whether the trading societies returned a fixed price to the farmers, or whether they sold their produce to the best advantage, and returned the full amount less commission. Mr. Scott replied that the societies generally acted as commission agents and not as buyers, the rate of commission being very low. Mr. Scott then briefly explained the objects and work of the various classes of societies under. the following groups: — ^Purchase of Requirements; Dairy; Egg and Poultry; Auction and Sale of Produce ; Land Renting (Smallholdings and Allotments) ; Credit ; Miscellaneous ; and submitted as exhibits examples of each type of society. 587. Mr. Scott then dealt briefly with the special activities of the A.O.S. during the War, especially in regard to the assistance the Society had been able to render in connection with organization, having for its object increased food production. He called attention to the number of new allotment societies, village war food societies and pig societies which had been formed. He also referred to the part the Women's Institute Movement had been able to play in this direction. 588. Mr. Nugent Harris then took the witness' chair. Mr. Rea asked whether the system of prompt payment had not increased very largely recently, and Mr. Harris agreed, adding that " cash within 28 days " had tended to squeeze out the type of man who required credit. 589. Dr. Douglas asked whether anything had been done in regard to co-operation among fishermen, but Mr. Harris replied that very little had been done in that direction, and there was a separate body dealing with that. 590. Dr. Kelly brought up the question of better living where co-operation was intro- duced, and Mr. Harris replied that the Society had touched that side very closely since the 112 War, but before the War the Society touched it in one particular direction, and that was in connection with the A.O.S. policy to institute allotment associations in industrial centres; A very striking and_ successful instance of this work was provided in connection with a boot factory in Leicester, where both the mental and physical side of the employees was deteriorating owing to the monotony of their work, and when the A.O.S. introduced an allotment association (Aylestone Co-operative Allotments Association, Ltd.) new life was created, and the lives oi the employees toned up considerably. 26tli Day, 24tli April, 1917. The Right Hon. Eobeet Mtjnro, K.C, M.P. (Secretary for Scotland.) 591. Mr. Munro explained that, in virtue of his office as Secretary for Scotland, he was also responsible for the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. The Board of Agriculture was separated from the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1911. At that time he was a private Member of Parliament, and was therefore not in a position to make an authoritative statement as to the reasons which caused the Government of the time to favour the establishment of a separate Department for Scotland, Public opinion in Scotland was in favour of decentralisation, and although there had been a certain amount of opposition to the change, mainly from large farmers, this had now, to a considerable extent, been modified. It was still too soon .to judge the work of the Scottish Board, as it had only got into working order two years prior to the War, but he was convinced that public opinion in Scotland would not favour a reversal of the policy embodied in the Act of 1911. Mr. Munro reminded the Committee that he had only held his present office about six months, and therefore could not speak with the authority of long experience on the work of the Department and the possibility of improvement or extension in any direction. 592. As regards the scope of the Secretary for Scotland's Department, its main functions were as follows : — It exercised in Scotland the criminal and other jurisdiction which the Home Office had in England, except, broadly speaking, as regards mines and factories. This gave it control of the criminal law administration (so far as was not in the hands of the Lord Advocate), of the police, and of prisons, and implied responsibility for law and order. In the spheres of public health and poor-law, the Secretary for Scotland controlled the Local Government Board for Scotland, whose offices were in Edinburgh. He also controlled the Scottish Education Department, the Fishery Board for Scotland, the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, and the General Board of Control for Scotland, which dealt with lunatics and mental deficients. He had, in addition, a variety of miscellaneous jurisdiction, inherited from the Home Office and other departments, whose powers were transferred to him in 1885 or 1887, or conferred on him by subsequent legislation. He had, further, to represent the general interests of Scotland in the Cabinet and in Parliament, and to supervise and, assisted by the Lord Advocate, to take charge of the Scottish legislation promoted in his department. He was also frequently consulted by other departments in matters of special interest to Scotland. This was doubtless a wide range of duties, but, as reference to the Estimates would show, the Scottish Office staff was not large, and, in point of fact, the detailed work of administration was largely carried out by departments in Edinburgh, with only occasional reference to the Scottish Office on points of policy or very important individual cases. The conditions of the last few years had, of course, been abnormal, and must remain so during the War. 593. In reply to Dr. Douglas, Mr. Munro stated that in addition to the duties already enumerated there was a considerable amount of patronage to dispense, which entailed a certain amount of enquiry and no little responsibility. So far as the Scottish system of placing so many departments under one official head was concerned, he was not sufficiently versed in the English system to compare the degree of Ministerial responsibility under the two systems; but he was satisfied that the staffs of the various departments might safely be trusted, with the occasional reference to headquarters already mentioned, to carry out their work efficiently. 594. The main reason in favour of the inclusion of agricultural administration in the matter controlled by the Secretary for Scotland was, he thought, that that Minister represented Scotland in the Cabinet, and that the inclusion of another Scottish Minister in that body was not probable. It might be argued that the presence oi a Minister of Agriculture for England and Wales in the Cabinet afforded a strong reason why Scottish agriculture should be placed under that Minister. That arrangement, of course, was in force until 1911, when the separate Scottish Board was established and brought into relation with the Secretary for Scotland. The whole question was discussed in the debates on the Landholders Bill, and it was not practical politics to suggest a return to the previous state of affairs, even with the difference which a separate Scottish Board implies, The feeling in Scotland was that, with a President common to England and Scotland, the special interests of Scotland would be bound to suffer at any point where they might not entirely harmonise with those of English agriculture. 595. In reply to Dr. Douglas, Mr. Munro stated that he saw no reason why the supervision of agricultural matters should not be included among the duties imposed upon the Secretary for Scotland. His own attention had been largely occupied with such matters owing to the excep- tional circumstances induced by the War, but even in time of peace he would wish to give equal attention to them. He was aware that Mr. McEinnon Wood had stated that it was impossible for one man to loot after tlie interests of the other Scottish Departments and the Board of Agri- culture, but that was before certain administrative changes in the Scottish Office Ead taken place. In those days the only link between the Scottish Office and the Department of Agriculture had been the Private Secretary, but now official communications passed through the Scottish Office stafE, who were able to give the Secretary for Scbtlaiid the benefit of their advice, and to relieve him of a good deal of work which had formerly devolved upon him. Mr. Munro stated that he considered that any disadvantage which might accrue through agriculture being only one among many interests committed to one Minister was more than counterbalanced by the advantage- of having those interests directly represented in the Cabinet. 596. Any large increase of the duties of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland would, of course, have to be considered on its merits, and the question might conceivably arise whether the change necessitated an alteration in ministerial arrangements. But it was difficult tc discuss such matters in vacuo without reference to any particular changes under consideration. If increased ministerial control of Scottish agriculture were thought advisable, and control by the President of the English Board were ruled out, alternative methods would .be the appointment of a Minister with this as his whole duty, either (a) independent of, or (b) subordinate to, the Secretary for Scotland. As stated above, so iong as the Secretary for Scotland remained the only Scottish Minister in the Cabinet, it would seem essential that any other Minister dealing with Scottish agriculture ^should be attached as an Under-Secretary to his Department, otherwise Scottish agricTilture would not be voiced in the Cabinet by a Minister having solely Scottish interests to consider.. This was the system actually in force in Ireland, where the Chief Secre- tary was President of the Department of Agriculture, and the Vice-President, though a Member of Parliament and Minister, was responsible to him. It would, of course, be possible to copy the Irish system, although the fact that it had been in existence for twelve years when the Scottish Board was established and was deliberately not copied when the Scottish legislation was passed only five years ago, was against such action. The appointment of a Scottish Under- Secretary for Agriculture would necessarily involve considerable changes in the machinery set up for the Scottish Board in 1911. Such a Minister would presumably supersede the functions of the Chairman of the Board. If his office were in London he would require to duplicate the Edinburgh staff by the addition of a London staff. If, on the other hand, it were in Edinburgh, he would necessarily be removed from his duties in Parliament, and, to that extent, precluded from exercising the influence for the exercise of which his post would have been created. The Irish Department, supported and guided as it was by various outside bodies, was something quite different from the Scottish Board. A further point that would arise would be whether any Minister appointed to assist the Secretary- for Scotland should not have general jurisdiction, rather than a specialised agricultural sphere. 597. Mr. Munro stated that he was not, as at present advised, prepared to approve of the suggestion that a Scottish Under-Secretary for Agriculture should be 'appointed, as the adoption of such a proposal might give rise to difficulties, the relationship between the various departments being delicate. In his opinion it was too early to interfere with existing machinery, the Board of Agriculture having been so recently established and its normal work having been so interrupted by the War. If, however, a large permanent increase in its work took place, he might have to reconsider his opinion. He was aware that expression had been given by Scotch farmers to the view that a Minister was needed to devote his whole time to agriculture, but for the reasons he had given he did not consider the time had come to give effect to that view. It was true that urban and rural interests might conceivably conflict, and that in Scotland urban interesti predominated, but he could not say that in the past agriculture had suffered from this cause He reiterated the opinion he had previously expressed as to the advantage to the agricultural industry in Scotland of direct representation in the Cabinet . 598. As regards joint action on the part of the Ministerial Heads of the English and Scottish Boards, this was sufficiently secured by existing arrangements. The Scottish Office and the English Board were connected by telephone and were within two minutes walk of each other. The officers of these departments and of the Scottish Board were in constant inter-communication. Their relations were cordial, and the three departments were working in close co-operation. 599. The Chairman having referred to the possible loss of weight in the N'ational Councils through agriculture being divided into three separate branches, Mr. Munro acknowledged that there might be a divergence of opinion on the part of the heads of the several departments, but stated that the conditions prevailing in the three countries. were so different that it would hardly be possible for the same Minister to do justice to all three. He gave as an instance the crofting system in Scotland, and said that an English Minister with the best will in the world would not fully appreciate its requirements. Even if each country had its own Board, and all were com- bined under one Minister, this objection would remain, while the loss of influence through having three heads could be removed by conference. Mr. Munro had not considered fully the advantages of having a National Council of Agriculture in Scotland, but if such a Council were established good might be done by conferences with similar bodies representing other parts of tlie United Kingdom. Although a joint Council made up of representatives of the several National Councils might have advantages, he inclined to the view that local aspirations would be better served by an annual joint conference of all the Councils. In reply to Mr. Eea, Mr. Munro stated that the idea of a Consultative Committee representing the three departments, which might meet periodically, had much to recommend it. Indeed he was all in favour of any policy which would secure close co-operation between the departments. He again expressed the opinion that a central Board for England and Scotland was outside the scope of practical politics and would not be tolerated by his Scottish colleagues in the House of Commons. He did not think it 19793 3 114 possible, from a Parliamentary point of view, to contemplate a single ministerial head repre- senting separate Boards of Agriculture in England and Scotland. 600. The suggestion of a separate Fisheries Department for England was interesting. In Scotland there had been a separate Fishery Department, under various names, for over 100 years, and this fact alone would make it impracticable to merge the Scottish fishery administration with the English. Apart from questions affecting national feeling, the Scottish fisheries were relatively of far greater importance to Scotland tkan were the English fisheries to England. The herring fishery on both the Scottish and English coasts was largely conducted by Scottish fishermen. Further, there had been in the past, and was likely to be in the future, considerable divergence of interests between England and Scotland in the matter of fisheries, and, from the Scottish point of view, it was essential that the Scottish standpoint should be separately main- tained as in the case of Scottish agriculture. In theory, uniformity and concentration of administration could always be supported strongly in argument, but such an argument, if pressed to its logical conclusion, would entail the abolition, not merely of the various independent Scottish departments dealing with matters which were in England dealt with by parallel English departments, but also of the office of the Secretary for Scotland himself, which was only estab- lished in 1885. , 601. The Chairman having raised the point whether, if the views of the English and Scottish fishery departments were inclined to conflict, it might not be better from the national point of view to combine the depaHments, Mr. Munro stated that for the reasons he had given he did not consider the suggestion to be feasible. The Scotch fisheries had developed satis- factorily under the separate Board, and the gradual elimination of the line fisheries was not due to neglect on the part of the department, but to the natural march of progress. 602. In conclusion Mr. Munro stated that he was satisfied with the work done by the Scottish Smallholders' Organisation, and was prepared to continue the grant made towards it. He was not so fully acquainted with the work of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, Limited. Mr. E. B. Shine and Mr. F. N. Webb. 603. Mr. E. B. Shine, the head of the Live Stock Branch of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and Mr. F. IT. Webb, the Senior Superintending Inspector in that Branch, said that the purpose for which the Live Stock Scheme was initiated, the lines on which it was being carried out, and the results obtained up to date were given at some length in a memorandum which had been submitted by the Board to. the Sub-Committee, and they did not, therefore, propose to repeat what was contained in that memorandum, but would merely add some further observations, and answer as' far as they were able any questions put to them. 604. With regard to the Live Stock Scheme, they said that at the present time doubt existed among farmers and others concerned as to whether the scheme was to continue after five years, the period for which grants from the Development Fund were, in the first instance, stated to be made. Iji the opinion of the Board, the scheme would have to be continued for very many years if it was to secure the objects in view — i.e., the grading up of the commercial stock of the country, with a consequent increase and improvement in beef and milk production, and it would therefore appear desirable that the scheme should become one of the permanent activities and under the sole control of the Board, and be a charge on their Vote. 605. It was pointed out that the number of bulls subsidised under the scheme — i.e., 675 — was very small compared with the very large number of bulls in the country. Unfortunately there were no statistics available as to the number of bulls in use in England and Wales, but for the service of the cows and heifers in milk or in calf which were returned in 1916 as being approximately 2,430,000, more than 37,000 bulls would be required, taking an average of 65 cows per bull, which was the number served by the bulls under the Live Stock Scheme. - It would be seen from these figures, the witnesses said, what a small proportion of bulls were subsidised at the present time, and they thought the same remark equally true in regard to the number of boars and stallions, and as milk recording as a general practice might be said to be non-existent in the country it would be realised that the scope and effect of the Live Stock Scheme was really very small. 606. At the present time approximately £12,700 was granted from the Development Fund for the subsidy of bulls, £6,250 for horses, £1,350 for boars, and £1,500 for milk recording societies, and there was no doubt that larger sums than these could be utilised to good purpose in normal times, and. especially for increasing the number of bull and milk recording societies. From experience gained it appeared that the amount of the grants made to a heavy horse and to a bull society was sufficient, but better results should follow i£ it was increased for a boar and a milk recording society, especially for the latter during its first year of operations. It was originally thought that it would suffice if grants were made to a society for five years, but it was evident from the working of the scheme that that period was not sufficiently long to enable a subsidised society to become educated to the advantages of using high-class sires, and it would probably be found expedient to continue grants to societies for a further period of five years, though perhaps on a reduced scale and with payments by results or in proportion to the value of the sires subsidised. 607. It was explained that for the purposes of administration of the scheme twelve Live Stock Officers were appointed by Agricultural Colleges in different parts of the country, and Mr. Shine and Mr. Webb thought that this expert staff could be utilised with advantage, if their numbers were increased, to deal with matters affecting the Live Stock industry outside the I^ivp 115 Stock Scheme, and outside, of course, any question, relating to diseases of animals. The present method under which Live Stock Officers were appointed and did their work had been proved by experience to be not altogether a satisfactory one from an administrative point of view, as it afforded insufficient control by the Board, provided no facilities for training men to take the place of those who w.ere now supervising the operations of the scheme, and gave little, if any, opportunity for promotion. A Live Stock Officer was appointed by a college with the approval of the Board, and his salary was paid by the college to which he was attached, out of a grant made by the Board for the purpose. He did little or no college work, as practically his whole time was taken up in promoting the Live Stock Scheme for which the Board and not the College was responsible. He was also, to some extent, regarded as the servant of the Provincial and County Live Stock Committees which recommended the award of grants. He had, therefore, many masters to please, but his position would be far less difficult if he were on the Board's staff and subject only to their instructions. The present system, moreover, did not render the appointment very attractive, as it was purely a temporary one, with no prospect of permanent employment or of an increase in salary beyond £500 a year, a sum at which many of the Live Stock Officers were appointed as a commencing salary, and unless the system was amended so as to admit of these officers becoming eligible for permanent appointments on the Board's staff it would become increasingly difficult to secure the services of really good men. An efficient staff of practical, experienced and efficient Live Stock Officers was essential to deal in a satis- factory manner with the many Live Stock problems that awaited solution, the most important of which were perhaps : — (1) The elimination of low-grade mongrel sires which were responsible for the production of numbers of calves which were useless for rearing ; (2) the general adoption, as far as possible, of the practice of keeping milk records, so as to ensure the elimination of unprofitable milkers, and the establishment of a register of dairy cows whose records had been certified by the Board; (3) the discontinuance of the wasteful system adopted by many town dairymen by which a large number of high-class dairy cows were slaughtered annually before their usefulness as milk producers had ceased. In reply to enquiries as to how it was proposed to effect the elimination of low grade mongrel sires, it was explained that it was hoped to do so by education and encouragement under the present Live Stock Scheme, . and possibly also by legislation. 608. With regard to legislation, it was stated that the Board had not considered what, if any, action could be taken in this direction, but Mr. Shine and Mr. Webb thought that it might be possible to give the Board legislative power to require the castration or destruction of any bull, the use of which appeared to be harmful to stock-breeding. It was fully realised that it would be far more difficult to lay down any hard and fast rules as to the unsuitability of a bull than of a stallion, as it was possible in regard to the l9,tter to prescribe a definite schedule of diseases, freedom from which would enable a certificate of soundness to be given. Similar procedure was not, however, possible in regard to bulls, and if the Board were given the power suggested it would have to be used with great discretion, and certainly only on reports of Officers of the Board who had such practical knowledge and experience of stock as would make their judgment generally accepted by breeders. In answer to enquiries as to the actual procedure to be adopted, it was pointed out that the matter had not been considered by the Board, and that the views expressed were purely personal ones. There was, however, no doubt that there were a large number of bulls used in the country which were quite unsuitable for getting stock fit to rear, either for milk or beef purposes, and if the destruction or castration of a few such bulls in each county was ordered by the Board it would probably have a very salutary effect, and discourage the keeping and use of mongrel bulls of really bad conformation, &c. 609. The experience gained by the Board in the administration of the Calf Orders clearly proved that the use of unsuitable bulls was very common among milk-selling dairy farmers, and the result was that the calves sired by such bulls were difficult to dispose of as they were quite unfit for rearing. In this connection it was pointed out that no difficulty had been experienced in disposing of calves got by subsidised bulls, and that the demand for them was greater than the supply. The usual practice of milk-selling farmers was to dispose of their calves at the first market after they were born, and it would require a considerable amount of education to teach such farmers that it would be to their interest and to the national advantage to use good sires and to keep their calves for at least two or three weeks, so as to enable them to be sent long distances, if necessary, into rearing districts. In this direction, and in arranging for cooperation between breeders and rearers, there appeared to be a wide field of useful work for the Board in the future. 610. With regard to the elimination of poor milkers from dairy herds it was pointed out that milk recording was almost a non-existent practice in England and Wales, that unless, and until it became more generally adopted there would continue to be kept a large number of cows which were more or less unprofitable animals, and that in the development and encouragement of milk recording there was, therefore, much scope for action by the Board. 611. Reference was made to the great difficulty experienfced in forming milk-recording societies, due chiefly, it was thought, to the benefits of milk recording not being understood by owners of dairy herds, but the hope was expressed that milk recording would become mors popular when the commercial value of milk record certificates was generally realised as the result of the enhanced prices obtained for certificated cows or their progeny. 612. Another factor that militated against the formation of societies was the expense to which meinbers were put, namely, 2s. 6d. to Ss. 6d. a cow, which, though really a very^ small Slim, was sufficient to deter dairy farmers from joining societies becausethey did not realise the benefits, commercial and otherwise, that would accrue to them from keeping milk records. Other 19793 ^ * 116 deterrents were shortage of labour and the absence on military service of the younger farmers and farmers' sons, who were more ready than the older generation to give a trial to new ideas m dairy farming. 613. Though the importance of taking butter tests was fully realised by the Board, dairy farmers who did not make butter seldom took such tests, as the prices paid to them for their milk did not increase according to the quality of the milk sold by them, and their chief concern was to produce milk which reached the legal standard. 614. Perhaps, the witnesses said, the most important result of milk recording was the opportunity it afforded to dairy farmers of noting and weeding out the unprofitable milkers, and they mentioned one society which in its second year of operations increased its milk production by 36,000 gallons, though the number of cows was only increased from 464 to 466. Another satisfactory result of the Scheme was that several members of milk-recording societies were now getting rid of their cheap, nondescript stock bulls, and were substituting pedigree sires that were bred from dams with good milking records, but much propagandist work would have to be done to induce dairy farmers to commence keeping records, and careful supervision and checking would be required to ensure the accuracy and reliability of these records. They added that the number of milk-recording societies under the Board's scheme was 23, that 13,400 cows were recorded last year, and that the average annual yield of cows which had been in herds for a full year was approximately 6,500 lbs., the maximum for any society being 7,340 lbs., and the minimum 5,800 lbs. 615. Mr. Shine and Mr. Webb, in referring to the practice of many town dairymen of selling for slaughter really high-class dairy cows as soon as they showed signs of becoming dry, said that the extent of this practice was not really known. It was, however, regarded by the Board as a very wasteful one, and should be stopped if it was found possible to do so. Before any useful action could be taken, however, it would be necessary to have an exhaustive enquiry made as to the extent of the practice, and consideration given to the practicability of substituting some other system which would enable the town dairymen to carry on their business without sacrificing the large number of good cows, which were now sent to the butcher before their period of usefulness as breeders and milk producers was at an end. 616. In conclusion, the witnesses said that if the Live Stock Scheme were amended and extended in certain directions and became a permanent activity of the Board, it would "appear to afford the necessary machinery for increasing and improving the beef and milk supply of the country. 27th Day, 3rd July, 1917. Me. W. G. Lobjoit. 617. Mr. Lobjoit is Chairman of the Market Garden, Fruit and Hop Growing Committee of the Central Chamber of Agriculture; he is also the Chairman of the Middlesex Agricultural Executive Committee. He began by explaining that intensive culture was a method of culti- vating land designed to increase the productivity of the soil in a given area, by the expenditure of more capital and labour upon it. The chief examples of this in England and Wales were, he said, market gardening, fruit growing and hop growing, though intensive cultivation might be applied to agriculture generally. The advantages of this system of cultivation were that the produce of land farmed in this way was of greater value than that cultivated in the ordinary way, that extra labour was employed, and thus a wide range of auxiliary industries encouraged. He pointed out, however, that this form of cultivation entailed a long waiting period before the capital invested became remunerative. Present conditions, he said, were not favourable to the extension of intensive cultivation, as a man entering on land for the purpose of cultivating it in this way had no security that he would reap the benefit of the capital and time which he had expended on it. In stating this, however, he desired to explain to the Committee that he had no personal grievance to air on this point as the agreement for his own farm contained a clause that* the "Market Gardener's Compensation Act" should apply to the holding. He wished to emphasise the fact that the Central Chamber of Agriculture had always agreed to the proposition that intensive culture was the use to which land should be put when suitable, as being the " 'best possible use,' and of greater good to the community than if forced into the market for building, thus displacing much labour at present employed in such intensive cultivation." (Report of a Local Taxation Committee of the Central Chamber of Agriculture in November, 1909.) It was, however, practically impossible in the present state of affairs to obtain land for intensive culture, and he wanted, he said, to suggest ways in which the difficulties now existing might be removed.' 618. The chief difficulty was that a man taking land for the purpose of market gardening, or other form of intensive cultivation, was obliged, on taking over the land from his landlord, to sign himself out of the protection of the Agricultural Holdings Act, i.e., by formally agreeing not to cultivate the land intensively. Consequently if his landlord gave him notice to quit he would not receive adequate compensation for his expenditure. Almost every market gardening tenant who had entered upon his holding during the last ten years had had to sign himself out of the protection of the Act. There was a growing feeling of uneasiness, he said, with regard to this injustice. 619. To overcome these difficulties Mr. Lobjoit proposed, first of all, that a Tribunal should be set up with power to decide, on reference from the Board of Agriculture or the County 1-17 Council, whether an-y land should be cultivated as market garden. Secondly, he proposed that this Tribunal should be empowered to enforce that land adjudged to be suitable for market gardening should be so let, and, on application from either landlord or tenant, to fix the rent. Thirdly, that all land cultivated as market garden since 1909 should, on application be brought under the purview of this Tribunal, and that they should have power to annul any clause in an agreement for the tenancy of market garden land which deprived the tenant of the right to claim compensation, as provided in Clause 42 of the Agricultural Holdings Act, and that in these cases they should, on application from the landlord, have power to revise the rent. Lastly, he proposed that provision should be made for the landlord of any land that had been let under an agreement that it might be used as market garden, to have the option of requiring an outgoing tenant, who had himself given the notice to terminate the tenancy, or refused a renewal of the tenancy on terms which the Tribunal considered to be reasonable, to find an incoming tenant who would pay the compensation. If, however, the landlord should refuse the outgoing tenant's nominee he should have to pay the compensation himself. 620. Mr. Lobjoit further suggested as another way to meet the difficulties with regard to intensive cultivation, a system of insurance. He suggested that an agreed average maximum sum per acre for compensation to the tenant should be fixed ; the landlord would be able- to insure by paying an annual premium, to which the tenant would contribute in the rent. The tenancy would have to be a lease for a fixed number of years. 621. Speaking of- intensive cultivation from the landlord's point of view, the witness said that he advocated a plan of co-operation between landlord and tenant, by means of the scheme of insurance already mentioned, and this he felt might be arrived at if the tenant felt secure with regard to the investment of his capital in the land which he rented. Mr. Lobjoit did not agree with the principle of the tenant buying his land from his landlord, as he thougM the tying up of a tenant's capital in this way would hamper him in his efforts to improve his land. The landlord, on the other hand, would lose' nothing from his land being devoted to intensive cultivation, provided compensation for improvements paid to an outgoing tenant was never more than their value to an incoming tenant. That this had not invariably been so in the past was due to the want of knowledge of intensive cultivation on the part of the valuers engaged. 622. With regard to a more general system of co-operation between small-holders, Mr. Lobjoit was less hopeful. He said that the Agricultural Organisation Society and he himself had tried to form co-operative societies in his county, but had failed to do so ; the chief difficulty #hich they had encountered being a feeling on the part of small-holders that if they amalgamated with others, their affairs would be known by every one else in the neighbourhood. 623. Speaking of labour, Mr. Lobjoit said that in normal times there was no difficulty in the supply of this for intensively .cultivated farms, as they were usually situated near market towns. He thought, further, that where these holdings started the labour generally followed. 624. In answer to questions from members, Mr. Lobjoit agreed that the difficulty with the present legislation was that, unless a landowner insisted on a tenant contracting himself out of the Act, he might find himself compelled to pay compensation for improvements to an outgoing tenant at more than their value to an incoming tenant. This position was obviously unsatisfactory, and for this reason the witness preferred that the Evesham Custom should be substituted for the Agricultural Holdings Act. 625. On being asked whether he considered that there was scope for an extension of this kind of cultivation, Mr. Lobjoit replied that he thought there was undoubtedly an opening for growers of fruit and the commoner kinds of vegetables, but that the production of luxury crops could easily be overdone. Dr. Douglas pointed out that this country was practically self- supporting in the matter of potato-growing, and that there was apparently no room for exten- sion in this respect, or indeed in the production of vegetables generally. Mr. Lobjoit, however, disagreed with this view, and in reply said that despite the difficulties attendant on the intensive system of cultivation, it was steadily increasing, and the needs of the time required that it should be widely practised. Moreover, while there always had been gluts of potatoes and vegetables at intervals, owing to weather conditions or to the changes in the public tastes, he thought that the introduction of war allotments would permanently increase the public demand for vegetables. He went on to give a list of districts suitable for inte]jsive cultivation, which showed that g, very large proportion of England was suited to this form of culture, more especially in the south and in the neighbourhood of watering places. On being questioned as to the rent commanded by this kind of land, Mr. Lobjoit replied that it varied according to the locality, but that the average was from £3 to £7 per acre. Me. W. CoLTHtrp. 626. Mr. Colthup said that he was prepared to give evidence on the value to this country of intensive cultivation, and the necessity of its extension. He gave figures showing how much greater was the amount expended on wages by a man farming- on the intensive system than that expended by one who devoted the main part of his land to grass. He added that if intensive cultivation 'were to spread largely, thereby increasing the amount of labour on the land, restric- tions must be put upon the present imports of the country. He quoted onions as an example of a crop which, to prove successful, had to be grown on land in a very high state of cultivation, the imports of which were, at present, enormous. He gave figures showing the large amount of produce imported by the United Kingdom, proving the desirability of increasing intensive cultivation, and thereby increasing our power of self-support. 19793 H 3 118 627. In Mr. Colthup's opinion a system of scientific instruction was needed for the farmers of the future. He thought that boys leaving school should go straight to practical farmers for two years, and from there to agricultural colleges where they would receive scientific instruction. 628. The witness went on to point out how detrimental, in his opinion, to increased food production was the present sense of insecurity felt by those farming on the intensive system with regard to their tenure of land. While explaining that he had no personal grievance, Mr. Colthup said that much money might be brought on to the land by the sons of commercial men taking up intensive cultivation, were it not for the fact that they had no security of tenure. As an example of the evils resulting from this insecurity, Mr. Colthup said that if a tenant planted fruit, and erected barns, cottages, &c., on the land that he rented, and on leaving found that the incoming tenant refused to take them over from him, he was left in rather a hard position, as he had probably raised the value of the land by their «rection, but gained no return for his expense. 629. Mr. Colthup here said that he wished to suggest for the Committee's consideration the system of land tenure (with certain modifications) known as the Evesham Custom. He pro- ceeded to detail the advantages of this Custom, a copy of an agreement under which he had already circulated to the Committee. 6^0. In the first place, he said, it would be an incentive' to tenants to equip and improve their land, as an outgoing tenant was in a position to hand over the land as it stood, with all its fruit orchards and buildings, as a condition of transfer to the incoming tenant. In the second place, a man with security of tenure would improve his soil, and indeed must make the best of it or else lose all the capital he had expended on it. The Evesham Custom also afforded more protection to the landlord than he enjoyed under the Agricultural Holdings Act. He pointed out that one important advantage of the Custom was the fact that changes of tenancy could take place at any time of the year. He said he thought that while the Evesham Custom was imperfect, yet it had the benefits arising from ownership without the disadvantages. 631. The witness said there were instances where the conditions of the lease of farms definitely stipulate that the tenant, on the expiration of his lease, may cut down, remove or destroy the valuable fruit orchards which he had planted and pointed out that there could be no more destructive policy than to destroy national wealth because the landowner will neither take it by valuation himself nor allow the outgoing tenant to sell such permanent improvement to an incoming tenant. 632. In conclusion Mr. Colthup spoke of the necessity for producing a substitute for potash in this country. In the past, he said, the country had relied entirely upon German potash foi potato growing, and he considered that if this- fertiliser were really vital to the growing of po'Ea^oes, no efforts should be spared in making experiments which might produce substitutes. If the Board of Agriculture could in any way do so, they should make exhaustive experiments which would convince farmers of its value for growing potatoes. Lord Selborne replied that this was already being done. 119 INDEX. AOLAND, The Rt. Hon. F. D., M.P., Parlia- mentary Secretary to the Board of Agricul- ture and Fisheries 13-30, 309-23 " Agrioola " scheme of cropping, Fielding ... 59-75 Agricultural Depression : Effect of, upon small versus large farms, Wright 131 Results in Scotland, Paterson 169 Agricultural Economics, study of, should be increased, Acland 15 Agricultural Instruction : Advisory grants, explanation of scheme, Middleton 335-6 Advisory officers and teachers, importance of improved position and prospects, AeloMd 320 Advisory work, Ireland, Campbell ... 570 Afternoon classes for young men advo- cated, Ferguson .-. 79 Board of Agriculture should influence whole educational scheme of the country. Shields 216 Cambridge University course, Biff en ... 361 Centralisation in Board of Agriculture, question of, Middleton 348 Centralised scheme preferable on the whole to county schemes, Bryner Jones ... 180 Colleges and Research Institutes, staff, need for improved conditions, Middleton 347 Collegiate institutions, Middleton ... 326-7 Control by Agricultural Organiser advo- cated, bowling 133 Criticism, Shields 216 Evening and technical education and pos- sibility of deveilopment, Peet 507-14 Extension advocated, Patterson, 305; Doran ... .- 445 for Farm Labourers, Bowling, 138; Acland ... ' 321 Farm Schools, compulsory provision ad- vocated, Jones-Davies 110 Field trials and experiments. Bowling ... 137 Financial position, difficulty, and proposed change of system of grants, Middleton 325-6, 341-5, 348 History of, Middleton 324^5 Importance of, Jones-Davies, 110; Clark 277 Importance of, as means of increasing pro- duction, Middleton, 119-20; Edwards, 157; Paterson, 162, 164; Bussell, 189, 193; Berry 287 Instructors, permanent staff advocated, B&wling 133 Ireland, system, Oill, 636-8; Campbell, Landowners, see that title. 556-63, 566 Lectures, number should be limited, Bowling 133 • Lindsey system. Bowling 134-6 Organised Day Course for farmers' sons, suggestion. Bowling ... 1.34 Obganisbks : Appointment, salary, etc.. Bowling . 140 Functions, Bowling 133-9 Infproved position and prospects, im- portance of, Acland ... 320 Practical men essential. Overman ... 298 Organisers and Instructors, development of work of, and reduction of area served by each, advocated, Paterson 162 Position of Board of Agriculture and Board of Education as regards, and divi- sion of work, Middleton 329-37 present Position and requirements, Acland 320-3 in Public schools, and suggestion, Bavid... 446-54 Scheme of Board of Agriculture and De- velopment Commissioners, Acland, 320; Middleton 334-6, 338 Scholarships in Agricultural Colleges, ap- proved, Overman 298 in Scotland, systeim and effect on agricul- ture, Wright 122-3 19793 Para Agricultural Instruction— com*. ^ Secondary schools, position and possibility of ruralised curriculum. Stead 515 Secondary schools should not take place of farm institutes, Acland 321 Staffordshire, Patterson 305 in Village elementary schools, need for better system. Green 374 Wales : Attitude of farmers, Edwards, 157 ; Bryner Jones 180 future Development, a question of finance, Bryner Jones ■■■ ■■■ 179 present Position, Bryner Jones ... 176-80 Winteir courses, advantage of, Middleton 349 Agricultural Credit, see Credit. Agricultural Implements : Munition workers should make, later. Fielding 74 Testing stations, need for experimenting, Bussell 194 Agricultural Mechanics, instruction of disabled soldiers in, suggestion. Shields 216 Agricultural Organisation : Need for, in England and Wales, Scott ...579-81 Question of State taking over work, Acland 319 Agricultural Organisation Society : Criticism, Acland 318 History of, work^ financial position, etc., Scott ... 582-7 Agricultural Requisites, Co-operative purchase, Ireland, Anderson 458 Agricultural Research : Examples of good results on production, Bussell 190 Importance! of, as means of increasing pro- duction, BmsscU ... 189-91 in Ireland, and need for further facilities, and suggestion, Campbell ... 570, 572 Plani Bbbeding : Agency for distributing new crops desirable, and suggestion. Biff en . . . 36C Centralisation question. Biff en ... 360 Economic value of. Biff en 351-9 Extension of work desirable and ques- tion .of possibility, Bi;jf en 360 Research Institutes, present system and scope for development, Bussell 192 Scholarships., period for which telnable and number should be extended, Acland ... 320 in Scotland, extension desirable, Ferguson 79 Agricultural survey, advocated, Acland, 26; Bussell 201 Agriculture ; Advisory Councils, Middleton 340 Better land in Wales should bel improved by drainage before almost worthless sheep runs dealt with, .Bdiwards 156 Central Board for England and Scotland, impracticability of, MunrO 699 Co-operation between .Departments of England, Scotland, and Ireiland, ques- tion of, and of methods, Munro ... 599 National attitude towards, need for change in, Patterson ... 308 National Council of, in Scotland, question of, Munro 599 Primitive methods in some parts of Ire- land, Anderson 480 Production, comparison with Germany, Fielding , 57-8 all Questions of rural well-being (i.e., rural housing and wages) should rest with De- partment directing policy, Acland ... 309 Allotments, see Smallholdings and Allotments. ANDERSON, R. A., Secretary of Irish Agri- cultural Organisation Society 455-48il H 1 120 Para. Arable Land : Decrease : and Effect on livestock, Wrightson, 45-8, «4 Ireland, but increase in yield. Gill ... 553 in Nortiieirn Counties, and reasons, Clark 266-7 Scotland, cause, Paterson, 169 ; Shields 223 Wales, each, year since the seventies up to 1915, Jones-Davies 104-7 Pood production from, and comparison with grass land, Middleton 113 Increase since the) war in Ireland, position and need for co-operation, Anderson ... 479-80 Increase beyond 1874 amount possible, Middleton 121 more Intensive cultivation advocated in order to increiase production of cereals, Wales, Edwards 152 Increased Production: with Acreage no greater than in 1873, extent to which possible, Fielding ... 59 Extent to which possible without re- ducing production of meat and milk, Patterson, 299; Berry 282 Methods of inducing, Middleton ... 118-9 Possible by plentiful gupply of arti- ficial manures and use of improved breeds. Overman ... ' 292 more Scientific use of artificial manures necessary, Patterson ... 299 Scotland, possible and etxtent to which possible and means, Ferguson, 77 ; Wright, 125 ; Paterson, 165 ; Shields 216 Wales: Preferable to large increase iii area, Edwards 160 Production of meat and milk could be increased, Edwards 152 Increased proportion of, advantages, Crawford ... ' 335 Restoration of 1874 amount^ extent of increased' production possible, Middle- ton 114,120 Rotation system, increase, greater ex- pense involved, Ferguson 83 Wales, cultivation of hiH farms would be possible with use of lime, Edwards .•• 152 Artificial Manures : Basic Slag : Comparison with lime, Edwards ■■■ 152 Export should be prohibited or re- stricted by duty, Oiarfc 269 Compulsory use of, suggestion, Clark ... 271 Co-operative purchase, Scotland, Drysdale 430 Difficulty of obtaining, and State should give every facility. Overman 295 great Difficulty in obtaining anticipated after the War, Overman 295 Extended and more scientific use of, necessary, Bussell, 194; Patterson ... 299 Improvement of arable land with, examples. Berry 282 Improvement of grass land by use of, possibility, Middleton, 121 ; Milner, 238 ; Clark, 270; Berry ... 283 Instruction of farmers in use of, needed, Clark .^ 269, 270 increased Manufacture of, after tlie war desirable, and some munition factories might be used for-, Bussell 202 Obtaining of, from factories erected by Explosives Department, suggestion. Fielding 74 Potash : Necessity for producing substitute/ for, Oolthup 631 Recovery from blast furnace gases, experiments and possibilities, Chance 516-21 Small farmers should be protected from purchasing worthless manures, Ferguson 79 Smallholders' attitude, Barnard "96 Storage difficulty. Overman 295 Sulphate of Ammonia : Export should bo prohibited or re- stricted, Fielding, 62; Clark ... 369 295 295 202 295 465 590 469 355 387-97 S68 282-8 88-102 351-61 324 Para. Artificial Manures— con<. Sulphate op Ammonia — cont. Farmers should have opportunity to buy, at economic price, before large quantities exported. Overman Nitrate of soda cheaper to buy than, before the War, Overman Use as autumn dressing not desirable as general practice, liussell large Supply through West Norfolk Farmers' Manure Co., assistance for, suggested. Overman ... Work of Agricultural Societies in Ireland. Anderson Ayle'stone Co-operative Allotments Association. Ltd., Harris Bacon curing societies, Ireland, and sugges- tion, Anderson ... Barley, results of plant breeding, Biff en BARNARD, D. C, Small Holdings Commis- sioner for Northern Counties Basic Slag, see under Artificial Manures. Batherton, small holdings. Green BERRY, W. W., farmer BBVERIDGE, W. H., C:B., Assistant Secre- tary, Board of Trade Employment Depart- ment BIFFEN, Professor R. H., F.R.S., School of Agriculture, Cambridge Board of Agriculture and Fisheries : Educational functions, Middleton Fisheries should be separated from, and transfer to Admiralty suggested, AcUmd 315, 317 Inspectors, criticism and suggestion, Acland 314 Live Stock scheme, particulars and possi- bility of extension, etc., Shine, Webb... 603-16 President, discrepancy between salary of, and of other Ministers, drawback of, Acland 313 Questions such as rural housing and wages should rest with, rather than with L.G.B., Acland 309 Raising of, to first class Department, with England, Wales, and Scotland as Sub* Departments, advocated, Acland ... 317 Stapp: Appointment, combination of selection and examination desirable', Acland, 310, 311 Criticism of system, Acland ...310,313,314, 317 Two years' work at least, outside office advocated, Acland 311 Board of Agriculture, Scotland: increase in Duties, possible methods of ministerial control, Munro 596-7 Public opinion in favour of separate De- partment, Munro 591 Separate! Departments for Scotland and England, drawbacks of, and suggested alteration, Acland 315-6, 317 Burwell, small holdings. Green 36 Cambridge : School of Agriculture, plant breeding work of. Biff en 351-60 University, agricultural courses. Biff en ... 361 CAMPBELL, J. R., Assistant Secretary in respect of Agriculture Department of Agri- culture and Technical Instruction for Ireland 554-578 Canals, general opening up of, benefit to be derived by agriculture. Berry 288 Capital : Attraction of more capital to agricultural industry desirable, Bussell 200 easy Access to, necessary with iiicreased tillage, Jones-Davies ... 110 Landowners, difficulty x>f problem, Acland 29 Catshill, Worcs., smallholdings. Green 367, 368, 379 Chambers of Agriculture, critiodsm, Acland ... 318 121 Para. CHANCE, KENNETH, Managing Director of tlie British Cyanides Company, Ltd. ... 516-21 CHENEY, E. J., C.B., Chief Agricultural Adviser to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries ... ., ... 12 Cheshire, smallholdings, Oreen, 369, 370; Barnard 388,391 CLARK, JOHN M., P.S.I. , Land Agent ... 266-81 COLTHUP, W., farmer 626-32 278 671-2 287 242 130 71 Compulsory Powers : Advocated, Claris in Ireland, GUI, 543, 545; Gampbell Necessary, Acland, 14 ; Shields, 222 ; Berry might be Necessary, Milner Possible methods in Ireland, Gill 544, 545-6 Threat of eviction the most effective method of, after due encouragement and warning, Wright Use of, might be necessary, but only after great encouragement and fair warning given, Acland, 25, 29; Fielding Co-operation : see also under Smallholdings. Agricultural Organisation .Society, ■ Scot- land, Wright .. Aims of A.O.S., jScott :. considered Beneficial, Edwards Better living as result of, Harris Co-operative buying, encouragement ad- vocated, Shields Developmbnt : Desirable, Paterson, 169; Acland possible Disadvantage of, Patterson... Questions of, Acland Farmers' attitude, Patterson, 306; Acland Farmers' Co-operative Trading Society should be established in every district, Scotf Increased production would be assisted by, Jones-Davies in Ireland: History of movement, Anderson Position, Gill Merchants not found to be opposed to, Dowling ... in Scotland : and Beneficial results, Drysdale Good work done in sale of good seed, Ferguson Non-success owing to lack of loyalty by members, Ferguson System, Wright Scottish Smallholders' Organisation, Wright Societies, "cash in seven days," drawback of, J^ackson ... in Wales, success, Jones-Davies Co-operative Dairy Associations, Scotland, Drysdale 124 584^96 157 590 217 318 306 318-9 •318 584 110 455-82 639-41 ]39 421-31 85 85 124 124 433 110 426-9 Co-partnership : Sir Richard Paget's scheme referred to, Russell 200 System in force on farm in Essex, Struth 150 Communal cultivation, Ireland, co-operative societies should assist, Anderson ..-. ... 481 Cottages : Building, no scheme possible until end of wa,T, -Clark Certain number must be let with farms. Berry, 286; Overman Financial assistance to landowners, sug- gestions, Edwards, 163; Shields,, 219; Ferguson, 78; Clark, 276; Overman, 294; Patterson Ireland, provision by Rural Districi> Councils, Campbell Need for, Crawford .™ Occupation by wrong class, Clark, 276; Berry, 286; Patterson Owning of, 'by men, in Wales, Edwards... 275 294 304 577-8 10 304 163 Para. Cottages— co?rf. as Part of wage and not rented, advo- cated, Clark 275 Rents, economic basis desirable, Overman 294 Shortage, and effect on farming, Edwards, 153; Paterson, 170; Duncan, 212; Shields, 219; Berry, 286; Overman, 294; Patterson 304 State erection, proposal not approved, Clark „ ... 275 State, working through Local Authorities, should erect, Duncan 212 fair Supply in the North, but possible shortage if more land ploughed up, Clark 275 Three bedrooms should be minimum for Tamily, Patterson ... ' .... 304 War Office huts, suggested use of. Fielding 61 CRAWFORD & BALCARRES, the Rt. Hon. the Earl of. President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 1-12 Creamery Associations, Scotland, Drysdale ..-. 426 Credit : through Banks, facilities advocated, Jackson 433 Central Land Bank, Scotland, Wright ... 124 Conversion oi some crops into cash at once at some fairly uniform rate, regardless of quantity, facilities desirable, Bussell 199 Co-operative credit, Wales, not very suc- cessful, Jones-Davies 110 Credit system of trading, Jackson ... 433 Easier credit needed, Bussell 199 Finance Societies, formation of, advocated and scheme, Jackson 434^-8 Government co-operative guarantee to banks in county towns, suggestion, Fielding 63 Ireland, position, Anderson, 460, 466; Gill, 639, 542 Land Banks, State assistance neceissary, Wrighi ■ 124 Need for good scheme of, Paterson ... 169 Rural Credit banks, need for, Green ■.- 374 Trust auction system, Ireland, Anderson 466 Crops, produce of, per acre, in England and Wales, average 1904^1914 and yield expected ' by good farmers, Bussell 193 Cultivation, Good : Compulsory powers, see that title. Onus should be on landlord, not on tenant, Acland ... 29 State must set example, Acland ... ... 29 Dairy Farmers and Graziers, question of security to, Crawford ~.. \ .... 6 Dairying : Ibelamd : Butter control scheme!, Anderson ... 464 Co-operation, Anderson 464 Work. of Department re, Campbell ... 567 Co-operation in Scotland and advantages of, Drysdale 425^9 Milk recording societies, Shine, Webb ... 610-4 Practice of selling for slaughter high-class dairy cows on .showing signs of becoming dry, and stopping of, desirable. Shine, Webb Wales, decrease lately owing to labour shortage/, Jones-Davies DAVID, Rev. A. A., D.D., Headmaster of Rugby 616 108 446-54 Deer Forests, etc. : Acreage devoted to, and to sport, in Scoi>- land, 1883, 19i2, PPrisrW 127 Breaking up of golf courses and, advo- cated unless great majority of persons using, dependeint on for reasonable re- creation, Acland 28 Confining of golf courses in Scotland to poor sandy tracts suggested, Wright ... 129 Conversion to other uses, difficulties, Lovat 408-20 122 Par». Deer Forests, etc.— omt. CoNVEBSioN TO Sheep Fabms : even of Higher land possible, Beid 484, 491 Land below 1,000 ft. most suitable for small holdings, Wright 127 Outlay necessary in erection of cot- tages, but could be provided gradu- ally, Beid 493 Question, Lovat 416-7 Working of, on Club system, sugges- tion, Beid 485,490,493 Cbbation of: History of, Lovat 415 Reasons for, Beid 491 Disproportion between amount of food produced by land under deer and same land under sheep, Beid 486 Everybody might be given right to kill deer, Beid , 489 ExpeTiments re wintering sheep and cattle advocated, Lovat ... ... 419 Forestry combined with smallholdings the best solution of, Lovat 418, 420 Grouse shooting benefited by stocking and heather burning, Wright 128 Increase in area, Lovat ... ... 411, 415 Objections to, Beid 483,486-8,490,, 491, 492 Proportion suitable for cultivation, Wright 127 Rent, comparison with sheep farms, Beid 491,493 Survey of new forests advocated, Lovat ... 411 Throwing open of land to public suggested, Beid 489,492 Wheat cultivation, adverse climatic condi- tions, Lovat 409 Demonstration, State experiment or State- supervised experiment necessary, Acland ... 15-6 Demonstration areas attached to Colleges of great value, and area or areas in every county advocated, Ferguson 80 Demonstration farms, see Experimental and demonstration farms. Demonstration market gardens, establishment of one in North Wales and one in South Wales advocated, Jones-Davies 110 Demonstration Plots : 349 Extension desirable, Middleton Local, advocated in Scotland, with chemist to advise farmers, Shields 216 in Prominent places, suggestion, Jones- Davies 110 Demonstration Smallholdings on commercial lines advocated, and scheme for, Dowlihg ... 139 1 Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland : Endowment fund. Gill 532-3 History of, constitution and work, Oill ... 523-38 Financial assistance needed. Gill 553 Work of, Oamphell 554^72 Disease, pests, &c., prevention oi, important, Shields 217 DORAN, SIR HENRY, member of Congested Districts Board for Ireland 439-45 DOWLING, R. N., Organiser of Agricultural Education to the Lindsey County Council ...133-143 Double Ploughing, might be good method for preventing weeds coming through, Bussell ... 202 Para. Drainage— con«. Loans under Improvement of Land Acts, 1847-72, 1873-82, 1884, 1894, 1904, 1914, Cheney 12 Lung River Drainage Scheme, County Mayo, Doran 439 MoLB Dkaining : Advantages of. Overman 296 V. Tile drainage, BusseU 195 Motor draining implement, experiments suggested. Shields •... 217 New system of, brfore breaking up of grass land, need for, Clark 271 Owenmore Drainage Scheme, Sligo, Doran 440-1 Position re, Cheney, 12; Clark 271 Position as regards land drained several years ago, Bussell, 195 ; Berry, 285 ; Overman, 296; Patterson 302 Scheme should be improved, Ferguson ... 78 SoOTIiAND : Cost, Shields 216 Need for, but financial diflSculty, Shields 216 best Type of, Clark 271 Wales, much land would benefit from, Jones-Davies 112 DRYSDALE, JOHN, Secretary of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society ... ... 421-38 DUNCAN, JOSEPH FORBES, Hon. Secre- tary, Scottish Farm Servants' Union ...302-215 Education : Agricultural, see that title. Compulsory, up to 17 or 18, desirable!, Middletcin 349 Elbmentaky : Gardening, Howard 499-500 Handicraft instruction, Howard ... 501 Leaving age, 14 considered young enough, Howard 500 Nature study, Howard 498 Outlook of teachers needs changing, Middleton 349 Rural outlook : Difficulties, Howard 502-3 Methods, Howard ... , 503 Rural schools, system, Howard ...495-506 Teachers : Qualified in rural subjects, diffi- culties, Howard 504^ Salaries, and need for improve- ment, Howard 504 Spebialisation in training, Howard 504 EDWARDS, RICHARD, farmer 151-61 Experimental and Demonstration Farms : Advocated, to bel managed by Counties, Crawford 9 Canadian system, Crawford ... ... 9 in Each county, on business lines, advo- cated, Jones-Davies 110 in Every county advocated, Overman ... 298 Increase needeid, Paterson, 162; Clark ... 269 One, for each district advocated, Clark ... 277 should be Run to make profit, if possible, Clark 277 Drainage : Compulsory, advocated, if landowners secured proper return and advanced money at low rate, CZarft 271 Drainage authority for large areas advo- cated, Bussell 195 Improvement of land by. Berry 285 Ireland : Drainage Boards, Doran 439 Position, Campbell 578 present Position and need for large schemes as Government measures. Gill 647 Farm Institutes : Advocated, Patterson ... 305 close Co-operation between Agricultural College and, advocated, Middleton ... 346 Development necessary, Acland ... 320, 321 Difficulty of establishing, in counties wher^ Local Authorities opposed, Middleton . . . 346 in Each County advocated, Acland ... 320 Pupils, age advocated, Middleton ... 346 Scheme' of Board of Agriculture and De- velopment Commission, Middleton 338-40, 346 State position re, question of, Acland ... 322 123 Farm Labourers : Para. 321 Para. bringing together farmers' 13S 274 280 273 280 349 442 481 481 481 481 442 Education, Bowling, 138; Acland Farmers unwilli^g general!^', to give in- struction to farm lads, Bowling Favourable conditions in Northern Coun- ties, Clark ... ,,,.-- Half holiday, during eight months of the year, or few whole day's leave at slack . I times, worked well, Glarh Hiring in Northern Counties, by the year, Clark ... Hours, decrease, would assist in keeping labour on the land, Clark Instruction question, Middleton Ireland : Casual labourers underpaid, but not permanent, Boran Co-operative scheme for farmers and servants desirable, Anderson . . . Emigration, A7i,derson ... Position, Anderson Unpaid labour among families, and objetition to, Anderson Wages: Farmers not in position to pfiy more, Boran ... ... in Kind, extension of system desirable, Boran Scotland : Emigration, problem of, and sugges- tion re measures for preventing, Buncan 208, 211 if Farmers given State assistance, some share of benefit should accrue to, Buncan 210 Hiring : Fairs, objection to, Buncan 208, 211 Monthly engagements advocated, but farmers opposed to short engagements, Buncan 211 System, Buncan 204 Hours, Buncan, 205; Shields ... ... 219 Joint Committees with farmers, scheme, Buncan 207, 208 . Land given to, on farm to work on Saturday afternoons, with use of horses, etc., but loss of interest in Shields Monthly half -holiday, Ferguson Prospects of, Buncam, Saturday half -holiday. Shields Shortage, and probable! increased shortage after the war, Buncan 215; Shields ... Social life of, should be developed Buncan Specialised and skilled nature of work; Duncan Weekly half-holiday movement, Buncan if Security given to farmers, some share of additional prosperity must go to, Buncan, 210; Berry Shortage, cause, Patterson ... Surroundings must be made as congenial as possible in orde^r to keep men on the land, Middleton Tendency to change employment as hirings came round, Clark Wages, see that title. Wales, shortage in, and consequent put- ting down of land to grass, Edwards, 153, 154 219 83 214 219 319 211 20'l 205 286 308 349 280 Farmers : Bookkeeping among, need of establishing sound system, Scott Discouragement of, Patterson Education of boys who are to become, sug- geisted nature of, Paterson Expert advice, need for. Shields Feeling of uncertainty among, Berry Income Tax, suggested assessment on profits, Aciand, 39; Ferguson, 81; Clark 683 308 163 216 284 381 Farmers— cont. Ireland, early education defective, though technical education now available, Anderson Proportion in Northern Counties originally farm labourers or sons of farm labourers, Clark Secubiiy to : Attitude of farm servants, Buncan ... Necessity for, Crawford Security of tenure desirable, Edwards Sons: Non-payment of, when working on farm, mistake of, Cla/rk, 573; Anderson System of scientific instruction advo- cated, CoZtTiitp Tenants should have opportunity of pur- chasing, and would be largely taken ad- vantage of in Scotland, Ferguson University education question, Middleton Wales, sons would remain on farm if pros- pecte better, Jones-Bavies- Farming : Lack of capital most general cause of in- different farming, Edwards Methods improving, Edwards 481 273 210- 4 155 481 637 78 346 108 156 156 442 Farms : Annual tenancies, preferable for tenants than leases, Edwards Hilly, Wales, capital necessary, Edwards Large, lower-rented . than small, Wales, Edwards Redistribution of sizes, impossible at pre- sent, Crawford Sizes in Ireland, Gill FERGUSON, GEORGE A., farmer FIEL.DIxNfG, Sir C. W., Managing Director of Rio Tinto, Ltd Fishermen, co-operation, position, Harris Fisheries Department, Scotland, impossibility of merging with English Department, Munro Fishery organisation, Scotland, possibility of development, Brysdale Fishing. Society, Aran Islands, Anderson Flax Industry, Ireland, Campbell Flour, imported, small duty or registration fee on, suggestion, Clark Food Production ; Comparison between food units produced per acre in Great Britain and Germany, Middleton ... Comparative: production on different types of land and systems of farming, Middleton Incbease : Bonus based on additional acreage of arable land, drawback of, Edwards Ireland, possibility ,of, and sugges- tions, Campbell Methods : Breaking up of Grass Land, see under Grass Land. Catch cropping or continuous cropping, Bussell better Conservation of farm-yard manure, Patterson Development of certain old methods now fallen into abey- ance, Bussell Education of farmers, see Agri- cultural Instruction. Extended and more scientific use of artificial fertilisers, Bussell, 194; Patterson Extended use of motor ploughs, B'Uissell Improvement of cultivation, better seed, etc., Bussell, 194; Shields, '216; Patterson Introduction of new varieties of crops better adapted to local conditions, Bussell Introduction of new root crops, Bussell 155 155 165 11 550 77-87 66-76 589 600-1 431 470 668 376 114 113-5 169 571 198 299 194 299 198 299 194 108 VU Para. Pood Production— con«. Incbease — cont. Methods — cont. Lowering cost of production, RusseU 198 Prevention of waste fcy disease, etc., Shields 217 Promotion of co-operative buying. Shields 217 Readjustment of crops grown on farms, Bussell 196 in Scotland, Wright ... 125, 126 Shortening of rotation. Shields ... 210 supply of good Reliable manures to farmers, if possible below cost price, Edwards 159 Scotland, extent to which possible, Ferguson, 82; Pater sorv 165 Wales, further capital expenditure by landlords and tenants would be necessary, and enhanced rent there- fore reasonable, Edwards ... ... 155 Large v. small farms, Wright, 125-6, 131; Vowling, 136; Edwards, 158; Paterson, 171; RaU, 234; Overman, 292; Green, 363-6; Barnard, 388, 390-1; Gill, 550-1. Game, over-preservation of, a loss, Patterson 307 GILL, T. P., Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland ... ... 522-53 Glasgow, West of Scotland Agricultural College : Changed attitude of farmers towards work of, Paterson 162 beneficial Effect on production, Paterspn 164 Position and work of, Paterson ... 1&2, 166, 167 GODDARD, A., Secretary Surveyors' Institu- tion 398-407 Grain, production, cost in Scotland often greater than price realised, Ferguson ... 77 Grass Land : Comparative food production on different types of, Middleton 113 Impbovement : by Better treatment and more liberal use of fertilisers, Milner ... ... 238 by Draining and use of basic slag, possibility, Clark ... 268 Increased production possible, from, in Scotland, Wright 125 by Use of artificial manures, possi- bility, Berry 283 Increase in, and effect on live stock, Wrightson 45-6 Plottghing up: Advocated, Wrightson, 49; Bussell, 197; Clark, 2619 ; Patterson 299 probable Attitude of farmers. Over- man „. 290 Bounty : Annual payment of 10s. an acre suggestefd, Jones-Davies ... 109 Guaranteed price preferred, Milner, 238; Clark, 276; Over- man 291 not Necessary, in Scotland, Shields 218 Payment only in respect of area cropped in excels of certain minimum proportion of cereals, suggested, Paterson 169 for Periods of years suggested, Patterson 300 Preferable to guaranteed price, Jones-Davies, 109; Paterson ... 169 £2 per acre, suggestion. Fielding 74 £2 per acre, as gift or loan to farmers, suggested, Fielding ... 64 additional Capital needed. Overman 290 Capital expenditure, on cottages, etc., assistance to landowners suggested, Acland ^. 19 161 76 296 Para. Grass Land— cont. Ploughing up — cont. Caiition and reserve necessary, Craw- ford ... ... 2 Compulsion not advocated during period of transition, Crawford ... 7 Cost oi. Overman ... ... 289,290 Cost of ploughing upland pastures in Wales, and estimated return, Edwards Covenants preventing, should be can- celled, Fielding Drainage necessary in many cases. Overman Each area must be judged oh its merits, Crawford ... ' 3 Extent to which advisable, and extent to which production could be in- creased by, Ferguson, 77; Bussell, 197; Shields, 218; Milner, 238; Campbell 549,575-7 Farmers in the North would not be prevented from, by lack of capital, Clark more Food produced, but possibly less profit, Middleton Guaranteed Price, see that title. HiU Land, question, Middleton Immediate bringing into tillage, of millions of acres not possible, Wrightson Increased production of cereals, meat, and milk possible, Clark, 269; Overman Increased production possible by, in Scotland, Wright of much Inferior grass land advocated, Patterson Ireland, store cattle trade need not be interfered with, Campbell Labour qutetion. Fielding of Land in Midlands advocated, Overmun '. of Land above 400 feet in Scotland not advocated, Shields Local demonstrations of best method advocated, Bussell Local organisation to decide on land to be broken up, advocated, Clark of Nearly all land, eventually desir- able. Fielding ... Norfolk, little land available, Overman Number of live stock might be in- creased, Bussell Possibility of increasing production of cereals by, without reducing that of meat and milk, Clark Possible in Elgin, but not in the West, Ferguson Production of beef, mutton, and milk would increase, Wrightson ... Protection of landowners from tenants ploughing up good grass and then leaving farm, necessary. Fielding ... Security to farmer necessary, Milner, 238; Clark, 269; Patterson Type of land advocated for, Crawford, 3; Clark, 270; Berry Upsetting of local practice not desir- able, Cheney Stability of price necessary, Ferguson in Wales: not Advocated to any large ex- tent, Edwards Land suitable for oats, but security necessary for farmers, Jones-Bavies 107, 109 Wireworms, risk of, Patterson ... 300 increased Production from : of Meat, milk, and cheese, methods, Cheney 12 Position re, Cheney ... 12 Possible by use of fertilisers, Middle- ton 121 by Use of basic ' slag, possibility of, Clark ... 270 281 121 121 63 289 125 300 574 67 289 218 202 278 73 289 197 268 82 31,47 76 300 283 12 77 152 12S Grass Land— co?i«. Proportion in Germany and in United . Kingdom, Fielding '. Reclamation of inferior pasture, example oijPaterson Research work, Biff en ... Uneconomical management of large pro- portion of, Patterson GREEN, J. L., Secretary to the Rural League Para. 57 166 358 300 362-386 Guaranteed Price : Advantages of, Acland. 17 ; Milner, 238, 240, 241 Advocated, Clark, 276; Berry, 284; Over- man Advocated, necessary, Acland, 16; Field- ing, 64; Ferguson, 77, 82; Middleton, 118; Strutt, 148; Bussell, 199; Shields, 218; Clark, 276; Berry, 284; Overman, 291; Anderson ... Amount paoPOSBD : Oats: 20i., Ferguson 77,82,86 20s. or 22s., Shields 218 35s. or 26s., Clark 276 27s. for oats : not a great Inducement to break up land in Wales un- less price of milk and fat lambs decreased, Edwards more Valuable in Wales than guarantee for wheat, Edwards 291 430 152 152 not suflSoient, 77,82 284 82 149 218 72 72 276 199 284 Wheat : 40s., Ferguson 40s., probably Crawford 40s. for ten years, farmers would prefer to 50s. for 3 years, but doubt as to practicability, Berry 40s. not sufficient in Scotland, 42s. or 45s. necessary, Ferguson 40s.^2s., farmers would ask more, Strutt 40s.-45s., Shields 42s. Qd. not excessive, Fielding ... more than 42s. 6d. would be neces- sary if wages increased much beyond 20s., Fielding ... 45s., Clark 50s., farmers would probably re- quire, Bussell 50s. for 3 years. Berry 50s. during war, right to perquisi- tion all wheat at 56s. and guarantee of 42s. 6d. for 7 years after the war, suggested, Fielding ... 50s. would be ne'cessary to induce ploughing up of grass to any extent, Wrightson 75s. for 4 years, and then reduc- tion, Otermxin 290, 291 Question of, Crawford, 6; Acland' 18-9 Argument against, of involving country in great expenditure, reply to, Milner Basis of payment, Clark some Compulsion as re'gards farming would be necessary, Shields Combination with import duty might be necessary, Patterson Compulsory powers to ensure increased \ production, persuasion and encourage- ment px-eferred for first 2 or 3 years, Fielding Difference in price between Government guarantee and official average market price. Fielding ..'. '.,.'. ..., - ... Drawbacks of, in Wales, Edwards Essential, but not necessarily dependent on standard wage, Acland ... ... ... absolutely. Essential if increased produc- tion to be obtained in Scotland, Fer- (lusof ... ... ... ..,. . .,; ■■■ 51 239 279 222 300 71 159 21 86 Para. Guaranteed Price— co»<.. Farmers should sell own produce and be paid difference between State guarantee and Gazette average price, Crawford ... 5 Farmers would endeavour to inereiase yields, Middleton 121 Four years' notice before reduction or dropping of, advocated. Overman ... 291 Importance of, Milner 238 Increased profits not a conclusive argu- ment against, Crawford 6 Increase in Rents as Result : Danger not considered important, Edwards 155 Possible, but in many cases were too low before the War, Strutt 148 Possible, but not an argument against policy, Crawford, 6"; Milner ... 242 would have Little or no effect in helping farmer to pay higher wages, Doran ... 443 Method of payijognt, Fielding ...- ... 66 might be Necessary, Patterson 300 for Oats also advocated, Overman ... 291 for Oats and barley nfight be necessary, Crawford 5, 6 Payment must be made for all wheat pro- duced. Fielding ... 72 Period fob: 8-10 years neceaBary,- Fielding ... 72 Long, advocated, Overman 291 Question of, Milner ... 241 Short term advocated, Berry 284 the Preferable form of security to farmers, Crawford 4 Preferred to tariff, Acland, 17; Strutt, U9; Edwards, 152; Overman 291 Quantity of wheat grown obtainable by returns of threshing by travelling machine, Strutt 149 Scotch farmers would be induced to in- crease production, Wright 130 as settled policy advocated, not merely for limited period, Clark 276 Standard wage necessary, Crawford ... 8 State inteirference between landlord and tenant as regards rent not necessary. Overman 291 Stock and dairy farmers would have no reasonable ground for complaint, Fer- guson 82 only Suitable for emergency and for cer- tain time, Doran 443 Tariff preferable, Doran 443 Tariff on imported wheat would probably be preferred by farmers, Patterson ... 300 Uniform for all farmers and not subject to yearly revision, advocated, Crawford 6 Variation, with value of money, or prices of other commodities might be possible, but not variation with reference to bank rate, Milner 241 Wages would be increased as result, Strutt 148 Welsh farmers would increase production, Edwards 152 FOE Wheat only : Advocated, Aelfind 18 Benefit to Scotch farmers from dis- placement of oats and barley in England, Fielding ... 69 Market price for oats and barley not likely to be affected, Middleton ... 121 Oats would be displaced, Middleton, 121; Wright ... 130 Oats would be effected, Ferguson ... 82 probably Sufficient as regards England and Wales,, M-iZjier ... ' 238 Wheat must be up to average standard, Crawford HALL, CHARLES P., land agent for Duke of Bedford's Bedfordshire and Buckingham^ shire Estates, Fellow of the Surveyors' Insti- tution, and member of Council of Land Agents' Sop\p-tiy ,. ?84-36 126 Para. Harper-Adams College, attitiidel of farmers, Patterson 305 HARRIS, NUGENT 588-90 Haslington, small holdings, Oreen 368 Hay and Straw Sheds, Government should erect. Shields 217 HOWARD, F. T., Dirisional Inspector of Elementary Schools 494-506 Para. JACKSON, E., Manager, Manchester Co- operative Wholesale Society 433-8 JONES, C. BRYNER, M.Sc, Agricultural CommissioneT for Wales, etc. 172-80 JONES-DAVIES, H., Development Commis- sioner, Governor of the Agricultural Organisation Society, and County Land Agent for Carmarthenshire 103-12 Illustration Farms, see. Experimental and De- monstration Farms. Import Duty : possible Advantage of, in the future, Milner ... ' 240 Advocated, Patterson 300 Combination of guaranteed price with, might be necessary, Patterson 300 Fluctuating, desirable, Ferguson ... 77 Guaranteed jprice preferable, Acland, 17 ; Strutt, 149; Edwards, 152; Overman ... 291 Impracticability of, Clark 276 Preferable to guaranteed price, DoTan ... 443 Improvement of land, fashion must be created, Bussell 200 Improvements : Certain obstacles to, such as restrictive covenants and over-preserving of game, should be attended to, Bussell 201 Full value of, should be secured to tenant, Patterson 307 Industrial Farms : Management by landowners under State inspection and direction advocated, Acland , 27 Proposal not approved, Crawford 9 Training of men on, would be advan- tageous, Acland 29 Intensive Cultivation and Market Gardening : Advantages of, and desirability of exten- sion, Lobjoit, 617; Colthup ' 626 Co-operation between landlord and tenant, suggestion, Lobjoit 621 Difficulty of obtaining land for, and lack of security of tenure, and proposed remedies, Lobjoit, 617-21, 624 ; Colthup 628-31 Districts suitable for, Lobjoit 625 Labour, Lobjoit 623 Possibilities of, in Wales, Jones-Davies ... 112 Prospects, Lobjoit 625 Rent of land, Lobjoit 625 Ireland : see also general subject headings. Agricultural Board, Oill 528, 531 Board of Technical Instruction, Gill 528, 532 Council of Agriculture, Gill' 528-30 Compulsory tillage sclieme. Gill, 543, 545; Campbell 572 Congested Districts Board settlements, Campbell 564 County Committees, Gill, 532-5, 539; Campbell 564 Importance of, as regards food production, and further develbpraent advocated, Gill Irish Agricultural Organisation Society : Affiliation of societies with, ad^^antages, terms of, etc., Anderson History and work of, etc., Anderson Independent income needed, Anderson ... Research work should be undertaken by Board of Agriculture, and advice given to, on scientific problems, Anderson Irish Agricultural Wholesale' Society, Andersofi Irish Creamery Managers' Association, Ander- son ... Irish Co-operative Agency Society, Anderson... 552-3- 476-7 456-82 482 482 471 471 471 Eelp industry, Scotland, desirability «f de- velopment, and suggestions, Brysdale Labour : Competition of collieries, in Wales, Edwards probable Difficulty after the War, Clarh . . . Increased cost after the war, little im- portance attached to, as bettetr work will result, Middleton Shortage in the North before the war, Clark Lacemaking, etc., co-operativC societies, Ire- laud, Anderson ... Land, acquisition for public purposes, tithe re- demption scheme, Milner 433 154 280 121 280 472 259-64 Land i^ gents : Education and technical training, Goddard 898-405 Education of, important, Wrightson ... 65 Profession, position of, and suggestions, Goddard 405-7 Land Courts, not advocated, Crawford, 5; Clark 278 382 382 281 544 307 307 221 112 Land Purchase : Irish system. Green ,. possible Methods of financing. Green Land Tenure : no Amendments of conditions needed to encourage increased production, Clark... Comparison between England and Ireland, Gill Leiaving tenant should have right to select successor, subject to landlord's approval, and saleable right in lease, Patterson ... Security to farmers against disturbance necessary, Patterson ... Scotland, system. Shields ... System not a bar to increased production, with sufficient safeguards, Jones-Davies Wales, clause on certain estate in connec- tion with condemnation of house or buildings by Sanitary Authorities, and objection to, Bryner Jones ... 173, 175 Landowners : Ageiculturai. Education: Courses at Cambridge, Biff en 361 Importance of, Wrightson, 55; Bussell, 200; Acland.'. 323 Suggestion, MiddJeton 350 Capital, difficulty, Acland 29 increased Interest in farms desirable, Patterson 307 Management of estates by, to public ad- vantage, Patterson 307 greater Powers to, to get rid of bad tenants advocated, Bussell, 201 ; Shields, 221; Patterson 307 Scotland : Agricultural knowledge, lack of. Shields 221 Relations with tenants, STiieZds ... 221 Unable through financial reasons to pro- perly equip estate or effect repairs. State should have power to take over estatei at fair valuation, Bryner Jones ... 175 Sons should be educated in agriculture. Fielding 76 Wales, relations with tenants, Bryner Jones ... ... ... 174 Light Railway and tramway system, should be expanded, and as alternative! or corollary, motor traction. Green 385 127 Lime : Comparison with basic slag, Edwards .-.. Co-operative purchase advocated in Wales, Edwards * Increased use of, desirable, Clarh Para. 152 152 2e9 Livestock ; Breeding- and feeding of, to secure earlie/r maturity, advocated, Paterson Dairy cows, selection of, according to con- stitution and milk production, advo- cated, Paterson •.. ... House-fed in Scotland for eight months in the year, Ferguson Ireland : Compulsory powers of Department, Campbell Improvement in breed, measures for, Campbell Improvement in, and improved farm- ing necessary to maintain, Doran ... Insurance', State assistance suggested, Anderson '...' Veterinary dispensaries, Campbell ... Work of Department re, Campbell ... Open grazing not essential, Wrightson ... Position since 1875 compared with Ger- many, Fielding Prices, fall after the war, possible. Middleton Rearing of Shields Slaughter of calves, suggested system, high-class dairy cows on showing signs of becoming dry, and stopping of, desirable, Shine, Webb ... LinBolnshire, small holdings, Greew ... 3 LOBJOIT, W. G.i Chairman of Market Garden, Fruit and Hop Growing Committee of Central Chamber of Agriculture, etc. ... LOVAT, Brigadier-General the Lord, K.C.V.O., D.S.O 167 167 82 572 555 445 474 564 566 52 57 121 223 615 69, 372 617-25 408-20 299 217 283 226-36 469 Mailing College, Kent, fruit station in con- nection with. Berry 287 Manure : Artificial, see that title. Farm yard, waste of, and better conserva- tion advocateid, Patterson Government should cover yards. Shields ... Market Gardening, see Intensive Cultivation. Marsh Land, ploughing up question. Berry ... Maulden, Bedfordshire, small holders' owner- ships scheime, Hall Meat trade, co-operation, Ireland, Anderson... MIDDLETON, T. H., C.B., Assistant Secre- tarv, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 113-21,324-60 Milling Societies, Ireland, Anderson 468 Miller's offals, prohibition of export, miller would offe* farmer less for wheat, Middleton 121 MILNER, The Rt. Hon. Viscount, G.C.B., G.C.M.G 237-65 Minipium Price, see Guaranteed Price. Minimum Wage, see under Wages. Motor Ploughs : Advantage of, and more extended use advocated, Bussell, 198 Encouragement of perfecting of, and tractor, advocated, Shields ... ... 217 Motor or Steam Ploughs, " Agricola " scheme. Fielding 62 MUNRO, The Rt. Hon. ROBERT, K.C., M.P., Secretary for Scotland 591-602 Norfolk small holdings. Overman, 293; Barnard ... ...389-92,397 Norton, small holdings. Green ... 368 Oats Para. Oats — cont. Scotland, increased production possible by judicious change of seed, treatment of, before sowing, and more general and liberal use of well-balanced artificial manures, etc., Paterson ... 168 Substitution for wheat since 1874, Middleton 120 note Oil Motor Tractors, advantage's, and cost of using, Ferguson 84 OVERMAN, HENRY, farmer 289-298 PATERSON, Principal W. G. R., West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow ...162-171 PATTERSON, R. G., farmer 299+308 PEET, Mr., H.M. Inspector of Technological Branch in Rural Subjects ... 607-14 Pig industry, development desirable, Paterson 167 Potash, see under Artificial Manures, Potatoes : Drying of, for flour and stock feeding, in Germany, Middleton 131 Possibilities of gfowing, in Wales, Jones- Davies 112 Results of research work, Biff en 357 " Seed " potatoes, special reduced rate for car- riage of, suggested, Shields 216 Poultry Keeping : Co-operation in Ireland, Anderson Demonstration poultry crofts in Islands of Tiree and Islay, Paterson Extension and improvement in, advocated, Paterson Highland and Agricultural Society gtant for assistance of small holders, T)rysdale Prices, security against fall in, necessary, Paterson Protection policy would be bad for agriculture', Acland Purchase of Land Bill : Advantages to occupying owners. Green ... Provisions, Green Public Schools : Agricultural course, suggestion, David Farm Squads, David School Farm, suggestion, David ... 467 167 167 423 169 17 381 376 446-^54 451-2 451 Crop, improvement possible, Biff en ... 356 Cultivation on hill farms in Wales, Edwards 151-2 Guaranteed price, see that title. Railway Rates, need for reclassification. Berry 288 Ranching, Wales, increase owing to shortage of labour, Jones-Davies 107, 108 Rates : Adjustment of burden desirable, Acland ... 23 Unfair burdens on agricultural land, and change of system advocated. Green ... 386 Reclamation of Land : Scotland : Position, Wright 129 Possibilities, Shields 223 Wales, and further scope) for, Jones- Davies 105,111 REID, NORMAN, member of Scottish Land Court 483-93 Rents : Agricultural land, under-rented in some cases. Fielding ... Fixing of, objections to, Acland Increase as result of Guaranteed Price, see under Guaranteed Price. Interference between landlord and tenant not necessary, Clark, 278; Overman Provision against undue raising of, by landowners might be necessary, with guaranteed price. Fielding Tenants should be able to refer to im- partial body, such as Board of Agricul- ture, Bryner Jones .,. . Wales, comparison with England, Bryner Jones 174, 175 Root Crops, importance of, and comparison of profits with wheat, Bussell 196 76 24 291 70 175 lis Para. RUSSELL, E. J., D.Sc, Director of Rotham- sted Experimental Station, Harpenden ...189-202 Rural Credit Banks, need for, Cfreen 374 Rural housing problem, importance of, Acland 22 Rural League, work of, in connection with vil- lage industries, Oreen 383-4 Ruxox, Bedfordshire, small holdings scheme, Hall 225^4 Scotland : see also general subject headings. . Management of estates through lawyers' offices complained of by farmers, Ferguson '° Seceetaby for: Inclusion of agricultural administra- tion, reason for, and change not ad- ' vooated, Munro 594-5 Scope of Department, Munro ■■• 592-3 SCOTT, LESLIE, K.C, M.P«, Chairman of the Agricultural Organisation Society ... 579-87 Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, Ltd., work of, Brysdale 421-31 Scottish Farm Servants' Union : Joint CommitteJes with Natiohal Farmers' Union of Scotland to be established, Duncan ... ... ... ... ... 203 Membership, branched, etc., Duncan ... 203 Work of, Duncan 209 Scottish Small Holders' Organisation, work considered satisfactory, Munro 602 Secondary Schools, ruralised curriculum, pos- sibility of, and suggestions, etc., Stead ... 515 Seed Toting, extension of stations for, not considered necessary. Biff en 360 " Seed ".potatoes, special reduced rate for carriage of, suggested, Shields 216 SHIELDS, G. BERTRAM, farmer 216-23 SHINE, E. B., head of Live Stock Branch of Board of Agriculture and Fisheries 603-616 Smallholdings and Allotments : Advantage of, as means of increasing rural population. Sail 234 Attitude re artificial manures, Barnard ... 396 Buildings : Cost, Green 372 Difficulties exaggerated, Oreen ... 372 Erection or supervision by small holder more economical than by County Council or landowner. Green 372 Colonisation system, Green 373 Co-OPEKATION : Difficulty of forming societies, Lohjoit 622 Value/ of. Green 373 Demand for, Barnard 394-5 Difficulty in paying rent in first year, cases known, Barnard 393 Equipment, importance of allowing suffi- cient for, at start, Barnard 397 Essential to success of large farms, Edwards 158 Importance of, as means of improving life of rural labourers. Green... ... ... 362 more Labour retained on" land per acre than on large farms. Green ... ... 367-8 as a Means of fixing men on the land, Clark 280 National advantages, Green 371 Occupying Ownership : Advantages, Green 377-8 Advantages of Purchase of Land Bill, Green 381 Facilities advocatedj Green 375 General desire for, throughout the country, Green 380 Maulden scheme, Kail 226-86 alleged Objections to, dealt with. Green 379 Period of repayment should be long, but might be arranged in each case, Oreen 382 more Production obtained than with tenancy system. Green ... 375, 377 Scheme, Milner 257-8 increased Production, room for, Overman 292 Prosperity of, Barnard ... 390 Para. Smallholdings and Allotments— con«. Quality of dairy produce compared with large farms; Green ,^70 Ruxpx scheme, HoJf 225-34 Scotland: Advantages of, to landowners, Wright ' 126 little Demand for, Duncan ... ... 214 Enlargement of holdings desired in many cases, and suggestion, Drys- dale 430 Increased production and causes, Drysdale ... " . ■■■ 421-4 Type of farming most suitable for, Wright 126 Types : must be Decideid by circumstances. Green 369 Examples, of, Oreen ... 369 Shoring Demonstration Farm, Overman 297, 298 Soil Products, imports, 1913, amount that could have been produced in U.K., Fielding 57 Standard Wage, see Minimnm under Wages. STANIER, Captain BEVILLE, M.P., Chair- man of the B,ritish Sugar Beet GroweTs' Society, Ltd 181-8 STEAD,' Mr., Staff Inspector in Science for Secondary Schools ... 515 STRUTT, the Hon. E. G 144-50 Sugar Beet Industry : Advantages, Middleton, 121 ; Dowling, 143; Stanier ... 187 Area suitable for, Stanier ... 188 Conditions necessary, and prospects, Dowling ... ... ... ... ... 143 Cost of cultivation, Oijermon 297 Cost of prodiiction, Stomer 181 Demonstration farm desirable, Bu.isell ... 202 Development advocated, Dowling ... ... 143 Eastern Counties, reason for farmers having lost interest in, Siawer 188 Example of economic value of plant breeding, Biff en ... ... 352 Experiments in Ireland, Doran 444 Fertility of soil improved by, Dowling ... 142 Labour question, Dowling ... 143 Norfolk, position. Overman ... ... 297 1,000,000 acres should be grown, Fielding 74 . Soil suitable for, Dowling ... ... 142', 143 Statu Assistance: Advances to incorporated body, scheme, Stanier ... 183-8 not Necessary, Dnwlinn ... ... 143 Necessary, for trial, Stanier 182-3 Trial of possibilities by factory with own fnrm. poberae, Stanier ... ... ... 182-8' Sii'Tihate of Ammonia, . 116, Geafton Steeet, Dublin. 1918. |CM. 9079.] iy«j« Is. 3rf. Net. MINISTRY OF RECONSTRUCTION. EEPOET OF THE AGRICULTUEAL POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE ' OF THE EECONSTEUCTION COMMITTEE, APPOINTED IN AUGUST,. 1916, TO CONSIDER AND EEPOET UPON THE METHODS OF EFFECTING AN INCEEASE IN THE HOIE-GEOWN FOOD SUPPLIES, HAVING EEGAED TO THE NEED OF SUCH INCEEASE IN THE INTEEESTS OF NATIONAL SECUEITY, TOGETHER WITH REPORTS BY SIR MATTHEW G. WALLACE. Presented to Parliament b^ Command of His tftajesty. LONDON: PTTBLISHED BY HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. To be purchased through any Bookseller or directly from H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE at the following addresses: Imperial House, KiisreswAT, London, W.C.2, and 28, Abingdon Street, London, S.W.l; 37, Peter Street, Manchester; 1, St. Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff; 23, Forth" Street,' Edinburgh ; or from E. PONSONBY, Ltd., 116, Grafton Street, Dublin. 1918, [Cd. 9079.J Price Is. M. Net. 2 CONTENTS. Page List of Members and Terms of Reference , 2 Summary of Contents of Report of the Sub-Committee 3 Historical Preface by Alexander Goddard 7 REPORT OF SUBtCOMMITTEE : Parti 12 REPORT BY SIR MATTHEW G. WALLACE: let Report ... 28 Report of Sub-Committee {continued) : Postscript to Part 1 33 Partn 35 Appendices ... 93 Report by Sir Matthew G. Wallace : 2nd Report 134 LIST OF MEMBERS AND TERMS OF REFERENCE. 1. The Prime Minister appointed in August, 1916, a Sub-Committee of the Reconstruction Committee composed as follows : — . The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Selborne, E.G., G.O.M.G. (Chairman), tSir Charles Bathurst, K.B.E., M.P., Mr. C. M. Douglas, C.B., D.Sc, The Rt. Hon. Sir Ailwyn Fellowes, K.C.V.O., Mr. W. J. Fitzherbert-Brockholes, C.B.E., Sir Daniel Hall, K.C.B., F.R.S., Mr. W. A. Haviland, Mr. C. Bryner Jones, M.Sc, t*TheRt. Hon. R. E. Prothero, M.V.O., M.P., Mr. G. G. Rea, C.B.E. tTheRt. Hon. G. H. Roberts, M.P., The Hon. E. G. Strutt, Sir Matthew Wallace, Mr. H. L. French, O.B.E., Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, [ t • . c x AT 1 ^ jj J } Joint becretanes, ^i. Alexander Goddard, i ' Secretary of the Surveyors' Institution, ' with the following terms of reference : — "Having regard \o the need of increasing home-grown food supplies in the interest of national security, to consider and report upon the methods of effecting such increase." 2. In November, 1916 the Prime Minister appointed the following additional members to represent Irish interests on the Sub-Committee : — The Most Rev. Dr. Kelly, Lord Bishop of Ross, The Rt. Hon. Sir Horace C. Plunkett, K.C.V.O., F.R.S. • Appointed in his capacity as a member of the Committee on Commercial and Industrial Policy, t Resigned in February, 1917, owing to his Departmental duties making it impossible for him to attend the meetings of the Sub-Committee. Note. — Part I of the Report was published as a Parliamentary Paper in March, 1917 [Cd. 8506], price Bel. net. Summaries of Evidence taken before the Sub-Committee are published separately [Cd. 9080], price 1*. 3d. net. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS OF REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE. Paragraph. Page. PART I. Historical Preface Introduction Effects of the Agricultural Depression Home production of wheat, 1700-1879 Fall in prices, 1875-1895 Change from arable farming to pasture ... .., Reduction in number of persons engaged in agriculture ... Increase in prices, 1894-1913 Arable land still converted into pasture In Scotland land left longer in temporary lay ... ... Lack of confidence the cause Capital repelled from agriculture Need for a new Agricultural Policy ' Imports of food stuffs, 1913 Comparison between home and German production ^ Increase in arable area necessary to secure any large increase in production This applies to meal and milk as well as corn Estimates as to amount of increase possible ... A definite policy for the future necessary Directions in which agriculture might be improved ... • Greater stability of prices essential Minimum wages and minimum prices of wheat and oats recommended Conversion of every class of grass land not recommended Possible need for tarifE in future discussed Reasons for not extending minimum price to barley Agricultural Wages (see also par. 69 et seq.). Official enquiry into rates of wages, 1907 Increase since 1907 Establishment of Wages Boards recommended Constitution of Wages Boards Duties of Wages Boards Arrangements suggested for piece-work employment of non-able-bodied men, women, &c. ... Payments in kind Free and low-rented cottages Price of Wheat and Oats. Minimum price of 42s. for wheat and 23g. for oats recommended Method of calculating payments recommended Possible cost to the country Object of the proposal advantage to the nation, not profit to the injlividual Urgent need for restoration of confidence Advantage of guarantee over tarifE Replies to possible objections Effect OF Guaranteed Prices on Rents. Minimum prices would not necessarily react on rents Capital provided by owner and its influence on rents EfEect of establishing a Land Court would be to discourage investment of capital in improvements • Establishment of minimum prices would justify pressure by State in favour of improved methods Land Courts not recommended Method of Securing increased Production. Need for better cultivation to be made known y General agricultural survey recommended by panel of Assessors Procedure to be followed after survey Board of Agriculture to have power to take over management of estates Implied duty on owners and occupiers to manage and cultivate land well Procedure for removal of bad tenants Co-operation with National Agricultural Councils Improvement of common grazing lands Need for erection of cottages Greater powers of using settled money for estate improvements desirable Need for technical advice ... Sugar Beet. Advantages of developing sugar beet industry ... Difficulties at present in the way State assistance required , POSTCRIPT TO PART I. Effect of minimum laid down by Corn Production Act Maximum prices should be discontinued as soon as possible Wages Board in Dublin to be made permanent More cottages, let at economic rents, to be erected ... Difference of conditions obtaining in Ireland What has been done in Ireland to enforce cultivation under Defence of Realm Act Powers of Department of Agriculture under Defence of Realm Act with regard to enforcing 6^ proper cultivation should be extended and made permanent (6/18.) (I9792r— lO.) Wt. 28436— 662. 1500. 10/18. D & S. G. 35. 1-29 1-4 5-10 5 H 7 7 9 9 10 11-23 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 20 21 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 28 29 30 33 35 et seq. 39 40 41 42 43 et seq. 46 47 48 et seq. 50 51 52 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 66 67 69 70 72 73 75 77 78 2 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 22 23 23 23 24 24 25 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 26 26 27 33 33 33 33 33 34 33 A 2 PART II Scope AND Limitation op the Enqitiry. Beasons for issuing Interim Report The four principal objects towards which the enquiry has been directed The Departments op Agriculture. Causes resulting in three separate Departments No separate Department for Wales recommended ... Ireland. Irish Department, history of origin Irish Council of Agriculture Irish Agricultural Board Income of Department Methods adopted by Department in carrying on its work No change in Irish Department recommended ..; Scotland. Scottish Board of Agriculture, history of origin Do. do. methods of carrying on its work Do. do. now under Secretary for Scotland ... Appointment of directly responsible Minister recommended National Council of Agriculture and Advisory Committee recommended Statutory County Agricultural Committees recommended England and Wales. Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, history of origin Do. do. organization Case for separate Fisheries Board Department should be unified and its stafE strengthened Statutory County Agricultural Committees recommended National Agricultural Council recommended National Agricultural Council for Wales Agricultural Advisory Committee Delegates from the four National Agricultural Councils should confer annually Agricultural Instruction and Research. Ireland. System adopted in Ireland Co-operation of County Agricultural Committees Winter schools Greater provision for scientific research needed Scotland. System adopted in Scotland Instruction in Agriculture centralized and not under County Councils Organization of by Agricultural Colleges described Further development in work done by Agricultural Colleges recommended, especially in research England and Wales. Division of responsibility between Boards of Agriculture and Education Scope of activities of the Board of Education Do. Board of Agriculture Increase of latter by grants from Development Commissions Research Institutes Arrangements with Development Commissioners for setting up Advisory Councils, Farm Schools and Institutes County Administration : Sources of Funds' , Difficulty of stimulating backward Counties Reasons why County Administration has proved unsatisfactory Responsibility for Agricultural Education should be definitely placed on Board of Agriculture and cost borne by Imperial Exchequer Co-operation with Welsh Agricultural Council recommended England and Wales and Scotland. Elementary and Secondary Education, need for rural bias Continuation Schools : Agriculture should be allowed as an alternative subject Secondary Schools, improved ruralized curriculum required and better prospects for teachers required Demonstration Farms should be established General direction in which agricultural instruction should proceed Need for large farms run on business lines Need for greater concentration on research work Agricultural machinery New Crops Live stock schemes should be further developed Milk recording societies Check on use of bad sires required Tuberculosis in cattle Live stock officers should be servants of the Board of Agriculture Expenditure on Agricultural education in different countries Women's part in agricultural reconstruction Education of landowners and agents Organisation and Co-operation. Objects of agricultural organisation Difficulties in the way of combination Existing Organisation Societies and their policy The Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, historical The English Agricultural Organisation Society, historical The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society and Small- holders Organisation, historical ... The future of the Co-operative Movement Need for the further support from national funds , ,,. , Paragraph. Page. 81 35 82 35 83 35 83 35 85 36 88 36 90 36 91 36 92 37 96 37 98 37 99 37 100 37 101 38 101 38 101 38 102 38 103 38 105 39 106 39 107 39 108 39 109 40 110 40 112 40 114 40 115 41 116 41 117 41 118 • 41 121 41 123 41 124 41 127 42 128 42 131 43 182 43 135 44 136 44 138 45 140 45 142 45 143 45 146 46 148 " 46 153 47 156 47 159 47 161 48 162 48 163 48 166 49 167 49 168 49 169 49 170 49 171 50 174 50 175 50 176 50 178 50 179 50 181 51 184 52 186 53 188 53 189 53 191 54 193 54 i. o PART II. — continued. AGBICttLTUKAL CeEDIT. The organisation of credit in different countries Board of Agriculture Report on Agricultural Credit in Germany Requirements of Ireland Requirements of Scotland Requirements of England Procedure under Land Improvement Act Preliminary expenses in respect of loans should be reduced Methods of obtaining credit through Co-operative Trading Societies and Central Trading Board recommended Deposits in Post Office Savings Bank should be available for use of Central Trading Boards Organised agricultural credit should in the future become self-supporting Smallholdings : Ownership and Tenancy. Small and large holdings as food producers ... Ownership and Tenancy, conflict of opinion ... The Small Land- Holders (Scotland) Act, special form of tenure. Enquiry recommended... Small Holdings Acts (England and Wales) : position reviewed Report of Departmental Committee on settlement of discharged sailors and soldiers on the land The Maulden and Ruxox Colonies Both large and small holdings are required ; and both occupying ownerships and tenancies... The equipment of small holdings Schemes of purchase recommended by Lord Haversham's Committee Sir Edward Holden's Scheme, adopted by majority of committee Sir Trustram Eve's Minority Scheme Mr. Jesse CoUings' Land Purchase Bill The Instalment System V. the Annuity System Effect of the change in rate of interest on purchase scheme Adoption of principle of Land Purchase Bill recommended Village Reconstruction, Industries and Rural Life. Need for increased attractions of rural life Scheme for village reconstruction ... •■• The development of rural industries and Women's Institutes should be a recognised activity oftheA.O.S Tithe Redemption. Proposal to free land of tithe by handing over other land for village reconstruction'. Method of procedure recommended Local Taxation. ' Grounds on which claim for amendment are based ... ... ... Recommendations of Royal Commission on Agriculture, 1893 ... ... ... Recommendations of Royal Commission on Local Taxation, 1896 Recommendations of Departmental Committees on Local Taxation, 1912 Defects of principles on which local taxation is based Injurious effects on agriculture Connection between local taxation and farmers assessments to income tax Periodic re-valuation recommended ... Statistics given showing increases in local burdens Burden on real as compared with personal property ... Recommendations for more equitable division of burden of national services between local and national funds ... The Agricultural Holdings Acts. Historical retrospect Compensation for improvements ... ... Cumulative fertility Dilapidations ... ... ... ... Sections 1 (2) 4 and 5 Compensation for disturbance Damage by game Freedom of cropping and disposal of produce ' Procedure: purposes for reducing cost ... Recommendations re notices ... ... ... ° ... Arbitration; need for qualified men... ... 1st Schedule : changes recommended 2nd Schedule : changes recommended General : Sections 3 (3), 23 (3), 35 (3), 40 Mortgagees in possession and compensation for disturbance^ ... ... Market Gardens : present deadlock ..." '".."."".!.'""..".' The Evesham Custom Report of Departmental Committee on Fruit Industry, 1905 Adoption of principle of Evesham Custom recommended... Agreements outside above to be permitted subject to approval by Board of Agriculture ... Procedure recommended when owner refuses to permit land! to be used for market gardening Undeveloped Land Duty ... Reclamation and Drainage. Reclamation work carried out in Ireland Memorandum on Reclamation by Sir Daniel Hall Memorandum on Reclamation by Sir S. Olivier and Mr. T. H. Middleton Opinions of Scottish and Welsh representatives ... ... ... ... Memorandum by Development Commissioners ... ... ... Difficulties from multiplicity of ownership, etc. ... ... Parliament should set up a reclamation agency with power to acquire land for that purpose, and should determine the principle on which land should be acquired for reclamation... 19792 Paragraph. Page. 200 56 205 56 207 57 211 57 214 58 215 58 216 58 219 59 223 60 224 60 225 60 226 60 227 60 227 60 228 61 228 61 229 61 230 62 231 62 233 63 235 63 236 63 237 63 238 64 241 64 243 65 245 65 246 269 65 247 65 249 66 250 66 252 66 253 66 255 67 257 67 259 68 260 68 262 68 264 69 266 69 70 272 71 275 71 276 72 277 72 277 72 278 72 279 73 280 73 281 73 283 73 284 74 285 74 286 74 287 74 288 75 289 75 293 75 294 76 296 76 299 76 300 76 301 77 303 77 304 80 306 80 307 80 309 81 310 81 311 81 A 3 PART II.— continued. Paragraph. Page 341 85 342 85 345 ■ 86 Reci/AmatIon and Drainage — continued. A special Sub-Committee of Reconstruction Committee should be set up to consider principles on which land should be acquired ... ... ... 312 82 Doubts as to suitability of discharged sailor and soldier labour ... ... 313 82 Existing Land Drainage Acts ... ... ... 314 82 Land Drainage Act, 1914, should be continued until Parliament deals with whole subject in a comprehensiye manner ... ... ... , 323 83 Reclamation and Land Drainage Authorities should be set up for each of the three Kingdoms 325 83 Duties of these Authorities ... 326 83 Agricultural Committees should be responsible for minor works ... ... 331 84 Deer Forests. Increase in area under deer forests ... ... •.• 332 84 Much land now afEorested might carry sheep 333 84 DifiBcul ties in way of de-afforestation ... ... 3.34 84 Land suitable for agriculture or forestry should be utilized for those purposes. Special survey recommended 336 85 National policy of afforestation, and intermingling plantations and small-holdings, recommended ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 339 85 The Elimination op Pests and Weeds. Powers of Irish Department not possessed by English and Scottish Boards of Agriculture ... 340 85 Legislation to prohibit sale of grass and clover seeds without guarantee of purity, germin- ation, etc. and to schedule and deal with weeds, recommended Similar legislation for elimination of animal pests, needed The Agricultural Committees to be the responsible authorities The Supply op Artificial Manures. The position with regard to the supply of artificial manures is likely to be satisfactory ... 346 86 Weights and Measures. ' Inconvenience caused by present diversity of weights and measures Examples of diversity given Proposals of Central Chamber of Agriculture in 1869 and 1917 Special Sub-committee of Reconstruction Committee recommended to consider whole subject of weights and measures General principles recommended Transport. Dependence of agriculture on transport facilities ... , Reasons why canals are little used for agricultural produce Comparison between rates and services of home and foreign railways ... Preferential treatment Special Sub-committee of Reconstruction Committee recommended Conclusion. Principles of Corn Production Act should be adopted as the permanent poUcy of the country Parts I and II of the Report must be looked upon as complementary The country must be independent of overseas supplies of corn, potatoes and dairy produce, and less dependent on overseas supplies of meal Increased cost of production to the farmer after the war... Land under plough grows more food than under grass Fixity of tenure incompatible with increased food production Replies to criticism of recommendations in Part I of Report 347 86 348 86 350 87 351 87 351 87 352 87 355 i'8 356 88 356 88 357 88 358 88 359 89 360 89 .361 89 362 89 363 90 366 90 HISTORICAL PREFACE TO THE REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE By Alexander Goddard. 1. A brief survey of the agricultural conditions during the last hundred years, and the political and social factors exercising an influence on thosfi' conditions, may conduce towards an understanding of the existing agricultural position. 2. It is now clear to us, as the possessors of a certain amount of historical perspective, that the change in the balance of political power which followed the Reform Act of 1832, and invested in the industrial classes the ability to dictate the national policy, was bound inevitably to prove detrimental to agricultural interests, unless something of vital importance occurred to open the eyes of the community to their dependence upon the home-grown food supply. 3. At the beginning of the 19th Cej^tury certain economic factojs, likely to exercise a profound influence on the future of agriculture, were beginning to make themselves felt. Of these the first, and perhaps the most important, was the rapid increase in the population. The Census of 1811 for England and Wales showed a total of 10,150,615 persons, 125 years having been required (though early data are not very reliable) to double the population. Subsequently the increase continued at a greatly accelerated rate, so that at the 1911 Census we find a total of 36,070,492 for England and Wales, and 45,370,530 for the United Kingdom. A month before the outbreak of war the latter was officially estimated at 46,089,249. 4. In spite of this increase in population the country remained practically self -supporting as regards food until well on into the nineteenth century, the Napoleonic Wars having resulted in improved methods and largely increasing production. During the first ten years of the century imported wheat only averaged about 600,000 quarters per annum, and this amount was reduced to 458 j 578 quarters per annum during the next ten yeaffs. Yet statistics show that from 1765 onwards the country was beginning to import grain on an increasing scale, and from 1793 the imports of this commodity have always exceeded the exports. At the present time, although we produce practically all the fresh milk we require, it is quite otherwise with other food essentials, our production of wheat being roughly one-fifth of the amount consumed, of meat rather more than one-half, butter and margarine one-fourth, and cheese one-fifth. 5. At this distance of time we can see that in the absence of measures to the contrary, agriculture was bound to lose pride of place as the most considered national industry. In the first half of the last century manufactures, especially of cotton goods, were assuming increasing importance, attracting labour to industrial pursuits and creating a demand for cheap food to sujDport cheap labour for manufacturing purposes. The centre of gravity of the nation was, in point of fact, beginning to shift from the country to the town, a process associated with increas- ing facilities of communication by road and canal, and the beginning of railway enterprise. By 1834 there were 4,000 miles of canals and navigable rivers available in Great Britain; and even more significant was the opening of the Stockton to Darlington Railway in 1821, followed by that between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830, and the London and Birmingham line in 1838. 6. In the year 1815, when peace was finally declared, the British farmer was living in a species of fool's paradise, the assumption apparently being that the agricultural prosperity due to the war might be maintained in times of peace, while the true meaning of the slowly in- creasing imports of food was not realised. War had been largely responsible for an enlargement of the cultivated area, a more scientific method of farming, and improvements in live stock and implements. But it had also connoted an advance in the scale of living, accompanied by an alarming growth in rates and taxes. Even advances in method were not unattended, with trouble, as witness later the Agrarian riots of 1830-31, partly directed against labour saving machinery. The rise of manufactures, also, helped to upset the stability of village life, and to promote rural depopulation in a particularly insidious way, by gradually destroying the domestic stage of industry, especially as regards the spinning and weaving which from time immemorial had played an important part in the life of rural communities. Small farmers and labourers were hard hit by the decline of homespun fabrics, and this helped to aggravate the many troubles associated with agricultural labour from the 'thirties onwards. 7. These difficulties were doubtless intensified by the rapid progress of enclosures during this period; for although the discontinuance of the open field system resulted in a substantial advancement in agricultural methods and in an increased production of food, the manner in which the enclosures were carried out operated hardly upon the labouring classes and was calcu- lated to- embitter them against their employers. The labourers were aware that the forebears of many had, as openfield farmers, tilled their own land, and the enclosures were only too often made with scant consideration for the rights of the smaller men. 8. The passing of the Reform Act in 1832, as has already been indicated, marks an epoch in English history in its effect upon the agricultural and landed interests. For upwards of a century the political influence attaching to the mere possession of land had tended to increase, a circumstance to which the existence of " fancy franchises " enabling landowners to nominate 19792 ^ * Members of Parliament, or to create in constituencies a body of dependent voters sufficient to turn an election, contributed. It followed that ambitious but landless men who had money in trade eagerly sought every opportunity of becoming landowners, while those who already possessed land endeavoxired to enlarge and consolidate their estates. The Enclosure Acts offered facilities for this, and not only led to the extinction of many small tenant farmers, but also had much to do with the decline in the number of yeomen and small freeholders which took place with extraordinary rapidity during this period. 9. Under the conditions then obtaining it followed that both Houses of Parliament .were mainly recruited from among the landowning classes, and the character of legislation, parti- cularly in connection with subjects such as enclosures, corn duties and poor 4aw, was much affected by the fact. With the Reform Act, however, the first real step towards democratizing Parliament was taken, and interests in some ways directly opposed to those of the land began to exert their influence on the country's affairs. Although perhaps not at first recognised, and although no great trial of strength took place until the repeal of the Corn Laws became a burning question nearly twenty years later, the political value of land had received its death blow. 10. In 1814 the Com Laws, by which for many years somewhat ineffectual attempts had been made to steady prices by regulating imports and exports of grain, ceased to be operative as regards the latter, and the following year what is sometimes called " the " Com Law was passed. This it is true afforded & modicum of protection, but even its primary aim of maintaining war prices in times of peace was not attained, the average decennial prices of wheat being 93s. 6d. for the years 1805-14, 68s. 9d. for 1815-24, and QOs. 3d. for 1825-1834. Meanwhile the growing population and developing manufactures created an increasing demand for cheap food, which resulted in the repeal of the Com Laws in 1846 and their final abolition in 1849. A nominal registration duty of one shilling a quarter on foreign imported corn continued to be charged, but even this was dropped in 1869. We see now that the diminished political power of the agricul- tural interest made this change inevitable, but its coming was doubtless accelerated by the harvest failure and potato famine which created such serious alarm in 1845. 11. The year 1846 marks the triumph of the democracy over the landowner, and the abandonment of the principle that the food of the kingdom should be produced from the land of the kingdom, the accepted policy for the future being the provision of cheap food for the consumer, esp'tecially the operative, who was thereby made a cheaper labour machine for the benefit of his employer. Prior to the present war, no great emergency arose which directed the national attention to the importance of a well secured supply of home-grown food. The interests of agriculture . were not considered and the farmer was left to shift for himself. He was no longer looked upon as an integral and essential part of the national economic organism, and gradually came to occupy a merely subsidiary position, allowed to make a living if and when uncontrolled prices enabled him to do so. These effects were not foreseen at the time. Few persons if any anticipated that the increase of population would so speedily outstrip that of the soil, and indeed many convinced Free Traders held the view that the stimulus of competition would enable the home output of food to keep pace with the needs of the community. Distance still gave a natural protection to the home supply, and the effect of steam in flooding the home markets with cheaply produced grain from virgin soils at prices with which the home-grown article could not compete, could not be foreseen. 12. To us it is obvious that in the early 'thirties increased effort was essential if agriculture was to hold the position it had attained during the period of somewhat fictitious prosperity engendered by the long war, which had attracted immense sums of money for the purchase and improvement of land. It is estimated that during the war rents had doubled and much land had been brought into cultivation which under less favourable conditions could give no adequate return. But a period of acute depression had followed, and farmers, heavily rated and taxed, were in most cases content to exhaust the fertility of the soil, accumulated in more prosperous times. The Poor Laws, too, were of a most unsatisfactory description, lending direct encour- agement to pauperization and deterioration in the quality of labour, while in many cases the method of collecting tithes gave rise to much friction and ill-feeling. The net result was a gesnefal retrograde movemenii, involving not only farmers but numerous associated trades, and during the cycle of years preceding 1836 much land was recklessly thrown upon the market. 13. During this period, however, some relief was afforded to agriculture by legislative methods. A Commission of Enquiry into the Poor Laws was appointed in 1832 which resulted in the statute of 1834. This removed the premium on pauperization which had obtained under the old system and led to a rapid fall in the amount of public money spent in relief. In 1832 this had exceeded seven million sterling, a sum which dropped to something over four millions in 1838. Tbe Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 dealt with another agricultural grievance, and- the Highway Act of 1835 abolished statute labour for minor roads and substituted a highway rate. These measures, adjustments of rents, and an enlarging market for agricultural produce resulting from industrial expansion paved the way for better times, and a Select Committee which sat in 1836 demonstrated a certain revival. 14. But more wide-reaching than any legislative measures was the development of the railway system, which now began to exercise an increasing influence. The introduction of steam power had already had an important effect on the industrial life of the nation, and it was now to throw open the markets thus created to produce from all parts of the kingdom. The years 1837-75 broadly coincide with a period of increasing -though fluctuating agricultural pro- sperity, accompanied by a marked progress in scientific methods,- a progress which culminated in the great scientific revival of the second half of the nineteenth century. The foundation of 9 tke Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1838 was an important event, and its motio,- Practice with Science," embodied the central idea of the most enlightened agriculturists of the time. Philip Pusey, in the first number of its Journal (1839), speaks of improvements in manures, seeds, machinery, &c. ; and alludes to the good ,work being done by agricultural societies and clubs. The growing importance of science was demonstrated in the early 'forties by the publication of Liebig's classic work on agricultural chemistry (1840), and the establish- ment of the Eothamsted Eesearch Station by Lawes and Gilbert (1843) ; while the foundation of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester (1845), was the first step in the direction of the system of agricultural education which is still in course of construction. 15. Despite the withdrawal of protective measures in 1846 farmers managed to do well owing to the fact that the country was practically self-supporting as regards food. The following table shows the quinquennial average price of wheat from 1841 to 1875 : — • s. d. 1841-45 ... ' 54 9 1846-50 1851-55 1856-60 1861-65 1866-70 1870-75 51 10 55 11 53 47 54 54 4 6 7 8 16. It is true that from 1849 to 1852 a sharp cycle of severe depression checked what was otherwise a period of advance and prosperity, wheat falling to 38s. 6d. in 1851, the lowest price touched for seventy years; but this was immediately followed by what has been called the " Golden Age " of English agriculture, to which the enhanced' prices of the Crimean war and the great gold finds of Australia and California contributed. During this period a notable advance was made in the manufacture of farm implements and machinery, and in the knowledge of drainage and other mechanical means of increasing the productiveness of the soil, which tended to make more effective the scientific research and experiments with feeding stuffs which had by then begun to attract universal attention. j 17. Both in the improvement of live stock and in the application of scientific methods to farming operations the country owes much to the landowners of that day. Vast sums were expended by them on the improvement of their estates, in the erection of farm buildings, and in the drainage of water-logged land ; and it is perhaps not too much to say that the prominent position attained by British agriculture was largely due to their efforts. 18. During the " 'seventies" agriculture continued to be reasonably prosperous — partly as a result of the infiation of prices due to the Franco-Prussian "War — until 1875, when a period of depression set in which was acute to 1884, and again became serious in 1893. Reckless speculation, followed by commercial collapse, helped this decline, which was intensified by a series of bad seasons, culminating in the disastrous year of 1879. In that year losses from disease among cattle and sheep were aggravated by persistent rain and a seriously deficient harvest. In many cases crops could not be secured, and the yield from those which were hardly exceeded half the normal amount. An even more serious factor was the growing importation of American wheat, which began, to make itself felt iii 1872. The following table shows that from that date until 1914 tlie country was increasingly dependent upon external sources for its wheat supply. Wheat Grown and Imported. Year. Acreage gifown. 1830 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1-910 1914 Acres. *4,01 9,725 3,761,457 3,058,074 2,478,677 1,898,863 1,856,485 1,904,932 Home-grown produce (est.) Quarters. *13,135,124 *13,419,496 *5,905,020 9,499,235 6,790,262 7,074,179 7,804,041 Wheat & Flour Imported. Quarters (of 480 lbs.). 7,364,439 8,611,427 15,973,956 19,222,371 23,006,072 27,779,886 27,509,031 Percentage of Home-grown. 64-1 60-9 27-0 33-1 22-8 20-3 22-1 * Gilbert & Lawes' Estimates. 19. The alarming condition of the agricultural industry called for immediate enquiry, and in 1879 a Royal Commission, with the Duke of Richmond and Gordon as Chairman, was appointed for that purpose. The Report of the Commission was unanimous as to the extent and severity of the distress, which it attributed mainly to bad seasons, and secondly to foreign com- petition aggravated by the increased cost of production and heavy losses from diseases of live stock. 20. Even before the depression made itself felt farmers had shown a disposition to turn their attention to grass farming as cheaper and less risky than arable ; but as the ruinous competition of cheap imported grain became more insistent, more and more arable land was 10 converted into permanent pasture or allowed to revert to its natural unimproved state., Tte following table ishows that between 1870 and 1914 the arable land of the TJnited Kingdom was reduced by over 4J million acres. Land under Cultivation. United Kingdom, Year. Arable Land. 1 Pasture Land. Total Acreage. Percentage Arable. Acres. Acres. Acres. 1870 24,092,075 22,085,295 46,I77,.S70 52-2 1880 22,869,608 24,717,092 47,586,700 48-1 18!i0 20,929,868 27,116,787 48,046,655 43-6 1900 19,528,408 28,266,712 47,795,120 40-9 1910 19,603,821 27,327,816 46,931,637 • 41-8 1914 19,414,166 27,349,650 46,763,816 41-5 No statistics are available prior to 1867. _ 2,1. Statistics showing the -effect of these changes on the number of persons engaged in agriculture may be of interest, and the following Table prepared from the figures return-ed for the United Kingdom at each Census from 1831 to 1911 is therefore inserted. It should be remembered that owing to the different methods of classification adopted the returns are not exactly comparable. They may, however, be taken as sufficiently approximate for the purpose of a general survey. Number of Persons Engaged in Ageicultuke in the United Kingdom AS Returned at each Census from 1831-1911. Tear. Farmers and Farmers' Farm Graziers. Relatives. Employees. Total. Males. Females. Males. Males. Females. Males. Females. ' 1831 1,015,503 » 1 1,454,608 * _ — 1841 733,410 41,100 ■ 2,299,841 182,354 — — 1851 659,262 47,488 2,198,715 346,224 — 1861 695,125 56,579 • 2,042,857 220,061 — — 1871 666,216 62,545 127,274 1,723,266 182,711 2,516,756 245,256 1881 633,787 87,267 280,964 1,389,704 130,292 2,304,456 217,559 1891 597i878 97,067 297,099 1,247,627 73,248 2,142,604 170,315 1901 577,177 99,904 320,976 1,054,903 48,354 1,953,056 148,258 1911 581,200 81,433 288,562 1,097,992 33,569 1,962,754 115,002 • Presumably included with males. t Not returned as such (except for Great Britain in 1851 and 1861). 22. The introduction of refrigerator methods into rapid steamships carrying agricultural imports began in 1877 to counteract the benefit at first derived by the conversion of arable into grass land. To compete in markets with imported live animals was more or less possible, but the lowered prices caused by a glut of frozen or chilled meat and dairy products from overseas reduced to a minimum the profits of even those branches of the industry which had previously been able to hold their own. 23; The following table, showing the average prices of staple farm products shows how seriously foreign competition affected the value of farm products at this period. Average Pbi(?b8 ov British Corn, Beef, Mutton and Wool. Year. Wheat* per qr. Barley* per qr. Oats* per qr. Beeff per lb. Muttonf per lb. WoolJ per lb. s. d. s., d. 8. d. d. d. ' d. d. . d. 1830 64 3 32 7 24 5 — — 9 1850 40 3 23 5 16 5 — — 11 1860 53 3 86 7 24 5 — — 20* 1870* 46 11 34 7 22 10 4fto7J 5i to 7| 16i 1880 44 4 33 1 23 1 4| „ 7i 4f „ 8J 15^ 1890 31 11 28 8 18 7 3f „ 6f B4 „ 8 11 1900 26 11 24 11 17 7 H „ 6i 3i „ 7| 7* 1910 31 8 23 1 17 4 3i ;, 6f 3i „ 7f 9S , , 1914 34 11 27 2 20 11 3f „ 6i 4 „ Bi 12? :,v>.; * Average prices per imperial quarter in England and Wales. t Prices at London Central Market, compiled from the Quarterly Returns of the Registrar-General up to 1880, and for later years from the quotations given weekly in the " Agricultural Gazette." J Prices of Lincoln Wool, half hog, extracted from the " Yorkshire Observer " wool tables. 11 ^■' ^^:, ^^^^, *^® position, wliich had already become alarming, was aggravated by an exceptional dronght, and disaster scarcely less than that of 1879 followed. In September of that year another Koyal Commission was appointed to enquire into the depression in agriculture. it reported m 1897 that since the Eeport of the previous Commission the value of agricultural produce had approximately halved, while the cost of production had increased. ?n V "'■* ^^^^^ ^^ difficult to paint in too black colours the depression of the last quarter of the 19th century, affecting as it did first the corn lands of the south and west, and later the pasture districts m other parts of the country. A perusal of the reports of the Assistant Commis- sioners presented to the Eoyal Commission throw a searching light upon the position. Bank- ruptcies among farmers increased to an alarming extent ; many lost their whole capital, while others were only able to save a part by withdrawing it in time from the failing industry, or through the generous assistance of their landlords. The latter class in years of adversity, as earlier in those of prosperity, accepted the responsibility of their position. In spite of the reduced incomes and the depreciated value of their estates remissions of rent up- to fifty per cent, were common, and large sums were expended on manures, on permanent seeds, on the erection of Dutch barns, or on other additions to buildings for the purpose of economising labour or of meeting changed methods of farming. In some cases land became derelict, but much which was thrown upon the hands of the owners was cultivated by them, not with any prospects of profit, but because the responsibility of ownership imposed upon them the duty of seeing that the land in their possession was not allowed to fall out of cultivation. The effect of the depression, was felt with peculiar severity by yeomen and small occupying owners. Standing as they did with no one to share their burden, they found themselves unable to meet their liabilities in rgspect of fixed charges and mortgage interest, and this hard working and independent class, which had declined in numbers during the hard times in the earlier half of the century, practically ceased to exist. Labourers, having less to lose, suffered perhaps to an even greater extent than their employers. While the remuneration for every other class of labour was steadily increasing, the wages of the agricultural labourer actually declined, and it was not until well into the new century that the level of the early " 'seventies " was again reached. 26. By the commencement of the new century the crisis had spent itself. Farmers had come thoroughly to understand that they must depend upon themselves, and that the methods they adopted were not looked upon as of concern to the nation. For the future the smaller the capital upon which they could run their business and the less their expenditure upon labour, manures, &c., the safer would they be from the disaster which had befallen the preceding generation. 27. From 1906 up to the commencement of the war there were growing indications of a revival in agriculture, based partly on some improvement in prices and partly on the new methods which had been adopted. But confidence had not been restored for the lesson of the depression had been well learnt; arable land continued to be converted into pasture, and intensive methods of production to be neglected. Under the new conditions the industry began to revive, but it "should be remembered that the prosperity of the farmer does not necessarily connote a corres- ponding degree of prosperity in agriculture, when viewed from the national standpoint. The home output of food has ste)adily decreased since the " 'seventies," and although the farmer was beginning to make a better livelihood, it was by methods which did not promise to add to the national security, in this respect. As Sir Daniel Hall, K.C.B., says, in the Preface to "Agri- culture after the War " : — "A man may be a first-raie farmer as regards his own personal success and yet be pursuing a policy inimical to the ultimate welfare of the State. Before one attaches any blame to the current race of farmers one must consider the extraordinary crisis through which they have passed in the last thirty years without any attention or assistance from the State, then one will be more inclined to praise them for having contrived to remain in existence at all." 28. This then was the position in August, 1914. Why was it that while British agriculture had been declining, its output dwindling, and cheap food from overseas playing an increasingly dominant part in feeding the people, the exact opposite had taken place in Germany, a country possessing on the whole a poorer soil and less favourable climate". We may turn to the pamphlet on " The Eecent Development of German Agriculture " (Cd. 8305), by Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B., Assistant Secretary, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, for an answer. 29. He states that " It is not possible to resist the conclusion that it was the economic policy adopted by his country that prevented the German from following the methods of the British farmer. The agricultural policy adopted by Germany was indeed extraordinarily successful in restoring confidence and emboldening farmers to resort to intensive cultivation." (Pp. 32-33,) " The main value of the tariff policy to Gei-man agriculture was the sense of security which it created in the farmer. It was the conviction that he was essential to the community, and that the community would not permit his land to go out of cultivation, rather than the prospect of receiving an eitra two marks per 100 kilos, for his wheat after the year 1906 that stirred the German agriculturist of the new century to make an effort ; and, it may be added, it was the knowledge that his grain was not wanted and that his fellow countrymen did not depend upon his exertions that led the British farmer, at the same period, to cut down expense and reduce, or at least fail to increase, the productivity of his land." " *^" conclusion of peace, itself. We do not belieS+W Iv ■ ■,■ t ?omparable to the prices ruling during the War upon the Exchequer a pSs wi Tu n' ^ -''^'' V^' ^"^^"?*^^ ^^^^ i^-°l-« ^-^ <^^^-S^ the War, but many farmerrdo nTt Ihll Tv Tr ?' 'T*'""^" .*? "^^" ^^^^ ^°^ «°^« y^^^s after the initial e^peYse J breatin^ tland Thi '""^ T^ ot Wise feel nervous of incuixing guarantee would give to th!. Ll?-? !?; ^^ ^^^^m,' ^^'''^ *^'« temporary additional '''%r\r^%fF^^^^^^ the ris. of a temporary, to be considered W.^ ^^'""^ Payments under the suggested guarantee should be made remains over by W MilnTr in 1^5 *^^----f Nation of the Departmental Committee* presided ad?anta?e that itf.«^"''.T,^°' *^' ^T ^^. ^^^°^ *^^ ^^°P ^^ ^^^-««t«d. This system has Je market and th-f Ih/^^^^^ crop when he wishes'^ in the open raLe tL o^t „/i>,i^ ^?*' f *T ''' ^^^^a^teemg a minimum price to the farmer does not raise the cost of the produce to the consumer. At the same time the farmer is able to benefit tY. l^Tr'^*' 'V^" '^•'''^^*T ""^ ^'' P™'^^''^' ^^d by taking advantage of any fluctuations in the market price. For example, if the ." Gazette" average price was %8s and thrSiaranteed minimum 42.., every wheat grower would be entitled to claim 4s. fofeacrUrterof wheat he threshed regardless of whether he had realised 40.. or 35.. for hi^ produ^ ^ entitlp!^ +n 1 .'^^*^™i^^t^°^ «/ t>e quantity of wheat and oats on which each farmer will be ent tied to claim, m the event of • the market price falling below the amount of the guarantee will involve some difficulty. As the object of the State will be to encourage incrfased pro duction, we regard it as essential that payment should be based on (a) the number of quar?^?s actually harvested so far as this can be estimated, not on the number of acres sown, S (6 tie whole of the farmer s production regardless of the amount consumed on the farm Most tlvplMri ^""^."^^ grown in England Wales and Ireland is threshed by machines which travel from farm to farm; but m Scotland, and to a certain extent in the Forth of England the case IS different as it is a common practice for both wheat and oats to be threshed by mills belonging to the farm. Another complication in the case of oats is that the crop, unlike wheat, which IS nearly all sold off the farm, is disposed of in various ways. Some is marketed, some IS fed to stock on the farm, some is milled for consumption at the farmhouse and for payment m kind to farm servants. 37. On the one hand it is important that all unnecessary complications and the neces- sarily costly intervention of officials should be as much as possible avoided, on the other it is essential that the Public Exchequer should be protected from fraud. We recommend that every ..'inner who desires to claim the benefit of the guarantee should be required either: — (a) to use a threshing machine which has been duly licensedj for hire, the firm to which the machine belongs being made responsible for providing the farmer with a true certificate of the number of quarters of corn of the required weight threshed; or (6) If he does not propose to use a hired machine, to give notice to that effect to the Board or Department of Agriculture some time before harvest in order that the yield of his standing crop may be estimated by a government valuer whose fee and expenses he should repay to the Board or Department of Agriculture. If he considered that his crop had been under-estimated, he could still have resort to the test of a public threshing machine. Any farmer desiring to claim the benefit of the guarantee should send in his certificates' of threshing, or the estimate of the Government valuer, to the Board or Department of Agri- culture, by which they should be checked and the sum found due be paid to the farmer. 38. An alternative plan which, in the long run, might easily be the cheapest, might be adopted in the place of that described in para. 37 (h). The Board or Department of Agriculture might, under carefully devised regulations, accept the certificate of the farmer as to the amount oi wheat or oats which he had threshed on any given day when he had obtained the counter signature of some official or person of repute resident in the parish and authorised for that purpose by the Board or Department of Agriculture. If the officials of the Board or Depart- ment of Agriculture checked the threshing returns sent in by the farmers with their crop returns, § and if they had the right of access, as they should have, at any time to the farm and farm premises of any farmer .claiming the benefit of the guarantee, it is probable that they would soon become aware, from information acquired in the ordinary discharge of their duties, of the existence of fraud, the penalty for conviction for which should be very severe. 39. The calculation of the possible cost of our recommendation is easily made. It would cost £50,000 a year for every million quarters of wheat grown for every shilling by which the average market price of wheat fell below 42.., and £50.000 a year for every million quarters * Cd. 80 J 8, para. 7. f The " Gazette " average price, under Section 8 of the Corn Return Act, 1882, is for a quarter of 8 imperial bushels, at the rate of 60 imperial pounds for every bushel of wheat, and 39 imperial pounds for every bushel of oats. X The Boards and Department of Agriculture should issue licences, free of charge, to reliable firms letting out threshing machines for hire, authorising them to issue certificates for this purpose, and should supply them with the necessary forms, instructions, &c. In the event of any misdemeanour the licence should be liable to forfeiture. ' § The annual returns to the Boards and Department of Agriculture of crop and stock statistics, which are now voluntary, should be made compulsory. 19792 B 2 20 of oats grown for every shilling by which the average market price of oats fell below 23*. At the present moment about seven million quarters of wheat are grown in the United Kingdom and thirty-five million quarters consumed, and the price of wheat is about 75s. per 480 lbs. ; about twenty million quarters of oats are grown and twenty-seven million quarters consumed, and the price of oats is about 50*. per 312 lbs. 40. We have not dealt with our subject with the purpose of increasing the farmer's profits ; we have dealt with it solely with the object of making it possible for him to respond to the national need and plough up more land. He cannot so respond unless he is assured ■in advance against the ruin which would certainly overtake him if he ploughed up his land and prices fell once again to the 1894-1895 level. It may be that for several years after the present war, prices will rule considerably higher than the guarantee we have named, and that those farmers who grow wheat and oats will make a handsome profit. But the uncertain prospect of such profits will not induce the farmer to plough up his existing grass, nor deter him from laying down more arable to grass. 41. We are convinced that the process of conversion of arable to grass will recommence immediately after the War notwithstanding high prices, unless the farmer is assured against a recurrence of the prices of 1894-5. It may be improbable that those prices will recur, but after his previous experience mere probabilities will have no weight with the farmer. He knows that no one foresaw the previous fall of price, that if, he is caught by such a fall with his land under the plough he will probably become bankrupt, and that if he can become a grazier, or dairy farmer on grass land, whatever else happens to him, he will escape ruin from any sudden fall in the price of cereals. He will, therefore, almost every time plump for the least risk. This is the explanation of the persistent diminution of the area of arable land. For its own safety and welfare the State wants more plough land, but it cannot ask the farmer to do that which might ruin him unless it assures him in advance against tlie operation of the same cause that ruined his predecessor. That is why the guarantee is so essential to agricultural stability. When once that has been given, the whole atmosphere in which the farmer works will be changed ; all excuse for lack of enterprise will have been removed ; no valid excuse can be made for not paying the agricultural labourer a higher wage than that too often prevalent before the War. It is quite true that in the old days of high wheat prices the wages of agricultural labourers were often miserably low, and that in some districts they were still too low before the War. But it is also true that those wages were, on the average, higher in 1876 than they were again till 1899, and that they would have risen much sooner than they did if it had not been for the period of depression; also that, if the price of wheat fell again to the 1894 level, it would be quite impossible to maintain a decent wage, or even employment, for the ploughman. On the other hand, it is quite impossible for the farmer ever again to make fair profits year after year and continue to pay bad wages. The twentieth century is not the nineteenth, and public opinion knows too much to tolerate it. Nor would the agricultural labourer himself for one moment again submit to such treatment. After tbis War the men would not go back to work on the land for such wages as existed in some places before the War. They would go elsewhere, to the new lands of the Dominions, or to the towns. The guarantee of a living wage is essential as an assurance to these men that they are to have a fair share of the profits of agriculture, to attract them back to the land, and to avert their exodus. The plough policy which the nation needs -for its safety cannot fructify without the co-operation of both farmers and agricultural labourers, and both classes are justified in asking in advance for such security in the conditions of life as it is- in the power of the State to give. 42. We do not think it necessary to set forth at length the theoretical arguments for or against a guarantee as compared with^ a duty as a means of encouraging arable cultivation within the United Kingdom. The reasons which induce us to recommend a guarantee at the present moment are purely practical. For the reasons we have given, we think that farmers may 'fairly be urged, and, if need be, compelled, to grow wheat and oats if they are assured of a minimum price of 42*. and 23s. a quarter respectively. But if assistance to the arable farmer were to be given to him by the operation of a duty, that duty would need to be as high as lis. a quarter if it had to maintain the price of wheat at 42s. per quarter whenever the world price fell to 25s. 'as it did as recently as 1894. Experience has shown a sliding scale of duty to work injuriously to national interests. Therefore, whatever the market price of wheat to-day, the duty on wheat would have to be a fixed one of I7s. a quarter, if the farmer is to be secured by that means against a recurrence of that fall of price of which he lives in so much dread. In our opinion the world price of wheat is likely, for some years after the War, to stand at over 42s. a quarter. The effect of a standing duty as high as 17s. might be to raise the price of all the wheat consumed in the United Kingdom to a scale which could not be defended, and the resentment to which it would give rise would end in the repeal of the duty and the destruction of that stability of conditions which is essential to the increase of the home production of wheat. But if stability is secured by means of a guarantee, no difficulty of the kind would follow from the continuance of high prices after the War. Whatever the world price of wheat was that would be what the citizen, in his capacity of consumer, would have to pay, whether it was above or below 42s. a quarter. So long as the world price did not fall below 42s. a quarter, the citizen, in his capacity as taxpayer, would have to pay nothing to the British or Irish farmer in fulfilment of his guarantee. But it is possible that in the course of a few years the world price of wheat may fall below 42s. a quarter, and in that event the citizen, as taxpayer, would have to pay to the farmers the difference between "the world price, whatever it was, and 42s. a quarter for the wheat grown in the United Kingdom, while, as consumer, he would still be getting his bread at the .cheapest possible rate. 21 43. The objection Kas been made to us that some scJven million quarters of wheat were being grown in the United Kingdom before the War, when wheat was, on the average of the seven years ending 1913, 32«. dd. a quarter; that presumably the farmers who grew that wheat were growing it at a profit; and that it is an unreasonable thing to ask the nation to add to those farmers profits by guaranteeing them 42s., instead of 825. 9d. a quarter. This objection ignores the fact that the cost of production will be higher after the War and that there is no presumption that wheat growing is generally profitable at 32s. 9d. a quarter to be found in the fact that in 1913 some seven million quarters were grown and sold at about that price. A larger, not smaller, number of quarters of wheat were grown in 1894 when the average market price was 22*. lOd. a quarter, and no one pretends that wheat can by any possibility be grown with a profit at. such a figure. Then why was a certain amount of wheat grown at prices which did not pay? The answer is to be found in the extreme tenacity of agricultural custom, in the great inconvenience which many farmers experience if they are altogether deprived of wheat straw for bedding and for thatching, and in some farmers' constant hope of better prices. 44. But, although the fact that a farmer grew wheat in 1913 is no proof that it paid him to do so, it is certainly true that the best farmers were then making a profit by growing it on suitable land. The best farmers will always make the best profits in all circumstances, and it would scarcely be wise of the State to exclude from the advantage of a guarantee only those farmers who had shown the most enterprise and skill without a guarantee. It would not be prudent policy to offer encouragement and security only to those who had grown no wheat at the time when the nation most needed it. Either th-e nation does not require more wheat to be grown at home for its own security and welfare, or it does. If it does not, then out reference is misleading, our opinions are erroneous, and this Report is waste paper. If it does, it is not a valid objection to a guarantee that the best farmers in the country may some day make greater profits than they would otherwise have done. They are just the men who will make the best use of the .security given under the guarantee by putting more land under the plough, and by making every acre of land under the plough yield more and more wheat. So long as they pay fair wages their prosperity is to the advantage of the nation. With the increased cost of production after the War, the chance of deriving an excessive profit from the sale of wheat at 42«. a quarter seems to be remote, but if there should be these exceptional cases the Chancellor of the Exchequer may be trusted to find a method for dealing with them. 45. A more serious difficulty consists in the fact that,^ until the reasons which justify it are understood, the policy which we recommend will be thoroughly unpopular with many landowners and farmers. They have turned their farms down to grass, they do not grow corn and do not wish to do so, and they do not ask for a guarantee; they will not like the idea of a minimum standard wage, and all they ask is to be let alone. Their point of view is quite intelligible. They were, according to their opinion, completely neglected by the State in the period of their difficulties; they overcame those difficulties by their own skill; they found a new and less risky method of farming; and now they are asked to commence arable farming afresh! If, however, they once understand that the policy in which they are asked to join is necessary for the safety and welfare of the nation, the State can, we believe, confidently rely upon their co-operation. But in the case of many of the landowners the provision of fresh capital for cottages, buildings and drainage will be a matter of real difficulty. We recommend that whatever assistance is given by the State to Public Utility Societies to build cottages should also be given to landowners associated into County Public Utility Societies for the purpose of the drainage and industrial equipment of agricultural land. Effect of Guaranteed Pbices on Rents. 46. We now pass to the consideration of an important question, — Should a Land Court bte established to adjust rents? It has been represented to us that, if the result of a guarantee should be to make farming more profitable than it otherwise would be, the increment of profit will, T)y a fixed law of political economy, find its way into the pockets of the landowners by way of increased rent. The result of a guarantee will be different in different cases; in some it would probably increase profits but by no means in. all. What is certain is that the cost of production will be higher for the farmer than it was before the War; that experience shows that the law of political economy, to which reference has been made, works slowly; that many collateral influences disturb its working ; and that no absolute forecast can be made of the exact effect of a given change of conditions on the standard of rent. Before tlie War, it was the general opinion of those who were familiar with the conditions of farming in England that a large proportion of English farms were under-rented. Evidence has been laid before us that this is not the case in Wales, and that in Scotland and in parts of the North of England, where tlie custom still largely prevails of putting vq,cant farms up to tender, there is probably no corresponding general discrepancy between the actual and the economic rent. 47. It is necessary to bear in mind the fact that in Great Britain the capital required for the cultivation of the land is generally found by two separate parties. The farmer finds the capital which forms the basis of the wage-fund and provides the live and dead stock and other essentials of husbandry. The landowner finds the capital which provides the land and its industrial equipment in the shape of farmhouses, farm-buildings, cottages, the drainage, or materials for the drainage, of the land, the principal fences, roads, and water supply. Moreover, in many cases the landowner has borne the cost of laying down the land to that very grass which henceforth the State may wish for reasons of public policy, to see reconverted into arable. The farmer will get the benefit of any fertility which may have been accumulated 19792 B 3 00 in this ploughed-up grassland in the returns from his cereal crops, ij, ^^ \^^/^i\ JJ'^Vich andown^er should get some return in the form of some ^^^^^^hP S^nlownef ^^^^^^ barely has been created by his expenditure Again tlie ^^^ -^^^J^^^ tfesteS n theTndustria^l represents an interest of as much as live per cent, on the capital in^esiea in n equipment of tha land and often includes no interest whatever on the f P;^„^„l^ J*^^^ "^^^J „V the itself In the majority of cases the landowner receives a return m the fo^^^ °± /f^^* °™ capital represented by the value of the land and its industrial equipment taken t°ff ^^^'^3" J-^J a manufacturer would considei^ an altogether uncommercial rate of ^^"^''^^''^; „Jf^^* ^^^^^^^^^^^ is not to the advantage of agriculture, or of the State, because it acts as a co.nstant deterieut lo the investment of^apita! in.agri;ulture. The following paragraphs are extracted from page 28 of the Keport of the Royal Commission on Agricultural Depression of l»»f ;- "It ii clear from the evidence which these estate accounts and othei souices ot information afford, that a considerable portion of the rental received by owners at he present time is merely a return for capital expended m equipping and furnishing the estate, and not rent for the land itself." 1 ■ x. • ™ „+ 4?„^ +hn "Mr J S Mill draws a clear distinction between rent which is payment for the original powers of the land and that part of rent which is a consideration for the use of the buildings, fences, &c. There can be little doubt that, measured by the standard which is laid down in the following passages, over a very considerable part ot this country true rent has entirely vanished, since the owners are not receiving the ordinary interest upon the sum which it would cost to erect buildings, fences, &c., as good as those now " ' Under the name of rent, many payments are commonly included, which are not a remuneration for the original powers of the land itself, but for capital expended on it. The additional rent which land yields in consequence of this outlay of capital should, in the opinion of some writers, be regarded as ■profit, not rent. The annual payment by a tenant almost always includes a consideration for the use of the buildings on a farm . . . . not to speak of lences and the like. The landlord will ask, and the tenant will give for these whatever is sufficient to yield the ordinary profit, or rather the ordinary interest on the value, .... i.e., not on what'it"cost to erect them, but on what it would cost to erect others as good; the tenant being bound in addition to" leave them in as good repair, as he found them These buildings are as distinct a thing from the farm as the stock or the timber on it, . . . . and what is paid for them can no more be called rent of land than a payment for cattle would be if it were the custom that the landlord should stock the farm for the tenant.' "* In our opinion the present state of the case is still exactly the same as that thus lucidly set forth. . 48. The same Royal Commission carefully examined what the effect on agriculture of the establishment of a Land Court would be likely to be. The following paragraphs are e?;tracted from pages 106, 107 and 109 of their Report : — " But there is aruother and far more important consideration which convinces us that any legislation in the direction of fixity of tenure and judicial rents, so far from raising the standard of cultivation, would be fraught with very serious dangers to agri- culture, and to all classes engaged in the cultivation of the soil. We cannot doubt that one of the first results of such legislation would be that the greater part, if not the whole of the permanent improvements on the great' majority of farms would be left to be carried out esiclusively by the tenants. We have already referred to the very large capital outlay on tliese improvements by landlords during the depression. It is incredible that the tenants would have been willing to carry out works of this magnitude at their own cost, or that if they had been willing they would have possessed the requisite capital to enable them to do so; while, if they had borrowed for the purpose, they would hav8 fallen into the hand of mortgagees, who would have been less disposed to reduce the rate of interest than their landlords have been to reduce their rents. The greater part of the work would, we are convinced, have been left undone to the very serious detriment of the agriculture of^the country." " It should be noted here that in our opinion the three F'st are inseparable, and that the adoption of either one of them would necessarily involve the acceptance of the other two. Some few of the witnesses who have appeared before us, and who have advocated drastic changes in the land tenure of the country, recognise the very serious mischiefs which would result from their complete adoption, and have apparently come to tbe conclusion that they might.be diminished if a part only of that policy, consisting of one or two of the F's, were adopted. But, in our opinion, any such intermediate policy is impossible, and, if possible; would be indefensible. It would be no advantage to a tenant to have" his rent fixed by any tribunal if his tenancy could be determined in the event of his landlord being dissatisfied with the finding of the tribunal. Nor would fixity of tenure be of any advantage to a tenant if the landlord were allowed to raise his rent at his own discretion. Nor, when a tenant's rent had been determined by the Court, and he had been given fixity of tenure, and he had in this way become a part owner in the land, is it easy to see on what grounds he could be debarred from exercising the right of every owner to dispose of his property by sale or bequest, especially if he had been compelled to expend his capital on the permanent improvement of his fnrm." * Mill, " Political Economy," Book IT. cxvi. a. ,'5. t i.e. Fair rent, Fixity of tenure, and Free sale. 23 49. We are quite aware, as were the members of the Royal Commission, that there are cases of real hardship in the treatment of tenant farmers by their landlords, such as all fair-minded men would unite to condemn, and it is also true that farmers deyeloping special lines of business sometimes meet with scanty encouragement from their landlords ; but both these classes of cases are exceptional, and we see no reason to differ from the conclusions of the Eoyal Commission or to consider them otherwise than sound and equally applicable now as then. As regards ordinary farming and the majority of tenancies, there is evidence to show that the tenant farmer possesses a much greater security of tenure than would be warranted by the fact that in England, at any rate, by his own choice his tenancy is usually an annual one. We do not, therefore, ■ consider that any general measure conferring "security of tenure" on existing occupiers is called for in order to meet these exceptional cases. A large proportion of the land of England is let for one reason or another at rents below what may be termed the economic level. To secure the present occupiers in their tenure of these farms at the current rents would be to make them a present of that part of the real value of the land for which the owner is not demanding a return in the shape of rent. We regret to say that experience does not lead us to expect that the average occupier would respond to such a gift by any intensification of his farming or by increased production. The response would come from the succeeding occupier, to whom would eventually be sold this interest, which the original occupier had not in any way earned. Low rents have too often resulted in slack farming, and to secure the farmer in those rents would in such cases only leave him content with his unprogressive methods. 50. What will be required above all other things for the benefit of agriculture when peace is restored is an uninterrupted flow of capital to the land. It will be only too difficult for the landowners to find that capital owing to the inevitable pressure of taxation and we are conviriced that the one certain effect of the establishment of a Land Court would be to dry up the spring of capital at its source. No prudent landowner would sell out stock, from which a return of interest is assured, and re-invest his capital in the industrial equip- ment of the land, if he ran the risk of losing the whole or part of the interest which he was expecting to receive from it by the decision of a Land Court. Moreover, we are convinced that it would not be to the interest of the State to confer upon tenant farmers a proprietary interest in the land they farm. If the policy which we recommend is adopted, the State will point out to the agricultural landowners the great service which they can render to the State iu the reconstruction of agriculture, and the reasons of national security and welfare for which this service is required, and we are confident that the landowners . will recognise their responsibility and respond to the appeal. At the present moment the responsibilities of owner- ship are by the law of the land vested only in them. In dealing with them the State will know exactly where it -is and whom to hold responsible. It can appeal to their patriotism and, if the necessity should arise in individual cases, it can put further pressure upon them. But if by the establishment of a Land Court a system of dual ownership in any degree were created, the State would have to deal in respect of the responsibilities of ownership with all the tenant farmers as well as with all the agricultural landowners. In any case the State will have to make an appeal to the patriotism of the tenant farmers in the sphere of cxtltivation and production, 'analogous to that which it will have to make to the landowners in the sphere of ownership. As we have stated earlier in our Report, it is unfortunately the fact that many farms were already, before the War, sadly under-cultivated. Landowners find it difficult and invidious to give notice to quit to an otherwise estimable neighbour because lie is a bad farmer. But if the production of the land is to be raised to its maximum these bad farmers must, in the national interest, either mend their ways or give place to men who will farm the land as it should be farmed. The State must, do what it can to encourage the good and eliminate the bad farmer, and, wherever the necessity is manifest, put pressurifi upon a landowner to adopt the fame policy. Again, it has beeii the experience of the Board of Agriculture and of the County Councils in working the Small Holdings Acts that it is difficult sometimes to induce the farjner willingly to give up land for the creation of small holdings, even when the landowner is friendly to the project. That this is so may be regrettable, but it is also quite natural and intelligible. But if the farmer were to acquire a proprietary right in his farm in addition to his interest as a tenant, the difficulty of putting pre«-ure upon the bad farmer and of working the Small Holdings Acts would be much increased. 51. For these reasons we are of opinion that the State would be creatins? a whole field of fresh difficulty and complication for itself if it inaugurated its new agricultural policy by conferring on the farmers a legal vested interest as part proprietors of their farms. Irish experience of the working of a Land Court fixing fair rents shows that it creates an atmosphere, a general feeling among the farming community, adverse to enterprise and good farming, because success might justify a higher level of rents. Men have deliberately farmed badly and let their farms down in tlie years of revision of rents in order to make a case for a -reduction of rent by the Court. We propose in another part of our Report to consider whether or not any amendment is required in the Agricultural Holdings Act to meet the exceptional cases to which we have referred ; but we do not advise the establishment of a Land Court. We propose to deal with the general case in a different way. Method of SECtiuiNG Increased Peoduction. 52. The Government has no fairy touch which will enable it to produce instantaneous results. It must work through, and by means of, the men who are now holding and cultivating the land. If it was so foolish as to try and do their work as well as its own, the only result would be to bring agriciiltural production to a standstill. There is no body of men in existence 19792 • B 4 24 except the farmers of the United Kingdom and those who have qualified, or who are qualifying, to become farmers, who are capable of farming the land. Technical knowledge based on experience is just as essential for successful farming as education and brains and capital. It is when all these qualifications exist in combination that the best farming is found. Therefore the State must give time to all concerned to adjust themselves to the new conditions dictated by considerations of national safety. It should formulate its policy and explain the reasons for it in simple definite terms; it should make clear the part it proposes to play itself, that the policy explained will be steadily and consistently followed, and that, while the policy is being worked out, the agricultural industry will not be subjected to any harassing legislation. The State must, in short, take every means in its power to give confidence an.d a sense of stability to landowners farmers and agricultural labourers. It must then tell those classes exactly what is expected of them, and appeal to their highest instincts of patriotism to put personal predilections aside^ and to unite to carry out a policy on the success of which the safety of their country may some day depend. The standard set before their eyes should be the highest — not to be content till the whole soil of the United Kingdom is producing the greatest possible return of foodstuffs or of timber. It must be clearly understood that henceforth bad farming is a danger to the State, and that the waste of good land on game or games is inconsistent with patriotism. There will be plenty of room for game or golf m moderation, but too much game, or golf links carved out of fat land, make an inroad on the production of foodstuffs which can no longer be defended. Rabbits must be recognised to be what they are, a curse to both agriculture and forestry. There are localities where the rabbit defies extermination, but the effort to deal with the pest should never be intermitted. The theory in fact should be that rabbits are only to be tolerated in completely enclosed spaces, where the ground is of such a nature that it can more advantageously be devoted to the production of rabbits than of any other foodstuffs. 53. When all this has been explained to them, landowners and farmers should be informed that they will be given reasonable opportunity to adjust themselves to the new conditions. The agricultural labourers being secured their share of profits by the institution of a minimum wage, the landowners and the farmers may be left to adjust their shares between them and also to come to an agreement (which is essential) about the relaxation of covenants against the ploughing of grass land or of any others which tend to discourage good farming. We are satisfied that they will have no difficulty in doing so much more satisfactorily than the State could for them. 54. We entertain no doubt that landowners farmers and agricultural labours alike- will realise the greatness of the trust reposed in them, that they will rejoice at the recognition of the fundamental importance of agricultural to the national .life, and that they will do all, and more than all, that their country demands of them. But we recognise that, when once the State has embarked on such a policy as we recommend, for the sake of the nation's safety, it can run no avoidable risk of its failure. Neither the idiosyncrasies, nor the incapacity, nor the lack of patriotism of individuals can be allowed to interpose even a partial barrier to the success of a national policy. We recommend that the Boards and Department of Agriculture should be instructed to carry out a general survey of the conditions of agriculture throughout the United Kingdom, and that the utmost care should be exercised in selecting those who are to undertake the work. Further, in Great Britain* we recommend that a panel of Assessorst should be set up for groups of counties in England and Wales, J one third of each panel to be appointed by the Board of Agriculture, one-third by the Chairmen of the County Councils in the area, and one-third by the President of the Surveyors'. Institution. In Scotland, one-third of each panel should be appointed by the Board of Agriculture, one-third by the Chairmen of the County Councils in the area, and one-third by the Sheriffs of each county. In each case the nominators should meet and confer before making their selections, and the panels should be composed of men thoroughly skilled in estate management or in practical farming. The grouping of counties for this purpose might follow the existing "provincial divisions for the agricultural education and live-stock schemes. There should also be constituted for England Wales and Scotland separately a Review Ooinmitteet consisting in each case of three persons, the greatest authorities on agriculture and estate management obtainable, who should be empowered to take legal advice if necessary. The members of the Review Committees for England and Wales should be selected by the Lord Chief Justice and for Scotland by the Lord Justice. General. 55. The procedure would be as follows: — If, in the course of the survey, it appeared to the Board of Agriculture that land (other than a public or private garden or park) was, froija any cause, not being fully utilised for the production of foodstuffs or timber, notice should be served upon the owner of the land by the Board of Agriculture to the effect that if, after an interval of three years from the date of the notice, the position was still unsatisfactory, the case would be referred to Assessors. If, at the end of these three years, evidence was not forthcoming of substantial improvement, the case should be referred to the panel of Assessors for the area, who should select three of their members not resident in that county to examine and report upon it. They should be required to inspect the farm or estate personally and to hear everything which the owner, or agent, or tenant, or any witness whose evidence * We shall make distinct recommendations later to deal with the case of Ireland. f The Assessors and Members of the Eeview Committee should, of course, be paid whenever their services are utilised. % The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in constituting the panels of assessors for Wales should act in consultation with the Agricultural Council for Wales. 25 t*o?pperrlrofrSl*"^ "T ^"^ V^". ^""^ ^° ^"^^^^^ °^ «°li^it°- should be permitted to appear protetesionally before tbem, nor should any costs be allowed On receiving the renort ni t wiTbTe tw"' of Agricnltnre should refef it to the Ee^iew ComStee wVos: frction nec^Lai a «lw r-^nT^'^TT^'n *^" ^^°^^T °^ *^« ^^P°^* °^ *° "^^er a supplementary or, if CS o7 AnnptirF • 1^^' Committee should not re-hear the case or act in any way as a cSiitL^^afaSvlrrfl,'°^''^'^ "^"^ '"^^"^ *^" ^^P°^*- I^ *^« ^«P«rt' ^« P^^^ed by the w^rbelt df^nL. T t^t^^g^^/^^al management of the estate and showed that good farming Tr an^ftW.?/^ fi?' ""^^^'^ "" ^^"^ ^'"^^^^ *^«^*«^ ^^^h too much lenifncy or that Spected to r^aketn 4 f ^ was not making the contribution which it could reasonably b^ tW T1!! ?® production of foodstuffs, then certain consequences should follow What those consequences should be we proceed to explain. . to supersedl'+b^irr"'"^ *Mi.*^^ ^"^"'^ °^ Agriculture* should be empowered temporarily ure^ It inS^ i . +r''+'^ *^' management of the estate for all purposes essential to agricul- ture. it should put the estate, or such portion of the estate as it might deem necessary (except ^ST H -h ?. t7 '^?,^^'^ ^^ ^^^^ ^y *^^ ^^^^'i °* Agriculture and made a charge upon the ffnt^dp^ fn+t'''' ? r^\?^ «^°^^ P°T^^' m respect of the management of the agricultural land ^! cV i'i\ ^^^^ ^l *^^ ''^''^^ ^^^' ^^<^ ^® ^b°^l'i J^a^age the estate as trustee for the owner lie should be a man of proved experience and capacity in the management of an agricultural IflS'/A • n ^e^^^r a yearly report and statement of accounts to the owner and to the Board of Agriculture. _ The balance of income, if any, derived from the estate after the payment o± the necessary outgoings should be remitted half-yearly to the owner by the Board of Agri- culture When once the management of an estate had been so taken over by the Board of Agriculture, it should retain that management for five years, unless within that period there ^ad been a successor m title to the original owner, in which case the estate shouH be handed back to hismanagement at the end of the current farming year, if he so desires it and is pre- pared to accept such liabilities as may have been incurred in connection with it. If there had been no change of ownership within that, period, the Board of Agriculture should be empowered to liand back the estate to the original owner at its termination if it was satisfied that the future management of the estate would be satisfactory. If it was not so satisfied, then it would continue to manage the estate for another quinquennial period, and so on from five years to five years until there had been a change of ownership. The owner should, throughout, be undisturbed in the exercise of sporting rights over the estate, subject to the power of the manag'er of the estate to prevent those sporting rights being exercised in a manner detrimental to agriculture or forestry. If the owner of such an estate is unable or unwilling to develop it for the purpose of agricultural production, the Board of Agriculture should have the power to borrow from the Land Commissioners and to develop it for that purpose by the expenditure of capital, the chafes for which (interest and sinking fund) should have priority over all existing charges on the land charged according to the principle embodied in the Improvement of Land Act, 1864. During the period of supersession the power of the owner to make any fresh charges on the estate, or part of the estate, should be suspended, and the existing charges on it, whether by way of mortgage or of settlement, should be paid out of the proceeds of the land by the Board of Agriculture. 57. For the guidance of all concerned it should be laid down that it shall be the duty . of every landowner so to manage his estate, and that it shall be an implied. condition in every lease or tenancy agreement, that the tenant of agricultural, land shall cultivate the same according to the approved practice of the best agriculture, with a view to the economic pro- duction in the interests of the community of the greatest amount of food-stufEs (for man or beast), of which the land, having regard to its quality and position, is reasonably capable. 58. _ Where land is being badly farmed by a tenant who holds a lease, and who persists in farming badly after being duly warned of the ultimate consequences, the landowner may bring the case before the Board of Agriculture, at the same time giving formal notice of the action to the tenant. The Board should thereupon ask the local panel to appoint assessors resident in another county than that in which the farm is situated to report upon the farm, and in due course should refer their report to the Review Committee. If, as the result of the unfavourable nature of the report in respect of the farming of the land, the Review Committee so recommended, then the Board of Agriculture should be empowered to call upon the landowner to give twelve months' notice to the tenant to quit, and that notice should have effect as if the tenant had held no lease but was a tenant holding on a yearly agreement. 59. In the later part of our Report we shall deal with agricultural organisation in all its aspects, but it is advisable to state here, that in our opinion, the Agricultural Department in each country should, in carrying out the duties described in paragraphs 54 to 58 of this part, act in constant consultation with a National Agricultural Council or Board, which we hope may be formed so as to represent the progressive agricultural thought of the country and fulfilling analogous functions to those attributed to the German Agricultural Council by Mr. Middleton in " The Recent Development of German Agriculture." 60. We recommend further that the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries shall appoint a Departmental Committee to report how the grazing of common lands in England and Wales can be improved by regulation or enclosure with a view to the increase of production, and what legislation will be required to effect that improvement. "* The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for England and Wales ; and for Scotland the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. * 61. The provision of good cottages for agricultural labourers with ample gardens attached to them was an urgent question before the War. We desire to impress upon His Majesty's Government, with the greatest emphasis at our command, that there can be no hope of a satisfactory development of agriculture as long as the demand for cottages remains unsatisfied. The provision of these cottages shoixld be taken in hand without a moment's avoidable delay after the War. In another part of our Eeport we shall deal with the improvement of the amenities of rural life, the reconstruction of stagnant villages, and the provision of an agri- cultural "ladder" for the labourers by means of smallholdings. _ We mention these subjects now lest it should be supposed that we consider that the interest of the labourer in a national agricultural policy is limited to the questions of wages and housing. 62. Our attention has been directed to the point that some amendment in thin his tenure for any assigned reason, including that of rent. A little consideration will, I feel sure, show that tlie Board of Agriculture officials are not the proper persons to deal with such questions. They have their own proper duties, and had much better not be concerned with landlord and tenant disputes. A statutory body composed of specially qualified men is much to be preferred. 15. In formulating an agricultural policy the first thing to be considered is, in my opinion, security and stability to the farmer, security, that is, in his tenure and in the fruits of his enter- prise. No man can be expected to put forth his utmost efforts in creating national wealth, and prosperity for himself, which another may take. In my opinion the time has arrived when, in the interests of the State, this question must be resolutely faced. Only in such an event can compulsion of the farmer be justified. IB. The remit enjoins consideration of this subject with regard to national security. I do not believe that it is possible to provide security in the sense of producing home grown food suffi- cient for the consumption of the entire population. There are too many mouths and too few acres. But, undoubtedly, the food production of Britain can be enormously increased by more tillage and better farming. In these two respects there is no serious difference between the opinions of the majority of the Committee and my own. IT. Efficiency is, however, the keynote of the situation, and the means of ensuring this the State can provide. The second part of the Report will, I am sure, indicate how this can Be accomplished. Instruction and information have not yet reached the man who tills the soil; his desire for knowledge has not even been quickened. Give the farmer information, acquaint him with the reason of things, and you will give him the most wholesome kind of State aid. To some extent this has been accomplished, and where this is the case I am certain that never in the history of British Agriculture has there been a period of better farming and greater production. Indeed it is true almost universally in certain districts and of certain selected crops. One could, for instance, point to the enormous development of potato culture In East Anglia, or to the market gardening of Evesham, and ask with pride, where in the wide world such production could be matched; and this has been accomplished, not by sitting down, wringing the hands and whimpering for bounties, but by the application of high intelligence, technical skill and industry. 18. Technical instruction and agricultural education generally should in my opinion be under the jurisdiction of 'Departments of Agriculture ns it is in Ireland, and the powers, functions, and el^ciency of these Departments should be enlarsred in manifold degree. A million pounds, or a much larger sum if necessarv, annually spent in this way would repay the expenditure tenfold. It is no use trying to teach agriculture in colleges or form books alone. To raise the standard of efficiency and of production, instruction must be brought' right down to 32 the farmer, and his interest must be enlisted. Demonstrate to him on his own land, even keep his books for him for a time if necessary; but leave him with no excuse for ignorance. When all that has been done it will be time enough to use compulsion in respect of methods. For that no complicated machinery is necessary. Moreover, land in grass which ought to be in tillage, and which can be proved to be profitable in tillage, should reasonably be the subject of taxation; a precedent for this is the Irish policy now in operation. 19. I confess I have not been able to arrive at a clear view upon the question of the pay- ment of a bonus for breaking up grass. The evidence was conflicting as to the necessity, and in the main I am inclined to the opinion that the farmer breaking up grass has, in the cumulative fertility accruing 'from long retention in grass, an asset sufiicient to carry him well through initial outlays. But under this head I think the landlor^ is clearly entitled to some considera- tion. In many cases he will have to provide equipment where there is an extension of tillage. Such advances need not be uniform or universally applied, but I am of opinion that there is a principle of justice involved which should not be disregarded. The experience of the present year, when it is hoped large areas will be brought under the plough by the system of bonuses adopted, will be of the utmost value in determining what action should be taken in the future. 20. I have no personal experience of the cultivation of sugar beet, but after a careful consideration of the evidence I support the recommendation of the Report. Unquestionably, if a root crop of such importance could be established as an economic proposition it would go far to solve the problem of increased tillage. Root crops, or, as they are called in some districts, fallow crops or green crops, are, in my opinion, the foundation of tillage operations and are in the true sense the pivotal crops. Secure these, and cereal crops automatically follow. This is, of course, diametrically opposed to the opinion expressed in the Report that cereals are to be the pivotal crops. I regard this difference as one of extreme importance, and it governs to a great extent the different opinions expressed. In this opinion I am supported by Dr. • Russell, of Rothamsted, who says in his evidence " The key to the situation seemed therefore to lie in the root or fallow break. The wheat crop may be regarded as the superstructure seen by the public but the root crop was the foundation on which it rested." 21. The fact that on the one hand this country with its teeming population affords an un- surpassed market for agricultural produce, while on the other, the land of these islands provides soil of almost unrivalled productivity, should surely lead to the reflection that some intervening obstacle must be responsible for any failure on the part of agriculture as a profitable industry. I am, Sir, "Your obedient Servant, (Signed) MATTW. G. WALLACE. 20th February, 1917. 33 REPOET OF SUB-COMMITTEE— coMimwed. POSTSCRIPT TO PART I. 69. We may now conclude wliat we have to say upon tke question of a minimum wage. In Part I. of this Report we have already considered the possibility of an intimation from the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for England and "Wales and from the Board of Agriculture for Scotland to the local Wages Boards or Committees in the Counties to the effect that no recommendation could be entertained in respect of a minimum wage anywhere in Great Britain if it fell below a certain fixed sum, and in Paragraph 31 we intimated our intention to revert to the subject. Since Part I. was sent in to the Prime Minister the sum has been fixed at 255. a week in the Corn Production Act. Experience of the working of this scale will show whether it should be varied or whether it can, for the present, be adopted as the definite sum below which the weekly wages of an ordinary agricultural labourer shall not fall ; but in this connexion we think it abso- lutely necessary to repeat the caution uttered in Paragraph 33 of Part I. of our Report, (where we made our recommendation of a definite guaranteed minimum price of wheat and oats after the war) that we could have no certain knowledge^ of the cost of production after the war, and that therefore it may well be necessary for His Majesty's Government hereafter to revise our recom- mendation in the light of ascertained facts. 70. Since Part I. of this Report was issued the maximum prices of many agricultural products have been fixed by the Food Controller in addition to those fixed by the Army Council. The measures of the Army Council and of the Food Controller have been accepted by the farming community as an undisputed necessity of a state of war, but we are not surprised to learn that the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Irish Department of Agriculture are convinced from the results already apparent that such emergency measures should be abandoned as soon as possible after the restoration of peace if agriculture is to be continuously progressive after the war. 71. Ireland. — ^In Paragraphs 32 and 34 we stated that the recommendations therein made in respect of a minimum wage and of the method of securing increased production did not apply to Ireland, and that we should make corresponding recommendations for Ireland in a later part of our Report. 72. The Irish Government has set up in Dublin a Wages Board to fulfil the same functions in respect of the wages of agricultural labourers in Ireland as we have assigned to the Wages Board in Great Britain in Part I. of our Report. We recommend that that Board should be m,ade permanent, and that it. should have power also to create local Wages Boards or Committees in the Provinces, representative of all the interests concerned. 73. We will, however, permit ourselves an observation on a point of importance which emerges from a consideration of the policy of increased production. Clearly it will involve the erection by the Local Authorities of many more cottages under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts. At present cottages so built are let to the labourers at a wholly uneconomic rent, which amounts in fact to a subvention of wages out of the rates. If the labourer in Ireland is to have a minimum rate of wage secured to him by statute; we see no reason why the Irish, any more than the British, labourer should not pay to the Local Authority a full economic rent for his cottage. 74. Before finally leaving the subject of wages we desire to call attention to the fact that the institution of a minimum standard wage inevitably entails the institution of a minimum standard of effort and efficiency in a day's labour. Unless the farmer exacts such a standard, he cannot expect to farm otherwise than at a loss. Unless the able-bodied labourer conforms to such a standard, he cannot expect employment.* • 75. In paragraphs 52 to 63 of Part I. of our Report we recommended means of enforcing proper cultivation of the land in Great Britain. The Board of Agriculture should bring pres- sure to bear on the landowners, and through them on their tenants, to use the land in the manner that would best promote the interests of the country in regard to Food Production. In case of default and in the last resort the Board should determine the tenancy of the occupiers, or take over the management of part of the estate of the landowner. Two-thirds of the lands of Ireland have been purchased by the occupiers under the Land Purchase Acts, and, therefore, no pressure can be exercised on them through landowners ; and the remaining occupiers share in a dual ownership of the land, and their tenancies can be legally determined for the sole cause of non-payment of rent. Therefore a distinct method of enforcing the proper use of the land must be found for Ireland. Ireland is a country of numerous small agricultural holdings. Without including 100,000 occupiers of allotments of one acre or under, there are in Ireland 450,000 occupiers of agricultural holdings. Out of that number 360,000 hold less than 50 acres each, and a total of 7 million acres of the 20 million acres contained in the country. It would be quite impracticable that the Department of Agriculture should undertake the management of these small holdings. 76. The greater part of the cereals and roots produced in Ireland are grown on the third of the country's area held by these small occupiers. Ireland also has a small number of large agricultural holdings. There are 11,000 occupiers who hold each over 200 acres, and a total area of 5 million acres. This section of the coimtry contains the most fertile land, and that held by the small occupiers contains the poorest and most barren land in Ireland. On these large holdings the proportion of ploughed land is very small, and in order to secure a large increase in food production a reasonable proportion of these lands must be brought under the plough. • The subject is admirably treated in a pamphlet on Agricultural Labour by Mr. T. B. Ponsonby ; published by the Co-operative Keference Library. Dublin, 1917. 19792 C 34 77. To meet the conditions in Ireland we shall presently recommend a twofold method of enforcing cultivation; but first we shall describe what has already been done. In pursuance of Regulations made under the Defence of the Eealm Act by the Irish Department of Agricul- ture the amount of land under crops in Ireland has already been greatly increased. The Regulations required that, in addition to the land tilled in 1916,- the occupiers should till in 1917 10 per cent, of the total cultiyable land on the holding unless and until the total ploughed area exceeded 50 per cent, of the cultivable portion of the holding. Small holdings under ten acres, paddocks, bleach greens, and dairymen's pastures, used exclusively to produce a supply of milk for neighbouring cities and towns, were exempt from the Regulations. Where the required tillage was not done, the Department had power to take possession at their discretion of the whole or part of the holding, and to till the land themselves or let it in lots for the season to those who undertook to till it. The Department has exercised this power of entering on the land in numerous instances. The Department has already announced that it will require to be tilled in the year 1918 an additional 5 per cent, of the total cultivable area of each holding. It will require a further 5 per cent, each succeeding year until the Department certifies that the holding is best used in the interests of the country. We were informed by witnesses from the Department that the total percentage of tillage would vary on different holdings according to the character of the land. The percentage would be less on butter, fatting, and cheese fa,rms than on some other classes of land. We had it given in evidence that even on the best pasture farms there is a greater or less proportion of land which would be more prodiictive under cereals and roots than under grass, and that the yield of such farms would thereby be largely increased. 78. We recommend that the present powers possessed by the Department of enforcing proper cultivation by entering on the land and tilling or letting it should be enacted in a permanent Act, and we understand that, in addition, the Department desires to receive power to inflict a fine of £5 upon the occupier for every acre or part of an acre of land that should be tilled and was not tilled in a particular year. 79. Some holdings are in the occupation of incompetent or incapable persons whom neither instruction nor penalties can improve in their methods, the land deteriorates and is wasted for several years, the occupier grows poorer and poorer, and is generally crushed out by his or her creditors. It would be in the interests of the nation and of such occupiers that that process should be stopped at a comparatively early stage. The Department of Agriculture wishes to have power to purchase the interest in their holdings of such persons at a price fixed by the Irish Land Commission, who have all the records and the machinery for fixing these prices, and who could supply the funds for the transaction. The Department would sell those holdings by public auction to competent cultivators, or divide them up into smaller holdings, selling them and providing for a certain number of the most skilful and progressive of the labourers, or vest them in trustees to hold them for the purpose of grazing cows to supply milk to small towns and villages. 80. It will be sufficient if we express the opinion that there is no body which can compete with the Irish Department of Agriculture as an authority in the consideration of such a policy for Ireland, and that no policy not wholeheartedly supported by it would have any chance of success. 35 PART II. Scope and Limitation of the Enqtjtry. 81. In the introductory paragraphs of this Report we explained the circumstances which led to the early publication of Part I. Lord Crawford and Balcarres, then President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, urged us to issue an interim report upon a guaranteed price and a guaranteed wage as matters upon which immediate legislative action might be taken. Th6se were dealt with subsequently in the Corn Production Act. We had, therefore, to devote Part I. almost exclusively to those two urgent and interdependent factors in the problem of increased food production, and to the method of ensuring that that production was achieved ; and we could give no more consideration to the other aspects of agricultural reconstruction than was necessary for an adequate presentation of the case for the definite recommendations which we made. We, of course, accepted the position without demur, though it somewhat added to the difficulties of our task. We could not stop to determine, after a review of the agricultural situation in its entirety, the scope and the limitations of its treatment. An inquiry of incalcul- able national importance was thus at the outset robbed of the human interest attaching to the larger national problem, which is needed to sustain the reader, who is neither personally engaged in agriculture nor a student of related social and economic questions, through the maze of un- familiar conditions now in process of transformation. We, therefore, think it desirable to do here what in other circumstances might have been more usefully undertaken in an introduction to Part I. and to indicate briefly the bearing of our title and reference upon the radical changes in bur rural social economy which, we are convinced, must form an organic part of any sound scheme of national reconstruction after the war. 82. We have been charged " to consider and report upon the methods of effecting an increase in the home-grown food supplies." By no simple means can this end be attained. Before a complete answer could be made it would be necessary to examine the present condition of British farming — its actual and potential productiveness and the methods of marketing; to consider how far the industry may be stimulated by a general education and a technical training more suitable to the needs of rural workers ; by changes in our system of local taxation and in the prevailing systems of tenure ; by better credit facilities and cheaper transportation. Our title covers the whole of this vast field of investigation, but we feel bound to point out that, if we were fortunate enough to agree upon a perfect scheme of needed legislative and administra- tive changes embracing all these matters, much would still have to be done by voluntary agencies to bring about an all round improvement in the social conditions of country life, and so to provide an adequate counter attraction to the lure of the city. Indeed the problem before us embraces the solution of four problems, the establishment of a permanent reservoir of healthy and contented men and women from which the physical strength of the rest of the nation can be perpetually renewed, the creation of a larger home market for our manufactures than that which at present exists, security of their food supply for the whole people even in times of peril, and the re-establishment of a proper social and political balance between the urban and the rural community. If this be not understood and kept clearly in mind the. relevance of many subjects treated in our Report will not be appreciated. The Depaetments of Ageicultoee. 83. Before we proceed further with our definite recommendations for a new agricultural policy, it is necessary to review the present constitution, scope and functions of the chief agencies concerned, the Departments of Agriculture. First, in order of time, came the Board of Agriculture for Great Britain, established with the narrow conception of an office merely charged with the administration of certain Acts of Parliament. Then came the Irish Department of Agriculture, founded with the definite ideal of a constructive agri- cultural policy. Finally, Scotland severed its agricultural administration from that of England and Wales. And now the separate Boards for England and Wales and for Scotland, in friendlj rivalry, have plainly set before them as their proud and chief duty the constructive develop- ment of agriculture. There are, therefore, three of these Departments in the United Kingdom, and in Wales a movement exists to create a fourth. We recognise the strength of national feeling and the reality of special circumstances, but from other points of view it would have been better for agriculture if there had been only a single department of agriculture within the area of these islands. The dispersion of agriculture between three offices has undoubtedly lessened the influence of the agricultural interest in the Cabinet and contributed to the lack of public concern for the most vitally important national industry. We must, however, deal with facts as we flnd them and not leave out of account the possibility of further changes. We shall recommend steps by which the three Departments may be brought into conference for the discussion of matters of great agricultural importance to the whole TTnited Kingdom, and we shall make proposals designed in genuine sympathy to meet the special circumstances and the national feeling of Wales. We feel, however, that the creation of another separate department of agriculture would unnecessarily complicate agricultural administration and further grievously weaken the influence of agriculture with the nation, and that it is at least doubtful whether Wales would gain more than it lost by the change. 84. We shall discuss first the Irish Department because, as will be seen, its peculiar origin, constitution and activities have a suggestive value in the consideration of the changes we shall recommend for the reform of the Departments in England and Scotland. 19792 C 2 36 85. The Irish Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction. — -The Irish Depart- ment of AgricTilture and Teclinical Instruction, of whose origin, constitution, functions and resources we give a somewhat full account below, arose out of the recommendations of the Recess Committee which sat in the years 1895-6. This body wasi unofficial and self-appointed, but it succeeded in associating together for its enquiries and deliberations representatives of all political sections, and leaders of the agricultural, industrial, commercial, and professional classes. The Committee set itself to investigate the methods adopted by Continental Govern- ments for the development of agricultural and industrial resources. Special commissioners were dispatched to make this enquiry in nine countries whose conditions and progress might afford some lessons for Ireland. The report, which was signed unanimously, sketched the kind of Department Ireland required. It was an adaptation to the peculiar circumstances of that country of various types of Continental Departments. In every case the commissioners found that three principles were observed in the constitution and working of these Departments — - representation, education, and organisation. How the Irish Department was linked with the local administrative bodies will be seen later, and its educational methods will be described. The promoters of the movement, which the Recess Committee succeeded in commending to popular favour in Ireland and also to Parliament, were perhaps more interested in the principle of organisation. It was strongly held that an efficient Department of Agriculture should not only be representative in the popular sense but that it should also seek every opportunity of utilising and working with voluntary associations of the agricultural classes. Just as the Depart- ment grew out of the Recess Committee, the Recess Committee may be said to have grown out of the agricultural organisation movement which had preceded it by six years, and had taken definite shape in the foundation of the first of the Agricultural Organisation Societies in 1894. It is significant that the Recess Committee appealed to Parliament that public assistance to agriculture should be so given as to supplement, but in no wise to provide a substitute^ for, vohtntary effort. 86. The Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act was passed in August, 1889, and came into operation on the first day of April, 1900. In the interval between these two events the Irish Department of Agriculture and other Industries and Technical Instruction was brought into existence through the appointment of the Vice-President by one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretai'ies of State. The Vice-President exercises and performs all the powers and duties of the Department. The Chief Secretary for Ireland is ex-officio the President of the Department, but he does not actively intervene in its 'proceedings. 87. This Report is concerned only with the agricultural side of the Department's work. The Department is assisted herein by — (a) A Council of Agriculture. (6) An Agricultural Board. 88. The Council of Agriculture consists of 104 members, viz., 68 appointed by the County Councils of the Administrative Counties of Ireland, 34 nominated by the Department, and 2 ex-offi,cio members, the President and the Vice-President. The Agricultural Board consists of 12 members, 3 for each of the Provinces. Of those, 8 are elected by the Council of Agri- culture and 4 are nominated by the Department. The Council of Agriculture is constituted anew after each triennial election of the County Councils. At the first meeting of the new Council of Agriculture, the members representing each Province form separate Provincial Com- mittees for the election of the 8 members of the Agricultural Board. 89. The Department calls the meetings of the Council, usiially in May and November, but in cases of emergency special meetings are summoned. All matters of public interest in connection with agriculture are discussed. The Department, as a rule, sets down for discussion one or more subjects on which it wishes to gather the authoritative opinion of the country, or in respect of which it; wishes to stimulate, educate, or form opinion. The members of the Council are also invited to submit subjects for discussion, and they freely use this privilege by placing resolutions on the agenda. At the next meeting of the Council the Department explains the action it has taken to give effect to the resolutions adopted at the previous meeting. The Irish press, both national and provincial, give extensive reports of the proceedings of the Council, and the agricultural mind of Ireland is aroused, quickened, and educated. 90. The Agricultural Board advises the Department on all questions connected with agri- culture and other rural industries and, in so far as these are financed out of the endowment fund (explained in the next paragraph), it has a right to veto expenditure. In practice, there- fore, the Board's power of veto enables it to alter the schemes of the Department and even sometimes to substitute its own. In ordinary circumstances the Board meets three or four times in the year; the Press is not admitted to its meetings. 91. The income of the Department is derived from two sources, parliamentary votes and an Endowment Fund. The expenses of central administration and of certain national institu- tions, and the salaries of the staff and of the inspectors, are defrayed by moneys voted by Parliament and controlled by the Treasury. The Endowment Fund, the annual amount of which available for agriculture is about £105,000, is made up from various sources such as the Irish Church Temporalities Fund and the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account, and its expenditure requires the concurrence of the Agricultural Board. In addition to this regular income, the Department has received special grants both from Parliament and from the Development Commissioners for afforestation, horse breeding, tobacco oTOwing, fisheries, and research work. 37 92. The work of the Department has rapidly developed, which is largely due to the fact that it has covered the whole of Ireland with a network of Agricultural Committees which bring it into immediate touch with every part of the country. By the Act of 1899 the County Councils are empowered to raise a special rate for the purposes of agricultural and other rural industries, and to appoint a Committee of Agriculture for each County. This Committee, when appointed, becomes statutory and independent of the parent body. The Committee appoints its own officers, keeps,its own accounts (which are separately audited by the Local Government Board), and makes its own schemes quite independently of the Coanty Council, but subject to the approval of the Department, to which all minutes of the proceedings, schemes, and appointments must be submitted for sanction. Each County Committee has Coimty officers, a County staff, and generally County institutions of its own — Secretary, instructors in agricul- ture, horticulture, poultry-keeping, bee-keeping, and in some cases in dairying and flax- growing. The smallest Counties have one instructor in each of the important subjects, and the larger Counties two or more of each class. In Cork, the largest county, the stafE of the County Committee of Agriculture consists of a Secretary and assistant, five instructors in agriculture, four in horticulture and bee-keeping, two instructresses in poultry-keeping, two instructresses in dairying, and two instructors in flax-growing. 93. The Department, with the concurrence of the Agricultural Board, has allocated to each County from its Endowment Fund a grant which, with the proceeds of the agricultural rate levied in the County, forms the " joint fund," out of which the operations of the County Committees are financed. 94. The great increase of tillage achieved in Ireland since January last could not have been effected in so short a time had it not been for the complete touch of the Department with all parts of Ireland through the County Committees of Agriculture, and for the spirit and enthusiasm manifested by the officers alike of the Department and of the Counties. 95. In the case of all these bodies, the Council of Agriculture, the Agricultural Board, and the County Committees of Agriculture, the appointing authorities have the option of selection from among their own members or from outsiders in any proportion they please, and in all instances they have nominated considerable numbers of non-members in order to make available their knowledge, skill, and experience. 96. The constitution of the Irish Department of Agriculture appears to us satisfactory and we have no recommendation to make in respect of it. 97. The Congested Districts Board for Ireland does not call for any detailed comment since it has transferred to the Department of Agriculture its original powers in respect of agricultural instruction, live stock improvement, and forestry. Its operations in connection with the land are now mainly directed, towards the re-settlement of estates, preparatory to their sale to the occupiers, by migration and the enlargement of small holdings, or by the re-arrange- ment of rundale or intermixed holdings. 98. The Scottish Board of Agriculture. — The Board of Agriculture for Scotland was created under the Small Land Holders (Scotland) Act, 1911. It consists of three persons, one of whom must be the Chairman and another the Commissioner of Small Holdings, and it complies with instructions issued by the Secretary for Scotland, who is President of the Board. It is charged with the administration of the Small Land Holders (Scotland) Act and certain other Acts, with the general duty of promoting agriculture, forestry, and rural industries, agricultural instruction organisation and co-operation, with the collection of statistics, and with experiments and research. It administers the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund, consisting of moneys voted by Parliament and certain other funds, and grants received from the Develop- ment Commissioners. The only duties in Scotland for which the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in London remains responsible are those connected with the Survey Afct, 1870, and the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894. 99. The Board was originally set up under an Act for the promotion of Small Holdings, but it is also responsible for the national agricultural interests of Scotland. In particular it has concerned itself very closely and directly with the promotion and development of Agricul- tural Education. The Board has established a seed-testing station undei its own direct control, and it administers valuable schemes for the improvement of all sorts of live-stock by a system of premiums for approved sires. It has for some years past obtained from the Development Fund grants for the encouragement of milk-recording; and these grants are successfully administered by the Scottish Milk Eeoords Committee under whose control upwards of 26,000 cows were before th© war annually reported on with satisfactory results in the improvement of the yield of milk. 100. It appears to us to be an anomaly that the care of the agriculture of Scotland should form only a part of the duties of a minister charged with so many Parliamentary and adminis- trative responsibilties as are attached to the office of the Secretary for Scotland, who discharges in Scotland the duties which in England employ the energies of at least eight Cabinet Ministers and Under Secretaries. It is no doubt true that the Departments for which the Secretary for Scotland is responsible are on a much smaller scale than the corresponding Departments in England, but the number and complexity of the problems with which he has to deal are just the same as those dealt with by this goodly muster of English Ministers, and we cannot suppose that the present arrangement makes adequate provision for agricultural administration even under the conditions which have hitherto obtainerl. In support of this view we quote the 1979:! '^ 3 38 statement of the only Secretary for Scotland, Mr. Mackinnon Wood, M.P., who has had experience in normal times of the working of the present arrangement: — "I say quite frankly that I agree as to the desirability of having a Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries officially in Scotland. I am quite prepared to admit, and indeed assert, that it is quite impossible for one man to look after all the Departments and also this Department of Agriculture which never belonged to the Department except within the last few years, and which might profitably occupy the time of any member; of this House." 101. The case, however, for a reconsideration of the present arrangement is greatly strengthened by the new situation which has arisen with regard to the relation of the State to the agricultural industry. If that relation is to be one largely of partnership, and certainly involving constructive development by the departments of Agriculture of the conditions under which the indiistry is to be carried on, it is evident that the Minister in charge of a Board of ^ Agriculture must have powers and responsibilities in respect of it, the discharge of which will demand his sole and undistracted attention. We believe that no arrangement will be satisfactory which does not provide for the appointment of a Minister having the care of. Scottish agriculture as his sole duty and being directly responsible to Parliament. Moreover, we are of opinion that agriculture in Scotland would be greatly strengthened by the establish- ment by statute of a National Council of Agriculture and of a Committee to advise the Board. In continuation of the work of the War Agricultural Committees there should be created statutory Agricultural Committees appointed by the County Councils,* which should be instructed to appoint to them, either from their own number or from outside, only persons engaged in agri- feulture or otherwise specially qualified. in relation to it. When once appointed these Agricultural Committees should have an independent status like their Irish prototypes. A County Council should have the power to set up more than one Agricultural Committee within its area, and the Agricultural Committee should have power to form District Sub-Committees. These Agri- cultural Committees should undertake any duties entrusted to them by Parliament or dele- ft;! ted to them by the Board of Agriculture, and they should form the constituent body for the, election of the National Agricultural Council. That Council should be composed of two repre- sentativesy elected by the Agricultural Committee or Committees, from each County Council area,, and of persons representative of Scottish agriculture nominated to the Council by the Minister ; so that, however, the total nominated members should not exceed one-third of the Council. The Minister should be an ex-officio member. The Council so composed should meet not less than twice a year under the presidency of the Minister to discuss questions of agricultural policy brought before it by him or by any of its members on due notice given. It should elect eight of its number to the Scottish Committee of Agriculture; the minister should be an ex-officio member and should appoint three other members. Thus the Committee would consist of twelve persons and the Minister should preside. It should meet regularly every quarter and on special occasions when summoned. It should deal with any business brought before it by the Minister, but its members should be free to raise and discuss and pass resolutions on any subject of interest to Scottish agriculture. The proposed annual estimates should be laid before the Committee and be discussed by it before being laid on the table of th« House of Commons, and, when so laid, they should be accompanied by a memorandum expressing the opinion of the Committee upon them. All resolutions of the Committee should be laid on the table of both Houses of Parliament if so directed by it. 102. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for England and Wales. The original Board of Agriculture was created by Royal Charter in 4793. It was not really a Government Department, though supported by Parliamentary funds; it was rather a society for the improvement of agriculture, and it died of inanition after the Parliament3,ry grant was with- drawn. It was dissolved in 1822. The present Board, the potential importance of which' cannot easily be over-estimated, is an infelicitous example of the results of growth so dear to many Englishmen as opposed to design. It was revived nearly 30 years ago, and charged with the administration of a miscellaneous assortment of Acts of Parliament connected with agri- culture or with the land, and with the collection of the statistical information which had previously been part of the duties of the Board of Trade. At a later stage Fisheries were tacked on to it. It was thus designed for purposes of administration and police only. That a Government Department should be constructive and endeavour directly to stimulate or promote the development of an industry was a conception foreign to the views of the function of the State which then prevailed. With the change of public opinion the Board has partially and. imperfectly accepted a more active view of its duties, but, as a result of the original conception under which it was founded, it has not been able to attain either the status or the staff or the organisation appropriate to the constructive work which a modern Department of Agriculture is called upon to perform. 103. The Animals Division dealt only with the administration of the Contagious Diseases of Animals Acts, the Dogs Act, and similar police orders, and with the veterinary investigations necessitated by this control. It is only recently that the Board has been able to institute measures to bring about the improvement of live stock. Similarly, the Land Division was charged with duties regarding the sale of the land of English universities and colleges, with the administration of the Land Improvement Acts, tithe rent charge, and the control of commons and similar questions. Latterly it was called upon to administer the Small Holdings Acts, but hitherto it has had no power to deal with the cultivation of land generally, or food production * Since this paragraph was drafted the Board of Agriculture has been empowered under Sec. 11 (2) of the Corn' Production Act to authorize approved bodies to exercise any of the powers of the Board under Part IV of that Actj with a proviso that the bodies so authorized shall in the first instance consist of persons who are acting as members of the County War Agricultural Executive Committees. This enactment, therefore, provides a natural link between the Statutory Committees we recommend and those already in existence. 39 in its widest sense. Tiie difficulties of tlie Department have always been increased by the fact that it has been housed in some dozen distinct sets of scattered premises, and no proper organisation can be achieved until the Office is gathered in one common building. In these circumstances the officers of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries deserve great credit for the admirable work which they have done in the face of every difficulty and discouragement. 104. Our conception of the Board of Agriculture is as of a great department of State charged with the care of agriculture in its widest sense, and with the promotion of the welfare of rural as distinct from urban life. Its duty should be to assist and stimulate agriculture by every possible means as a basic national industry, to promote the production of food in England and Wales, and to regard the increased prosperity and happiness of the rural population as its special care. It should also encourage and co-operate with voluntary organisations which exist for the promotion of these objects. 105. We do not think that it should be charged with any urban responsibilities, and, therefore, we do not recommend that either the Land Valuation Department of the Inland Revenue or the Land Registry should be transferred to it. The subject of Fisheries does not come within the scope of our reference, but we know enough about it to know that it is a national industry capable of great. development. There would seem to be a strong case for a Fishery Board for Great Britain, responsible for policy and research, and with a Minister at its head representing it in Parliament. This could be made quite compatible with localised administra- tion. If this solution should prove impracticable, then we agree that it is for the best interests of the English and Welsh fisheries that they should remain associated with the Board of Agriculture rather than with any other Department. 106. The first thing necessary after the war will be to unite the whole Department under one roof. Proper administration is quite impossible when a Department is scattered into a dozen separate houses in half a dozen different streets. The Minister in charge of the Depart- ment should be styled, as now. President of the Board of Agriculture, but his salary and status- should be raised to an equality with that of the President of the Board of Trade and the President of the Local Government Board. The staff must be increased and strengthened; especially it needs the infusion of a proper proportion of Class 1 of the Civil Service; those members of the staff, from whom expert, or at any rate practical, knowledge is required, should, be selected by a combination of the systems of nomination an i examination ; the First Division men, who enter through the Civil Service examination, should spend at least two out of the first five years of their service out of London; it is in our opinion important that they should get an early insight into the working of agricultural administration, either on the provincial staff of the Department or attached to the staff of local authorities. The provincial staff of the Department requires reorganising. Before the war the work of most of the provincial officers covered an impossibly large area, but many fresh appointments have since been made in con- nection with the campaign for food production; in some cases officers may be made responsible for all the work of the Board in a given geographical area; in other cases the work of officer.s must be specialised. In this paragraph of our Report we merely indicate the fact that .the staff of the Department must be permanently expanded above its pre-war strength. In subsequent • paragraphs we shall explain what the work is which in our opinion it should do. It inay, however, be convenient in this place to draw attention to the fact that the work of other Depart- ments of the State must affect the welfare of the rural population and the state of agriculture. This is particularly true of the Board of Education, and of the Local Government Board in respect of the housing problem. It seems to us necessary that in dealing with rural housing the Local Government Board, and in dealing with elementary and secondary education in agricul- tural districts the Board of Education, should work in close touch with the Board of Agriculture. The organisation of the Department in London must be remodelled in the light of experience and in consequence of its increased responsibilities. There is, however, one aspect of this re- organisation to which we wish to draw special attention. It will certainly be necessary to create a Division charged with the management of all agricultural properties permianently or temporarily placed under the control of the Board of Agriculture. But the President of the Board, in his capacity of a Commissioner of Woods and Forests, is already responsible for the management of the agricultural properties of the Crown. We think that it would be a gooa plan to amalgamate the Agricultural side of the Office of Woods and Forests with the Manage- ment Division of the Board of Agriculture, and to put both sets of agricultural properties under the same control. 107. As in Scotland, so in England and Wales, the War Agricultural Committees of the County. Councils* should be replaced by statutory committees, which, when constituted, should have powers of action independently of the County Councils, as in the case of the corresponding Committees in Ireland and of the Education Committees in England. They should be com- posed of men and women who are not members of the County Councils as well as of members of ithe County Councils, but in both cases alike it is essential to secure the services of persons -with practical knowledge of agriculture or some other branch of rural economy, or representative of some special rural interest rather than of the different districts of the County. These AfiTicul- tural Committees should absorb the work of the existing Small Holdings and Allotments, Contagious Diseases of Animals, and Agricultural Education Committees (or Sub-CnrnmiiteesV of the County Councils, and of the Live Stock Committees established by the Board of Agricul- ture in various counties within the last few years, (all of which Committees should be ai)olishe'l), and they should undertake any other duties entrusted to them by Parliament or delegated to them by the Board. A County Council should have the power to set up more than one Agrioul-- tural Committee within its area, and the Agricultural Committee should have power io form District Sub-Committees. 108. The Agricultural Committees of England should elect two representatives from each- County Council area to serve on the English National Agricultural Council, already suggested • See note to paragraph 101. C 4 40 in paragrapii 59 of Part I. of this Report. Th.e President of the Board of Agriculture" should nominate to it persons representative of all agricultural interests, so that, however, the total number of nominated members shall not exceed one-third of the Ctouncil. The President and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Agriculture should be ex-officio members. The Council so composed should meet at least twice a year to discuss questions of agricultural policy brought before it by the President, or by any of its members on due notice given, and the President or, in his absence, the Parliamentary Secretary should preside, over its meetings. It)9. There is already in existence a Welsh Agricultural Council which is not statutory but does useful work. We recommend that this Council should continue to perform the functions of a National Agricultural Council for Wales, and that it should be made a statutory body for the purpose of advising the Board of Agriculture in regard to agricultural matters in Wales, to which the Board may delegate certain powers and functions relating to local administration. The Council should consist as at present of two members elected by each Agricultural Committee in Wales and Monmouth and the agricultural departments of the two Colleges, with not more than twelve members nominated by the President of the Board of Agriculture. The President and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Agriculture should be ex-officio members, and the President or, in his absence, the Parliamentary Secretary should preside over its meetings. All the local work of the Board of Agriculture in Wales should be under the charge of a Principal Officer of the Board, who should be assisted by an adequate stafE and have his headquarters and office at a centre in Wales convenient for North and South. 110. We recommend also that there should be established an Agricultural Committee for England and Wales, composed of the President and Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Agjriculture, eight members elected by the English Agricultural Council, two members elected by the Welsh Agricultural Council, and three members appointed by the President of the Board of Agriculture. The Committee should meet regularly every quarter, and on special occasions when summoned. The President, or in his absence, the Parliamentary Secretary, should preside. It should deal with any business brought before it by the President, but its members should be free to raise and discuss and pass resolu- tions on any subject of interest to agriculture or rural life in England or Wales. The proposed annual estimates should be laid before the Committee and discussed by it before being laid on the table of the House of Commons, and when so laid they should be accompanied by a memorandum expressing the opinion of the Committee upon them. All resolutions of the Committee should be laid upon the table of both Houses of Parliament,. if so directed by them. 111. The National Agricultural Councils for Scotland, England, and Wales, and the Agricultural Committees for Scotland and for England and Wales, should be appointed afresh after every General Election of the County Councils; and the members selected, whether by the County Councils, or by the Presidents of the Boards of Agriculture, or by the National Councils, should hold office until the next General Election of the County Councils. 112. If our recommendations are adopted there will be in existence in the United Kingdom four national Agricultural Councils, representing agriculture in Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales. We suggest that it would be of great advantage to agriculture if delegates from , these councils, say, thirty for England, and five for Wales, and ten each for Scotland and for Ireland, were to meet in conference once a year. The conference should never be held two years running in the same country, but in each country in turn, and the Minister responsible to Parliament for the agriculture of the country in which the conference is held should act as its I'resident for the occasion. An officer of one of the departments of agriculture should be' permanent Secretary of the Conference, and responsible for the custody of its records. We believe that the result of such conferences would be to diminish the chances of friction between the three Departments, to encourage the pursuit of a common policy, and to inform public opinion of the special difficulties and needs of agriculture and of its magnitude and importance as an industiy. It would be a great encouragement to agriculture if His Majesty the King would graciously consent to become permanent Patron of the Conference of the combined councils. Ageicultuhal Instruction and Reseaech. 113. Ireland. — Ireland possesses a carefully thought out system of agricultural instruction which is worked partly by the Department of Agriculture itself and partly through the Agricul- tural Committees of the County Councils. 114. Directly under the control of the Department are the Royal College of Science for Ireland, where there is a faculty for agriculture, and where the experts and instructors of the Department are trained, and the Albert Agricultural College, where a combined course of instruction is provided in technical and practical agriculture suited to persons who will later take up the management of the larger farms, and certain training schools for teachers and agricultural stations. Separate instruction is given to women students in the Munster Institute and in the Ulster Dairy School in butter-making and poultry-keeping. Horticulture, bee- keeping, forestry, flax-growing and domestic economy are treated as special subjects. Great success has attended the intensive instruction given by specially selected " members of the Department's staff to groups of occupiers settled for the first time on new land by the Congested Districts Board. Moreover, there are in every county one or more organisers, officers of the Department, who have been trained in the practice as well as in the science of agriculture and carefully taught how to teach, and who are never allowed to rust, but are assiduously kept in contact with the Department and its institutions and broxxght into periodic conferences with one another. 4] 115. The local schemes of agricultural instruction are administered through the Agricul- tural Committees of the County Councils, each of which has its own staff of officers, whose appointment must, however, be approved by the Department. Each committee annually draws up a scheme which becomes operative when it has received the approval of the Department. These schemes cover all branches of agricultural education for both sexes, and include direct forma of encouragement in the improvement of agriculture and live stock breeding and dairy practice. The live stock schemes generally provide for improvement by encouraging the breed- ing and introduction of high-class stallions, bulls, and boars, and their distribution throughout the country for mating with the ordinary stock. 116. Quite deliberately the Department and the Agricultural Committees alike have pre- ferred a system of temporary winter schools, to one of permanent institutes and colleges, for fche instruction of farmers' sons. Very many of these are held at various local centres every winter season throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. They usually last for sixteen weeks, and the students attend from their fathers' farms on three or four days of each week. It is claimed for this system that it is much cheaper than the institute system, and that it influences a far larger number of young men and boys than the institute system could possibly do. 117. So far as we can judge, the Irish system of agricultural instruction is admirably adapted to the peculiar circumstances of Ireland, and we have no change to recommend in it. The Irish Department of Agriculture would like to see a greater bias than is at present given towards country life in the teaching of the elementary schools. In its own sphere of responsi- bility it wishes to receive statutory power from Parliament to prevent the use of unsound sires. We sympathise with both these aspirations, but particularly we wish to endorse and support the claim of the Department for a liberal provision for scientific research. There can be no doubt but that the work of the Department suffers from a lack of such provision. It requires an institute at which practical problems of special interest to Irish farmers can be investigated, and we concur with the Department in thinking that such an institute, properly staffed and equipped, would bring a direct and speedy return to the national resources by the improvement which it would effect in Irish Agriculture, and by the increase of food production which would surely follow. * 118. Scotland. — Under the Scotch Education Department courses of instruction are arranged at the four Teachers' Training Colleges which qualify teachers to give elementary rural instruction in the rural schools, and there are also a number of special vacation courses at which the schoolmasters are given instruction during their holidays. A certain amount of rural teaching is given in many of the elementary schools to boys from 12 to 14 years of age. In addition, a three years' continuous course of instruction had been arranged just before the outbreak of war to qualify older boys and girls from 15 to 17 years of age to enter the classes of the Agricultural Colleges. 119. Apart, however, from these modifications of school education, agricultural instruction in Scotland is controlled by the Board of Agriculture and is administered through the agricultural colleges in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, each of which serves a defined area, and which together cover the whole of Scotland. In each of these colleges a complete three years course of instruction is given, qualifying for the B.Sc. degree and also for the examinations for the National Diploma in Agriculture. Shorter courses of a more immediately practical character are also conducted. There is a separate dairy school for Scotland, at Kilmarnock, administered by the Governors of the West of Scotland Agricultural College. 120. At the Universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen are Chairs of Agriculture, which are associated with the work of the Colleges of Agriculture ; and at the University of St. Andrews there is a Lectureship in Agriculture and Horticulture. These, however, are independent of the Education Department and of the Board of Agriculture, and are coiitrolled by the Courts of the Universities to which they respectively belong. 121. The County Councils of Scotland do not undertake direct instruction in agriculture. The residue grant, from which the County Councils formerly defrayed the costs of agricultural education, was transferred in 1908 to the Education (Scotland) Fund, and an annual payment from this Fund is made to the Board of Agriculture towards the maintenance of the agri- cultural colleges, whose work is further supported by grants from the Agriculture (Scotland) Fund (controlled by the Board of Agriculture) and from the Development Fund. 122. It thus appears that the system of agricultural education in Scotland is very highly centralised in respect both of finance and of administration. The whole control, not merely of the instruction given in the colleges, but also of all the county or extension work carried out in the various localities, is vested In the colleges; and they, in turn, are dependent for their incomes upon the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. 123. Each of the three colleges employs, in addition to its central staff, a large number of •extension lecturers, working in county areas, who give single lectures and conduct longer or shorter courses of lectures on general agriculture, attend markets, and advise farmers. Dairy- ing and poultry keeping are taught by a special staff of lecturers and instructresses. It is increasingly recognised that the instruction of farmers, and especially of the smaller farmers, must be effected much more largely by properly systematised courses in their own districts than at the colleges whose courses are necessarily more elaborate and attendance at which must almost always involve absence of the student from his home and from the work of the farm. 124. We believe that the existing system is cme which has done excellent work and which is capable of doing still better work in future, particularly in view of the increased disposition cf farmers to take advantage of educational opportunities. No fundamental alteration of 42 policy is required, alttougli it is evident that so highly centralised a system must continuously and increasingly require the active participation in its management of farmers, who are the persons chiefly concerned with its results, and that the vitality and success of local develop- ments of its work must especially demand the enlistment ,of local sympathy and interest. We suggest for consideration the advisability of giving adequate representation on the governing bodies of the colleges to the Agricultural Committees of the Counties which we have recom- mended should be formed. What appears to be necessary is a growth of the work of the colleges in the directions ill which they have recently been moving, and an increase of the funds devoted to this work. .A large addition to the stafi of lecturers and instructresses is required; indeed, no limit should be set to this except that which will be found in the degree of opportunity which presents itself for their useful employment. We believe that the work both of county lecturers and of instructresses will greatly gain in influence and value if it be aided by demonstration areas for tillage, and by corresponding facilities in connection with dairying and poultry-keeping. Winter courses should be provided for the sons of farmers and the farm servants; and, in devising and developing these, regard should be had both to the experience of farm institutes in England and to the example of the Irish winter schools. It is most desirable that instruction of a higher type than that which is furnished in any of the existing Colleges should be provided with the special object of training research students. 125. We are strongly convinced of the desirability of giving to farmers and, if possible, through the colleges and their county work, the assistance of the most highly trained specialists in agricultural science for purposes of consultation and advice. We believe that much larger use would be made of assistance of this kind than would have been the case even a few years ago. 126. But, above all, a large additional grant is required for the development of research work, especially in connection with live stock and with the varieties of crops suited to Scottish agriculture. As in the case of Ireland, so in that of Scotland, we regard expenditure on research work as surely productive; the grants should not only be liberal but constant over a long period and not subject to frequent revision. We strongly recommeaid that for all these purposes, but especially for that of research work, the Scottish Board of Agriculture should receive the necessary fiinds. We shall have occasion to revert to the case of Scotland when making some of our corresponding recommendations for England and Wales. Some of these will be equally applicable to Scotland, but it will be convenient to deal with them for all three countries in the same paragraphs. 127. England and Wales. — A controversy of some duration between the Boards of Agri- culture and Education as to their respective responsibilities in the sphere of agricultural' instruction was closed in January, 1912, by an agreement between the Presidents of the two Boards, which was embodied in the form of a joint minute. The effect of the agreement was that all agricultural education, except that provided in elementary and secondary schools, was to be supervised by the Board of Agriculture, while that provided in elementary and secondary schools was, of course, to be supervised by the Board of Education. We have no doubt whatever but that this division of responsibility is the best which could be devised and that it should on no account be disturbed. The only fault we have to find with it is that it rests on no surer basis than an agreement between two colleagues. We recommend that the arrangement be regularised without delay by an Order in Council under Section 4 of the Board of Agriculture Act, which provides that it shall be lawful for his Majesty " from time to time by order to transfer to the Board of Agriculture such powers and duties of atiy Government Department as are conferred by or in pursuance of any statute and appear to His Majesty to relate to agriculture or forestry, and to be of an administrative character." 128. The Board of Education aims at securing in rural elementary schools a general' education suited to the ages of the children, but so developed that full use is made of the school environment in the instruction. It definitely encourages the adoption of a limited syllabus in arithmetic, geography, and history, in order that time may be devoted to " nature' study and practical subjects suitable for country children." But the determination of the. curriculum for a school rests with the I^ocal Education Authority; the Board only retains^ power to approve or disapprove after considering the circumstances of the case. For instruction in gardening the Board pays a special grant of 4*. a head per annum, the class not to Exceed twenty in number nor (as a rule) to include children, girls or boys, under eleven years of age. In 1913-14 over 3,000 schools gave gardening instruction to over 56,000 scholars, but while some agricultural counties have taken up gardening keenly, others have done very little with it. Other subjects now being developed in rural schools are handicraft for boys and' domestic work for girls. But the main difficulty in developing rural schools on rural lines lies with the teachers. Many small country schools are staffed only with mistresses, and the older type of schoolmaster was trained at a time when the ideal of education was quite different. Some attempts have been made to attack this problem by including rural science and gardening among the subjects which may be taken for the certificate, but they have met with very- indifferent success because teachers can choose their own lines of training, and the salaries and prospects in the rural schools are so unattractive that the great majority look to employ- ment in urban areas as their goal and will not accept training for rural schools. 129. Evening schools in agricultural districts are attended mainly by young labourers, village artisans, and the sons of small holders and working farmers. Their aim is to continue' the day school education of the students and an attempt is made to give a rural bias to the teaching of each subject, but their curriculum usually includes also a practical subject such as rural science or woodwork. It cannot, however, be said that these schools are, generally speaking, a success. The main difficulties in the way of developing the work of rural evening 43 schools are tlie scarcity of suitable teachers, the reluctance of most boys on leaving the day school to attend school at all until two or three sessions have passed, the indifEerence of parents and employers, and the tired condition of the students after a day's work in the open air. 130. In order to be eligible for the Board's grant a Secondary School must have its curriculum and time-analysis approved by the Board, . which endeavours by its regulations to assist the case of schools in which the work has a rural bias. In 1913 there were 34 Secondary Schools providing rural courses, and it is the opinion of the Board that many others in country districts would gain in usefulness if they substituted a ruralised cxirriculum for that usually followed. But the difficulties are formidable, the existing examinations are unsuitable, the staff possessing the necessary qualifications is not easily found ; there is a general want of belief in the value of a ruralised curriculum. As a matter of fact, there is very little tendency for boys fromrthose few Secondary Schools, which are ruralised, to pass on to agricultural colleges or to the universities. 131. In the year 1888-89 the Privy Council had made certain grants of a tentative nature in aid of agricultural education, and when the Board of Agriculture began its work it continued making grants of the same type. The allocation of the Eesidue Grant (Whiskey money) for Technical Education in 1890 provided county authorities with funds for the development of local education work, and as a consequence the Board thenceforward adopted a different policy,, which aimed at building up collegiate institutions in different parts of the country. These institutions, as they were established, acted as centres for all the educational activities of a; particular area. Within the colleges instruction both of an elementary and advanced type was provided, while outside them college teachers were employed in lecturing to farmers, conducting experiments, supervising dairy instruction, and generally in promoting in all possible ways the spread of education among agriculturists. The aim of the Board was to induce all Local Education Authorities in England and Wales to associate their work with one or other of the agricultural colleges. While they succeeded in securing some measure of co-operation in 44. administrative counties, 18 counties remained outside the " sphere " of any college, and either made their own arrangements or provided no form of agricultural education. In 1905 a powerful movement was organised for the purpose of securing greater State aid for agricultural education, and a Departmental Committee was appointed, with Lord Reay as chairman, in 1907, which examined over 100 witnesses representing all classes interested in those forms of education which the Board of Agriculture had fostered, and reported in 1908. 132. But the great opportunity of agricultural education and research came with the passing into law of the Development and Road Improvements Funds Act, 1909-1910. As soon as the Development Commissioners were appointed the Board of Agriculture proposed to them a general scheme of agricultural research, which, after full consideration and some modification, was finally approved by the Commissioners, and on August 22nd, 1911, the Board had the satis- faction of hearing from the Treasury that a sum of approximately £50,000 per annum had been granted for the purposes for which the original application had been made. 133. The main features of the scheme as approved by the Treasury were : — (1). A grant which provided 36 scholarships worth £150 per annum; each scholarship to be tenable for 3 years. (2). Grants of the total amount of £30,000 per annum were provided for twelve institu- tions with the view of strengthening existing departments or creating new centres for the investigation of those branches of science which most closely affect agriculture. (3). A sum of £3,000 to be distributed in aid of researches not provided for under (2) on the recommendation of the Board's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Science. (4). A sum of £12,000 for developing advisory or consultative work for farmers, at 12 institutions to be associated with 12 distinct areas in England and Wales. 134. The main purpose of these advisory grants may be briefly indicated. Experience had shown that instruction of the ordinary type does not exercise so direct an influence on agricul- ture as might be expected. It is of great value in aiding young people and the less experienced, but as a rule it is too elementary to appeal to an experienced farmer. He meets with difficulties in his work which cannot be answered off-hand even by a well-trained scientific man. Investi- gation is necessary, and sometimes prolonged investigation may be both necessary and desirable. It had not been possible to give much time to solving the difficulties of individuals in the past, and the new effort aimed at creating consulting staffs at certain universities or colleges, whose business would be to investigate such difficulties as arise in practical agriculture, and especially to deal Tjrith the difficulties of the best farmers. Careful study and considerable expenditure on solving the difficulties of an individual may seem to be out of place at a public institution, but it must be remembered that the " ailments " of a farm are not purely of interest to an individual. If a good farmer has a difficulty, and that difficulty is solved, he becomes more successful, and his neighbours note the fact and copy his practice. The practice of agriculture is in fact developed chiefly by imitation. A skilful farmer may soon increase the prosperity of a parish, for, though farmers may be slow to listen to oral instruction, they are quick to see -that a change in practice enables a neighbour to grow better crops. The principle which should be adopted by the administrator intent on increasing the production of a community is that most attention should be given to the wants of those who have the reputation of being the most skilful farmers. These men are usxially the most ready to learn, but they must be convinced that the advice offered them is worth having. They have too often been disappointed in the past. 44 135. The Research Institutes established under this scheme were: — (a) Plant Physiology. — Imperial College of Science and Technology. (b) Plant Pathology, mycological side. — A special Department of Kew. (c) Plant Breeding. — Cambridge University and the John Innes Institution. (d) Pruit Growing. — The main centre at the Fruit and Cider Institute *at Long Ashton (in connection with Bristol University) and subsidiary stations situated in Kent, the Wisbech district of Cambridge, and Worcestershire. These subsidiary stations consist of trial gardens worked on a plan arranged at the Central Institute, but under the supervision of the colleges in whose area they are situated. (e) Plant Nutrition and Soil Problems. — Eothamsted Experimental Station. (/) Animal Nutrition. — Cambridge University. (g) Animal Breeding. — Cambridge University. (h) Animal Pathology. — The Eoyal Veterinary College and the Board's Veterinary Laboratory. (i) Dairy Investigation. — The Midland Dairy Institute. (j) Agricultural Zoology.— The Universities of Birmingham and Manchester. (k) Economics of Agriculture. — Oxford University. 136. In 1912, when the supervision of agricultural education was finally assigned to the Board of Agriculture, the Board of Education were discussing with the Development Com- missioners a scheme for the provision of farm institutes. The Board of Agriculture carried, on these negotiations, and as the policy of the Board and of the Commissioners was practically identical, there was little difficulty in reaching a satisfactory arrangement. This arrangement was set forth by the Board in the following memorandum : — "1. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries will be prepared to make grants from money placed at their disposal by the Treasury from the Development Fund for the purpose of aiding Local Authorities in England and Wales to extend and systematise agricultural education in their districts. " These grants will be in the form of : — (a) Contributions towards the expenses of the Advisory Councils which it is proposed to set up. (h) Contributions towards the cost of providing and maintaining buildings and land foi" farm schools and farm institutes, (c) Annual contributions towards the cost of new and additional work at, or in connection with, farm schools and farm institutes. " 2. The Board will invite Local Education Authorities and the Governing Bodies of Centres for Higher Agricultural Education to form Advisory Councils in such areas or provinces in England as may be decided upon, and to nominate representatives thereon. In order to secure the representation on the council of all agricultural interests, the Board will also nominate members. The Council, when formed, will appoint its own chairman and vice-chairman. "3. The Council will be asked : — (a) To consider the needs of the area or province as a whole in regard to agricultural education, and the schemes prepared in respect of the several counties or groups of counties, and to advise the Local Education Authorities thereon, with a view to maintaining a close connection between schemes for providing agricultural educa- tion in the counties, and the work of the approved centre or centres for higher agricultural instruction in the area or province ; (6) To advise as to the co-ordination of the provision of technical advice for farmers, both through the medium of the centre for higher agricultural education and through the agricultural staffs of the counties; (c) To assist in the preparation of schemes of agricultural experiments and demonstra- tions to be carried out jointly by the counties within the area or province; (d) To assist Local Education Authorities in obtaining such part-time instructors as they may require in order to enable such instructors to be wholly and exclusively employed wi^in the province; (e) To advise Local Education Authorities as to the need for further farm schools and institutes as centres for agricultural education of a less advanced type than that provided at the Centre for Higher Education. (/) To report to the Board on the state of agricultural education in the area or province, with special reference to the above points." 137. The Provincial Councils formed under this scheme have their headquarters at : — Armstrong College, Newcastle-on-Tyne ; Leeds University; Midland Agricultural and Dairy College, Kingston-on-Soar ; Cambridge University ; South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye; University College, Reading; Seale-Hayne College, Newton Abbot; Bristol University; Harper Adams College, Newport, Salop; University Colleges, Aberystwyth and Bangor; and the counties of England and Wales (except Lancashire, Cheshire, and Glamorgan, which for divers reasons have not adopted the scheme), are grouped round one or the other of them. 45 County Ad/m/inistration. 138. The direct administration of the scheme in each county is entrusted to the agricul- tural Education Committee of the County Council where there is one, or in default of one to the Agricultural Education Sub-Committee of the Education Committee, and the intention of the Board has been to secure to this committee or sub-committee a definite income made up from — (a) Rates; (6),Eesidue grant (or whiskey money); and (c) The Board's Parliamentary vote or grant from the Development Fund. But, as a matter of fact, the adjustment of the finance of the scheme has been a matter of extreme difficulty owing to the very different proportions in which the counties have devoted their share of the residue grant to agricultural education, to the reluctance of some counties to spend any money out of the rates on agricultural education, and to the fact that by the provisions of the Development Act the Development Commissioners are precluded from aiding any work in existence when the Act came into operation. The unexpected effect of this pro- vision was that a county, which had been in the van of agricultural progress and had already when the Act was passed reached the normal limit (2d!.) of the higher education rate which the law allows it to levy, could receive no benefit from the Development Fund, whereas a county which up to that time had altogether refused to do anything for agricultural education could largely profit by the Development Fund if it chose to amend its ways. 139. The officers of the Board of Agriculture exercised an unwearying patience and much ingenuity in negotiations protracted over many months in their endeavour to overcome these financial difficulties. The result is known as the "partnership scheme," the regulations embodying which have only come into operation since the outbreak of the present war. It is not possible yet to state whether the problem has or has not beesn solved. 140. Such is the scheme of agricultural education existing to-day in England and Wales. The research work has been well started; higher education is well provided for by twelve agricultiiral colleges/ and the need for more immediately practical instruction of a lower type should be met by the winter schools for which provision has been made under the " Farm Institute" grant from the Development Fund. As the education of the greater part of the agricultural community depends upon these winter schools and farm institutes, their develop- ment is of the utmost importance to the agriculture of the future. The obstacle to their growth consists in the fact that the County Council in each county is alone able to set them up. The central authority, the Board of Agriculture, can only assist by a grant in aid; it can put no pressure on a County Council which declines to provide any education of the kind. In some purely agricultural counties, where this education is most needed, the County Councils have incurred no expenditure whatever on agricultural education. Clearly this is a very weak spot in the system. 141. The live stock schemes of the Board for the improvement of breeds by giving premiums to light and heavy horses, bulls, and boars, have already done excellent work and will do much more if given sufficient support and made permanent. The effort to establish milk recording societies has not been equally successful though established on sound lines. We shall revert to this subject when we make our proposals for the development of agricultural instruction under the Board of Agriculture. Agricultural Education : Board of Agriculture. 142. As will have appeared from the account we have given, the system of agricultural education in England and Wales is qiiite different from the Irish or the Scottish, and in our judgment it is less effective. The reason for this is that too little power of pressure is given to the Board of Agriculture, and too much opportunity for inaction to the County Councils, and the explanation of this unfortunate state of affairs is the financial basis on which the system rests, partly rates and partlyvotes. 143. Agricultural education is no more a county matter than agriculture is the particular interest of isolated groups of farmers or smallholders. While agriculture itself was neglected, it was too much to hope that agricultural education should be regarded as a matter of national concern. But now that this industry has been brought back by the war to its rightful place in the national economy the education of those engaged in it can be hopefully approached. We recommend, therefore, that the responsibility for agricultural education in England and Wales be definitely placed on the Board of Agriculture, which should take over all the staff and farm institutes from the County Councils, and that it should no longer be permissible for a County Council to hinder in any county the full development of the system of agricultural education adopted by it. We recommend that the whole charge for agricultural education in England and Wales be borne by the Imperial Exchequer and that none of it be placed upon the rates, and that the County Councils be allowed to apply that portion of the Residue Grant hitherto devoted to agricultural education to the cost of the new services, which we propose in this Report should be discharged by the Agricultural Committees, or to any branch of higher education. We justify this recommendation by the fact, proved before a whole series of Royal Commissions and Committees, that the ratepayers of England and Wales, and especially the ratepayers on agricultural land, bear an unfair share of the burthen of national services. We shall refer to this matter again in the paragraphs dealing with Local Taxation, but we justify the recommendation here made as a convenient and sound method for the partial discharge of the admitted and proved debt of the taxpayer to the agricultural ratepayer. Agricultural education must be pressed forward in every county as a fundamental part of a national agricul tural policy ; the nation can no longer afford to incur the risks of local and shortsighted inaction ; 46 it must therefore give full powers to the President of the Board of Agriculture and put the responsibility on his shoulders. It follows, therefore, that the public exchequer, and not the local rates, must bear the financial burthen. 144. The President of the Board of Agriculture will not, however, be acting only with the advice of the staff of his department. If our recommendations are adopted, he will be acting with the advice of a representative Committee, and after hearing the opinions of a National Cojmcil. He will also in every county have an Agricultural Committee through which and in consort with which he can act, if he so chooses, and we recommend that in the case of all counties, the Councils of which have spent money freely on agricultural education and developed great interest in it, he should so act, whether they have or have not hitherto f?illen in with the provincial scheme of the Board of Agriculture. It would be deplorable if in these counties the local interest aroused in agricultural education were allowed to droop, or if the fullest use were not made of those members of the local authorities whose enthusiasm has been aroused, or if their opinions were not treated with the greatest respect. In those counties the Agricultural Committees should, under the new system, be treated as partners in the work, although they will no longer be spending a county rate or devoting any portion of the Residue Grant to agricultural education. It would not be advisable that the President of the Board should show the same deference to the opinion of the Agricultural Committees of those counties which have hitherto failed to show any real appreciation of the importance of agricultural education, but as the great value of the work done manifests itself so surely will public opinion in those counties change, and it will then be wise policy for the President more and more to enlist the services of these Agricultural Committees in this great national work. 145. No review of the present state of agricultural education in England and Wales would be complete without a reference to the work which is being done at the two old universities. At Oxford a school of Rural Economy has been inaugurated by Professor Somerville, and at Cambridge a fully equipped School of Agriculture has been established under Professor Wood and Professor BifEen. Both universities work in with and assist the general scheme of education of the Board of Agriculture. We shall return to this subject in a later paragraph. 146. Wales. — In no part of the country is- there greater zest for agricultural education or a better promise of good results than in Wales. The evidence given before us by our colleague, Mr. C. Bryner Jones, M.Sc, and the evidence tendered to the Royal Commission on University Education in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Agricultural Council, show the excellent work done, and the great need there is for further developments and increased grants. We recommend that, in all matters connected with agricultural education in Wales, the Board of Agriculture should work with and through the Welsh Agricultural Council. England and Wales, and Scotland. Elementary and Secondary Education in Rural Districts : Departments of Education. 147. Perhaps there is no problem among all those which confront the Commonwealth of British nations more urgent than how to increase the annual output of skilled cultivators and workers on the land. We need a great output of skilled cultivators and workers on the landj but they must also be contented^ because instructed and prosperous, citizens, and this great work must be begun in the elementary school. 148. There is a widespread feeling that hitherto, though fortunately in recent years in a decreasing degree, there has been, in the influence of the elementary school, a distinct bias against agricultural work and, indeed, against the country life. The greatest prizes in material wealth will always be found in the towns, and the- country does not seem at present to ofEer as ^rnuch intellectual stimulus, or as much excitement, or as many amusements as the city, but the education hitherto given to country children has never yet set fairly before them the actual attractions and advantages of the country life; it has tended to influence them away from the land rather than to fit them for a career on the land. We shall set forth in later paragraphs how we think that this can be remedied. 149. We believe that, if the recommendations of our Report are made the basis of a permanent national agricultural policy, agriculture and the rural arts attendant on it will offer a secure and happy livelihood for country workers, and open out a wide field of important and interacting occupation, and so of responsibility and advanceinent, for the cleverest country children. The present generation would indeed be surprised if they could foresee what science and brains will do for agriculture in the next half century. The children of the rural elementary schools must be given the same general education as the children of the urban schools, but it must not be an education which appeals only to one side of their mental activities. That instruction should be from the concrete to the abstract is a common maxim, but it can only be effected if manual work is given its proper place alongside of books both to boys and girls. The more education is developed on these lines the more interested in it will become their parents and the future employers of the pupils. 150. In expressing these opinions we know that we are giving our support to the policy of the Departments of Education, whose province and not ours it is to lay down the details of th.e system. 151. But we shall not be contented if the country school merely ceases to be a lukewarm friend to the country life. We know that it can be made a centre of inspiration in the hands of a gifted and devoted teacher, where the scales will fall off the eyes of many children and they will see the full glory and beauty of the country life. The animals and plants and the processes of nature will become full of meaning to them, the difficulties and possibilities of agriculture and its immense importance in the national economy will be revealed to them, their 47 sense of social duty will be developed, and they will learn tliat work on the land is in reality the least monotonous and most interesting of all work and how much more can be made of their parish than has ever yet been made if each girl and boy, each woman and man, will do their part. 152. We hope that the rural elementary school will be expanded in the direction we have indicated, and that the fatal gap between leaving school and adolescence will be bridged by continuation day schools, where the process of education may be maintained. 153. Hitherto evening schools in the country districts have, generally speaking, been unsuccessful, but the continuation day school will, in some cases take the place of, and in others prove the making of, the evening school, because there will henceforth be no break in the process of instruction, and therefore no lapse of knowledgie or set back in intelligence. If continuation day schools are made compulsory, we think that agriculture should be made an alternative subject in the later stages. 154. Winter schools under the Boards of Agriculture, to which we shall again refer in a later paragraph, will be established to fulfil a distinct function from evening schools, and we will only point out here that the technical advantage of winter schools over evening schools is that they take place in the day time, and supplant so many hours work, instead of in the evening, when the pupil is tired after a day's work. Winter schools can only be made successful by the hearty co-operation of fathers and farmers, and they will co-operate when they realise that the new spirit in rural education is going to mould more competent men and women and to keep them on the land. 155. From the winter schools, the more intelligent boys will, naturally pass to the farm institutes under the Boards of Agriculture, but the most intelligent should be advised to continue their regular education at the secondary schools under the Departments of Education. 156. As we have already pointed out, very few secondary schools in agricultural counties have adopted a ruralised curriculum because of the prevalent scepticism of its value, and because ■ of the unsuitability of the existing examinations, and very few children from those secondary schools which have adopted a ruralised curriculum go on to agricultural colleges or to the universities with the intention of completing their agricultural education. The reason for this we believe to be that the present tests of the Departments of Education do not succeed in skim- ming off the right children from the elementary schools, that is those who will make igood agricul- turists, and because the sons of farmers do not feel that the curriculum is sufficiently ruralised to attract them to the schools. 157. We know that the Departments of Education are fully alive to these facts, and we are convinced that the secondary schools can play a great part in the education of the country population. With a rural bias in the elementary schools, with a proper system of continuation day schools, and with an improvement in the ruralised curriculum of the secondary schools, the value of higher education will become apparent to those boys who are most fitted to become the leaders of agriculture and to their parents. 158. But the realisation of any far-reaching reform in the Elementary, Continuation, and Secondary Schools in our rural districts will be impossible, unless the teachers, on whose influence success will depend, themselves receive the requisite knowledge and the true inspiration in their training as teachers, and unless the pay and prospects of this branch of that great profession are improved so as to attract an adequate supply of gifted and enthusiastic men and women. We desire to endorse with all our influence the necessity for the improvements so strenuously urged by the Departments of Education. We wish, however, to express our opinion that, if agriculture is taught in a Secondary School as a technical subject, it should be taught by an agricultural expert. Demonstration Farms and Business Methods. 159. The present scheme of agricultural education adopted for England and Wales by the Board of Agriculture and the Development Commissioners is, in our judgment, sound, and furnishes a thoroughly good framework which only requires expansion and completion. Every county should have access to a farm institute, and an agricultural organiser and a demonstration farm or smallholding are required for every county, and more than one for the larger counties. The system of illustration farms existing in Canada strikes us as a useful departure from the ordinary model, and we think that in some instances these might take the place of demon- stration farms. The difference between the two types is that, whereas the demonstration farm would be worked and managed by the staff of the Board of Agriculture, the illustration farm would be worked and managed by a farmer, who would look to the farm for his living, but would undertake to work and manage it according to the directions received from the staff of the Board of Agriculture, which in return would guarantee him a certain interest on his capital invested in the farm. The purpose of demonstration farms or small holdings and plots and of illustration farms is usually the same. Their main purpose is, not to carry out experiments, but to show the results of farming according to the best practice on exactly the same lines as farming is conducted by farmers or smallholders in the district in which the farm or plot is situated, and an essential feature is that accounts should be kept with scrupulous exactitude and the financial results of the methods indicated be published. The recommendations of this paragraph are of application to all' parts of Great Britain, but in the case of Scotland the superintendence should always be vested in the colleges acting in conjunction with the Agricultural Committees of the Counties. 160. There is, however, a special type of demonstration farm to which we wish to draw attention. Sometimes it may be desirable to take a comparatively small farm and to run it on a different system from the one prevailing in the district — e.g., it might be a good thing to go 48 into the Vale of Peweey, in Wiltshire, and set up a farm showing the method of producing milk on arable land instead of on grass, or in another county to illustrate the continuous-cropping system, or on the coast of North Wales to set up a small market-garden farm. Such farms need not be large, because their object would be to show the local farmer a holding such as his own might become. They would not be experimental except in the broadest sense, and they would be run solely with the idea of commercial success, the accounts being made accessible to the surrounding public. 161. The Boards of Agriculture would be free to use the existing Provincial Councils or the Agricultural Committees of the different counties as their agents for agricultural education and for their live-stock schemes, and in every case the agricultural- colleges would remain an essential and valuable part of the machinery of the Boards of Agriculture for the guidance and inspiration of the county organisers, who should form part of their staff, as the source from which lecturers and instruction could be furnished, and as constant instruments for agricultural research. It should be a special function of these agricultural colleges to teach the farmers and small holders something about agricultural machinery — ^how to select, to use, to take care ol and to repair their machines, and something about the mechanical principles involved. They should also teach them the value of accounts and how to keep them. The importance of this latter apparently small matter to British agriculture can hardly be over-estimated. At present all that very many farmers know is whether they are making or losing money ; they do not know whether any given agricultural operation is a profit or a loss to them; if they did know they would often be profoundly astonished. Such an absence of business methods is simply deploy able. There is also need for systematic teaching about labour. The whole question of agricul- tural wages really depends upon the proportion which costs of production bear to the price of the product. The largest of these costs is the labour bill, and the efficiency of the labour is the controlling factor in the costs of production. Wages must then ultimately depend upon efficiency, and this is the point upon which attention must be concentrated. The attainment of efficiency is the province of management, and the management of the farm is the factor which transcends all others in importance.* It is very necessary that the farm institutes and agricultural colleges should receive more liberal grants than hitherto, and that they should be maintained and developed as places of study to which the most promising pupils can go to complete their agricultural education; and, wherever possible, a group of farm institutes should be linked up to an agricultural college ; but it is even more important that agricultural educa- tion should be brought to the labourer, small holder, and farmer than that he should be invited to go to it. For this reason we lay great stress on the necessity for winter schools on the Irish model, for demonstration farms and small holdings and plots scattered throughout the counties, and for the presence in each county of an adequate and thoroiighly trained staff of organisers, experienced in the practice as well as proficient in the theory of agriculture. These men should, above all things,, avoid becoming "office" men. They should be responsible for a definite geographical area, (not too large to be worked thoroughly), and for the organisation within it of all classes and lectures for labourers, small holders, and farmers' sons. Their business is to be on the farms and iu the markets, to become the friend of the farmer and small holder, to whom in cases of doubt or unexpected difficulty he will turn for advice, and who can show to him on the spot the results produced on the demonstration farm or plot, and expound the accounts. To secure a sufficient supply of these men the scholarship system must be largely extended. 162. One other form of agricultural development may be mentioned here because of its educational effect, and that is the establishment in various parts of Great Britain of large farms run on purely business lines, but open to inspection and giving publicity to their methods and accounts. These farms should consist of 3,000 acres or upwards, and they should be worked upon the same organised system as any other large productive business is conducted. It is the opinion of the Development Commissioners that the influence of these farms on agriculture, and 8o on food production by their example, and on the investment of capital in agriculture by the results they could show, would be remarkable. Research. 163. The research wojrk already being done is quite admirable, but it needs stronger support yet from public funds. We reiterate that this is productive expenditure which will bring in to the State a manifold return. In Scotland and England and Wales alike many of the staff engaged in agricultural education, organisers, lecturers, live-stock officers, are under- paid, and this is especially true of the assistants in research work. As Dr. Russell and Professor Biffen pointed out to us, there is a constant flow of the most promising graduates from the United Kingdom to the agricultural departments or colleges of the Dominions, India, and foreign countries simply because we do not pay them a sufficient salary, and this is true also of the county organisers and also of the less highly-trained officers. That this is bad policy and utterly uneconomical needs no argument. 164. The evidence that has been laid before us has amply shown the ultimate value of pure scientific research and the dependence of the development of the industry upon investiga- tion that is independent of any apparently immediate practical end. Dr. Russell showed in his evidence how the use of artificial fertilisers, the production of new varieties of plants, the treatment of pests and diseases, the detection of waste and loss in cultivation, are all dependent upon research work, and Professor Biffen explained to us the .wonderful results that have been obtained in plant breeding with sugar beet, wheat, barley, maize, oats, potatoes, peas and other vegetables. Kot only is it necessary to extend such work on the actual production * This subject is admirably treated in a pamphlet on Agricultural Labour by Mr. T. B. Ponsonby, published by the Co-opeiative Reference Library, Dublin, 1917. 49 of new varieties, but an organisation must be built up for tbe proper distribution to the farmer of the new varieties originated by research.. The scale of the organisation at Cambridge is still far behind that of the plant breeding station at Svalof, in Sweden. With a little more time and with access to the necessary funds for growth, it is certain that results will be obtained remunerative in themselves and of the utmost financial value to the industry as a whole. In this connection it should be observed that the introduction of a new variety of a widely grown crop like wheat may easily add many hundreds of thousands of pounds to the agricultural output of the country, but the benefit is so general and so widely distributed that it is almost impossible by ordinary commercial means to secure any adequate return, or some- times even the payment of working expenses, to the originator of the variety. 165. The experience of the last two or three years, during the disturbed conditions pro- duced by the War, has wshown the necessity for adequate data concerning the costs of production of our staple agriculfural products, and has revealed all too clearly the absence of fundamental economic data connected with the industry. The Institute for Research into Agricultural Economics at Oxford represents a beginning in this d.irection, but it had been at work for too short a time and on too small a scale ta be able to supply what has proved to be so desirable to the proper understanding of the industry and its part in the national life. 166. Of the remaining needs in the direction of research, in Scotland as well as in England and Wales, the greatest is the establishment of an Institute for Research into Agricultural Machinery. Not only would such an institute have a stimulating effect upon the development of machinery to meet the rapidly changing conditions of agriculture, and upon the men respon- sible for the design of agricultural implements in our great manufacturing concerns, but it would ensure better instruction in the value and use of machinery in our agricultural colleges, where the study of machinery, especially important at the present moment, has been very inadequately dealt with in the past. In' our judgment, every college should possess one teacher who has specialised in this subject, and such teachers should be able to get at the proposed institute the post-graduate training that would enable them to give efficient instruction in this subject. Not only are teachers of machinery needed in the colleges, but itinerant advisers on mechanical questions should, in future, be part of the equipment of county instruction, thus bringing to the farmer himself a better knowledge both of the capacity of machinery to deal with his special problem and of its care when he has acquired it. 167. Apart from pure research, it is necessary to provide in all parts of Great Britain for the investigation on an industrial scale of the possibilities attaching to the cultivation of crops not at present part of the normal agricultural output of this country, and to the development of \arious rural industries closely linked with agriculture. We have already dealt with the question of sugar beet. The operations of the Development Commission have begun to provide infor"mation as to the conditions which will permit of the production of flax, hemp, and tobacco, from which investigations important consequences may grow. The procedure, however, is cumbrous, and it is desirable that both the Development Commission and the Departments of Agriculture should be enabled to pursue experimental enterprises of this descrip- tion much more directly and energetically. As the experiments are essentially industrial and are valueless unless conducted on a commercial scale, they inevitably involve considerable initial outlay, which may be only partially recovered in case of failure. The community is, however, thereby saved from the repeated losses involved in the tentative and often badly informed attempts that are constantly being made by individuals, and even one success will repay the State for a large number of failures. Ldve-stock Schemes. 168. The live-stock schemes of the Boards of Agriculture furnish a good commencement of urgent work, but much still remains to be done. It should be the special function of the Boards to support the truly admirable work done by private breeders and societies of breeders in Great Britain and to encourage scientific research into practical stock breeding. We desire to express our appreciation of the admirable work done under the various live-stock schemes of the Boards of Agriculture. We see in those schemes the only method by which the supreme success achieved by British breeders of farm animals can be mad& effective in building up the general excellence of the live stock of the country and in contributing adequately to the pros- perity of the agricultural industry, and especially to its successful prosecution by those who occupy the smaller holdings. We urge that these schemes should be continued, developed, and extended until they cover the whole field open to them. Great Britain has sometimes been called the stud farm of the world. We desire that the live stock of our_ own farmers should benefit to the fullest possible extent by the national success in the production of stud animals. 169. The schemes for the improvement of live-stock should be permanent charges on the Boards' votes; a society cannot be established purely on the basis of a five years' grant from the Development Commissioners. We attach great importance to the work of the milk recording societies, and think that the grants made to them should be increased, and that the certificate of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries or of the Scottish Milk Records Association should b& adopted as a true statement' of the performances of a cow. These records are of great importance from the point of view of breeding for milking qualities, as many dairy fanners never rear a heifer calf and the farmers who purchase calves from them know nothing of their breeding. Thev also furnish indispensable guidance ill the purchase of stock bulls for dairy herds. 170 We wish to draw particular attention to the necessity for granting power to the Boards of Agriculture to check the use of bad sires. In our opinion no bull should be used to serve any cows but its owner's without a licence from the Agricultural Committee of a County and the Boards of Agriculture should have power to order the castration of a bull 19792 50 so used. Most certainly no stallion should be allowed to serve any mares but its owner's, or to travel for the service of mares, without a licence from a Board of Agriculture. Such a regiilatioii would do more than any other measure which can be suggested to improve the average quality of British horses. By these means bad bulls and stallions would be gradually eliminated and an immense improvement effected in the live stock. 171. We wish to emphasise the importance of taking measures to deal with tuberculosis in cattle. It is a matter of common knowledge that this disease is widely prevalent, especially in dairy herds. It is generally recognised that this constitutes a danger to human health; and it is undoubtedly a considerable source of loss and waste in food production. On both grounds we urge that steps should be taken to combat the disease. We are convinced that the use of the tuberculin test, while affording no guidance as to the severity of the disease in any animal, gives a trustworthy indication as to whether the tested animal is or is not entirely clear of tubercle, and thus supplies a line of division, on one side of which there^is safety and on the other danger. We do not suggest that every animal " reacting " to the test is, in any proper sense of the word, diseased. Still less do we propose that every reacting animal should be slaughtered or that its milk should be condemned. Indeed, we are aware that any such course would create a serious scarcity of milk. 172. We think it, however, most desirable that farmers should be encouraged and enabled to do their utmost to reduce, and eventually to eradicate, tuberculosis in their herds by regular use of the tuberculin test and by such arrangements as may in each case be practicable to diminish the contact, especially in byres and cow-houses, of reacting with non-reacting animals. In order to bring this about, we suggest that the Boards of Agriculture should take steps to arrange for applying the tuberculin test in herds whose owners desire it, either free of cost or at a very low rate of charge. We are convinced that farmers, having before them the object lessons which such a course would undoubtedly 'afford, would be stimulated to make the greatest possible efforts to rid their herds of tuberculous infection in order to avoid the losses which' it would be shown to entail. - 173. We recommend the resumption, when circumstances render it advisable, of the policy of the tuberculosis orders which were in force before the war. We further suggest that the possibility of a protective inoculation against tuberculosis should become the subject of careful research. 174. The live-stock officers should be appointed by the Board of Agriculture and be its servants ; they should have a sliding scale of salary, and their posts, which are now temporary, should be made permanent and pensionable. A large increase of the vote is wanted for the development of the schemes and for the employment of more officers. Moreover, specially qualified persons should be attached to the agricultural colleges where they should devote their time to the study and investigation of problems relating to live-stock breeding, and be ready to advise farmers thereon. Cost of Agricultural Education. 175. If our recommendations are adopted, the whole cost of agricultural education in England and Wales will be thrown upon the Imperial Exchequer, and corresponding and pro- portionate grants will consequentlj'- have to be found from the same source for the. cost of the new services to be discharged by the Agricultural Committees in Scotland or for some educa- tional purpose in Scotland and for some corresponding purpose in Ireland. On the outbreak of War the total annual aggregate expenditure on agricultural education in the whole United Kingdom from all sources of public revenue was about £310,000. According to figures supplied to us which are believed to be a fair general indication of the facts, although not presented as statistically exact, the aggregate expenditure on the same object was, in the Dominion of Canada in 1915, £840,000; in the Union of South Africa in 1913, £126,000; in the United States of America in 1912, over £4,000,000; in France in 1913, over £1,000,000; and in Prussia in 1910, £490,000. There is therefore clearly room in the United Kingdom for a largely increased expenditure on agricultural education without any suspicion of extravagance. Education of Women. 176. Before quitting the subject we have something special to say about the education of women, who can play a great part in the reconstruction of agriculture after the war" and whose intellectual interest in country ld|e must be surely aroused if we wish to secure an increased rural population. We hope that numbers of the women, who have been working on the land during the war, will wish to remain in agricultural occupations and to avail themselves of the openings which will be presented to them in many branches of farming such as dairying in its various forms, pig-breeding, and poultry keeping. We hope that every possible encouragement will be given to women so disposed and that the agricultural colleges will see to it that their courses are made suitable to them, and that the posts of lecturers are as open to fully qualified women as to men. 177. The subject has already been fully dealt with in the Report (1915) to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Agricultural Education Conference (Agricxiltural Education for Women) presided over by Lord Barnard, which did such a great service in stimulating an interest in agricultural education. We desire to draw attention to this valuable document, to endorse its lecommendations (see Appendix V.), and to express our complete con- currence with the following reflection extracted from paragraph 2 of the Report: "It h 51 between 14 and 16 years of age tliat so many of the girls brought up in rural districts at present lose touch of country life. No matter what facilities for agricultural education may be offered to them later, these girls will have neither the taste nor the aptitude for it. This is a matter for serious consideration in view of the fact that it is women no less than men who are responsible for rural depopulation, and that there is no inducement in the form of higher wages which will tempt them to return." The fact is that the local conditions which have brought about rural depopulation, bad housing, low wages, lack of prospects, affect wpmeu even more than men, and that the influence of women might be exerted in the opposite direction if they had been taught to make more comfortable homes with less drudgery, and if they had the necessary knowledge to enable them to build up a social order in which the natural advantages of cou.ntry life could be made to counterbalance the artificial attractions of the town. Lord Barnard's Report deals with the problem of agricultural education as it affects all classes of women, but that of " The Training and Employment of Educated Women in Horticulture and Agriculture" has also been treated by Mrs. Eoland Wilkins in the "Journal of the Board of Agriculture" for October, 1915, and we recommend that tirticle to the study of all those interested in the subject. Education, of Landowners and Land Agents. 178. The education of Landowners and of Land Agents is a matter of the greatest import- • ance to the future of agriculture and to the welfare of the countryside. We wish to draw special attention to the Appendix VI. devoted to this subject and to a consideration of the great influence which the Public Schools and Universities can exercise in connection with it. Organisation- and Co-Opeeation. 179. The organisation of agriculture may be regarded from three points of view: — The administrative, the economic, and the social. With the first two we are directly, with the third indirectly, concerned. The need for organisation was naturally felt first in Ixeland, where agriculture dominates the national economy. There a group of social workers have, from a centre in Dublin, studied the m.odern problem of rural life in its entirety for over a quarter of a century. 'Notwithstanding the wide difference in the conditions, the other parts of the United Kingdom may learn something from the experience and conclusions of these agricul- tural reformers. They have insisted throughout upon the necessity of treating the rural problem on its three sides — the technical, the commercial, and the social. .Agriculture must be regarded not only as an industry and as a business, but also as a life. They concentrated upon the organisation of the business of farmers because they were convinced that this is a condition precedent of an increased productiveness in the industry, and of better social conditions for the country population. They held that State action in promoting agriculture, which m.ust be mainly educational (using the term in the widest sense), depends largely for its effectiveness upon the degree in which the work can be done with and through organised bodies rather than individuals. Further, in the social reconstruction of rural life they have found that more than half the diificulty of getting men to combine together for the higher purposes of mutual improvement is overcome once they have learned to come together, and have found it to their advantage to do so, in the business of their lives. Hence the improvement in the business methods of farmers is not only to be commended as a mere matter of commercial prudence, biit it is fundamentally essential both to technical efiiciency and also to the building up of a rural society which will meet the needs of a modern progressive democracy. This policy is coijveniently summarised in the Irish formula, better farming, better business, better living. In the working out of the policy the first place is given, for the reasons above indicated, to better business. 180. Agriculture has suffered grievously from the neglect of the Staw, but the conse- quences of that neglect were intensified owing to the fact that, while the importers of foreign- grown food and the consumers of food were engaged in perfecting organisations for their advantage, no corresponding steps were being taken by the producers of home-grown food. The more complicated our civilisation becomes the greater the necessity for organisation and co-operation. Not only have we great arrears to overtake in the organisation of agriculture, but every year new occasions of advantage offer themselves which if missed will proportionately diminish the possible profits of the industry. The problem for every cultivator of the soil, small or big, is the same, namely, how to grow the maximum amount of foodstuff on a given area at a minimum cost, how to find the right market for each instalment of produce at the exact moment it is ready for sale, how to get that instalment to that market in the quickest time and at the least expense, and how to ensure that when delivered at that market it is sold to the best advantage to an honest and responsible purchaser. When this problem is fully solved, two parties will greatly benefit from its solution, the farmer or smallholder who ha^ produced the food, and the consumer who has bought it. The former will have received the largest reasonable reward for his outlay of capital,' energy, and skill; the latter will have secured his foodstuff at the lowest reasonable price. 181. When we come to examine the business of agriculture as now conducted, its out- standing feature is isolation, and this in an age when combination becomes daily more necessary in order that the small man may enjoy some share in the growing advantages of the big transaction. The failure of farmers to combine, when it is obviously to_ their advantage to do m, has usually been attributed to the circumstances of their lives. Living apart and working M792 D£2 52 all day out of doors, there is little inclination to leave the domestic hearth and travel to a convenient meeting place, even if such exists, to discuss affairs of common interest in the evening. It is further stated that agriculturists, as a class, are hopelessly individualistic and conservative. Undouhtedly the difficulty is increased by the fact that the large farmer feels the need of organisation much less than the smaller, and such advantage as he thinks might be derived therefrom is discounted in his mind by the trouble he is likely to have in instructing otheTs in better business methods. We think this view was never sound, and that the solidarity of all classes engaged in the industry has now become essential on econoniic and social grounds. Be this as it may, the natural leaders refusing to lead, the majority have been slow to listen to outsiders, however well informed and intentioned, who have tried to stir them into co-operative action. In addition to these explanations there is a further cause of the difficulty of which sufficient account has not been taken. AU experience shows that the joint-stock method of combination, essentially a combination of capital for profit, suitable to other industrial and commercial occupations, is not generally suitable to agriculture, which is ess^tially a combination of persons for mutual benefit. In the practical recognition of this basic fact lies the key to the re-organisation of the business of agriculture, which, as we have said above, is essential not only for economic, but also for administrative and social reasons. 182. It is true that large farmers with plenty of capital do not need the help of a co-operative organisation as much as smaller farmers, but, as 80 per cent, of the farmers in Ireland hold less than 50 acres, as smallholders, both old and new, abound in Scotland, and as 85 per cent, of the cultivable land in England and Wales is in the hands of holders of 150 acres and less, there was really no country in the world where it is more needed than in these islands. 183. It will be a great misfortune if the larger farmers stand aside from this movement because individually they feel the need of organisation and co-operation less than the smaller ones. All those who live from the land must realise the need to stand together and so advance the position and increase the influence of the agricultural classes in the country. The agricultural interest will eventually go to the wall if it is unorganised and disunited while other interests are highly organised and concentrated. No individual of the agricultural community will personally profit more by the general strength of agriculture than the large farmer. No movement will do more to establish the strength of agriculture than co-operative organisation. For his own interest therefore the large farmer must join the small one in this movement. When he has been attracted to it for reasons of business, we believe that he will remain in it also from enthusiasm for a social ideal which he did not previously comprehend. 184. To bring home this vital truth to farmers should be one of the most important aims of agricultural education. But two difficulties have to be surmounted. In the townward trend of all thought it is hard to get people to believe that a business method which suits the town is not good for the country. A farmers' combination has not infrequently failed Because it was organised by a town solicitor as a joint-stock company instead of as a co-opeTative society. Secondly, if the right method is introduced through a government or other agency financed oilt of public monies, opposition arises from organised non-agricultural interests, who fear the disturbance of their business relations with unorganised farmers. It is well known that in Ireland this conflict of interest led to a bitter controversy between the organised farmers and the country traders, and the latter, having immense political influence, were able to prevent the working out of the Eecess Committee's ideal of co-operation between the Depart- ment of Agriculture and farmers' associations. The Irish agricultural reformers, who foresaw these difficulties, recognised the necessity of a new agency of social service to deal specially with the organisation of farmers. So, in 1894, they founded the fiTst of these institutions and christened it the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society. In 1901 an English, and in 1905 a Scottish Society was founded on the Irish model, with identical rules and names, except that the founders of the English society preferred to call themselves The Agricultural Organisation Society. 185. The general, objects and policy of the three Organisation Societies are identical. Societies are formed throughout the country, and in addition an immense amount of work is done by tlie enquiry and intelligence bureaux. Not only do agriculturists of all kinds have recourse to this service, but it is also used by statesmen, social reformers, societies of all sorts, and Dominion and Colonial Governments. The societies in each case have a central office with local branches under its control. Their functions are limited to propaganda and organisa- tion, and they do not themselves carry on any trading or productive operations, these lattei being confined to their affiliated co-operative societies. In England and Wales and in Scotland, and to a somewhat less extent in Ireland, there still remain large areas into which the work of organisation has not penetrated owing to lack of funds, and in some districts the farmers have not even heard of the English society. This state of things can only be remedied by the building up of a large staff of capable organisers, entrusted each with an area not too large for one man to control. These men can preach the gospel of co-operation in every parish and keep in constant touch with the societies when formed. The recurrent evil from wjiich all Agri- cultural Co-operative Societies suffer is the want of interest, or even the actual disloyalty, of the members of local societies towards the parent Society. This is in the opinion of the officers of the Agricultural Organisation Society the greatest present drawback to the spread of the movement. On the other hand it is certainly true that the influence of the Agricultural Organisation Society on quality and prices extends far beyond the membership of local societies, in respect of what the farmer sells as well as in respect of what he buys. We will now give some description of the Societies in the order of their foundation. 53 Irish Agricultural Organisation SocietTJ. 186. The Irisli Agricultural Organisation Society (better known as the I.A.O.S., a corre- sponding abbreviation being adopted in England and Scotland) played the role of the pioneer. Its practical aims liave "been ably summarized by the Secretary in his evidence : — ' ' ... to insist on the right of the farmer, as a manufacturer, to buy the requirements of his industry and to dispose of his produce in the best markets, to increase the volume and improve the quality of his produce, to work in harmonious relations with any and every agency, govern- mental or private, whose aim is the development of agriculture — to reconcile the present apparent conflict between farmers and farm labourers by combining them in co-operative societies for their mutual benefit, and by equitable adjustment 'of their relations, and to bring together all Irishmen in a movement, in which neither class, creed, nor politics has any place, for the common good of the country and for their own advantage." Since its foundation in 1894 the Society has succeeded in applying the co-operative system to every branch of the farmers' industry in Ireland, and has created what may be called a national movement, the success of which has been remarkable. In 1516 the societies organised by the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society had reached the number of 991, with a turnover of £4,667,036, and a membership of 102,591. That the Irish farmer has benefited greatly by the Society's work is beyond question. The manufacture of butter, which by its haphazard and unscientific methods was rapidly falling into disrepute in comparison with that of other countries, has again become through the efforts of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society one of the most important industries in the country, as it was before the new methods were introduced from Scandinavia. In the egg industry no less an improvement has been made. The bacon industry, a far more difficult matter, has been in more than one instance successfully organised by farmers on the co- operative plan. One other- business development needs to be mentioned. The Irish Agricultural Organisation Society has always divided its work into two stages, the first being the organisa- tion of individuals into local societies, covering an area no larger than admits of all concerned meeting at a common centre, the second being the federation of those societies into a central body for wholesale transactions in purchase and sale. The chief of these federations is the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society, a union of co-operative societies afiiliated to the Organisa- tion Society. Through the machinery of this trading federation, the cost of fertilisers has been reduced by from 30 to 40 per cent., and their quality enormously improved. This body can also claim credit for the fact that the testing and guaranteeing of seeds has become general, whereas Ireland used to be known as the dumping ground of the most inferior seed in the market. One branch of the work of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society deserves special attention. It has organised and made self-supporting an auditing service, through which the affiliated societies may have their accounts audited and their books inspected by a staff of experts at low rates. 187. In addition to the material improvements which the work of- the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, has brought about, farmers have experienced by association in democrati- cally constituted bodies, the moral benefits attached to responsibility and self-reliance. The constitution and administration, both of the local co-operative societies and their federations, is as democratic as it can be made. No less striking is the fact that almost alone among the agencies of reform in Ireland, the co-operative movement has succeeded in causing people of the most divergent views, both political and religious, to work together in perfect harmony. All observers of Irish conditions are able to testify to the many ways, both material and spiritual, in which the life of the country has been improved by the 25 years of work of the Irish Agricultural Organisation iSociety. . English Agricultur'al Organisation Society. 188. It was not till 1901 that the English Agricultural Organisation Society came into existence on the amalgamation of the National Agricultural Organisation Union, founded by the late Lord Winchelsea, and the British Agricultural Organisation Society. Like the Irish and indeed, every other co-operative movement, it had great difficulties to overcome to achieve existence at all, and an immense deal of spade work to do before any appreciable results appeared. The coming of success was sure, if slow, and now (1917) the Agricultural Organisa- tion Society can point to 550 societies under its aegis, doing a turnover of J3, 500,000 in agricultural business in 1915, and with every prospect of this turnover rapidly increasing. The Society in its early years was much hampered in its work by its narrow resources, and it would be absurd to expect that it should have revolutionised English farming opinion in the course of its short period of existence, and with such an income as it possessed. Now, however, thanks to the practical recognition by the Development Commissioners of its national utility, the Society is enabled to. carry on its work on a scale more adequate to its purposes. It is essential to the success of the co-operative methods of organisation that it should be democratic in character and constitution. The pioneers of the Agricultural Organisation Society have not lost sight of this point, but we think that experience indicates the advisability of a careful revision of the Constitution as laid down in the Articles of Association of 1912, with a yiow to securing a better representation of the affiliated societies on the governing body. Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society and Smallholders Organisation. 189. The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society dates from the year 1905. It has accomplished much with slender means, and must alrea;dy be pronounced a great success. About half of the Executive Committee which directs its policy consists of persons actively engaged 19792 ^ ^ 54 in the work of the local societies affiliated to it; its societies now number 160; and the growth of membership and turnover between the commencement of its operations and the present time has been remarkable. The general objects and policy are the same as with the Irish Society, only adapted to the national conditions of Scotland; but special features of its work are the develop- ment of the Poultry Industry in the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Outer Hebrides,. and the Northern Counties, Co-operative Dairying in the South- West, and the formation of Societies for Co-operative Stock Improvement and for the Co-operative Purchase of Farm Requirements. 190. The Scottish Smallholders Organisation was founded in the year 1913. It has to some extent the same general objects in view as the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society with this distinction, that it serves the interests of smallholders alone, and with the addition of the promotion of Small Holdings under the Smallholders (Scotland) Act, 1911, as a special object. The Board of Management does not appear to consist largely of persons actively ■engaged in agriculture or in co-operation in the different localities where it has formed societies, but much energy and enthusiasm' has been thrown into its work. It has formed Trading and Credit Societies and Local Committees, and Limited Liability Companies to deal with trading, credit and insurance, known as the Scottish Central Markets, the Scottish Central Land Bank, and the Scottish Central Insurance Society. Future of the (Jo-operative Movement. 191. The need being so great, and the advantage so obvious, the question will naturally arise whether the co-operative movement in agriculture can be firmly established without assistance from the State, and, if the answer to that question be in the negative, the further question will arise whether the work should not become altogether an enterprise of the State. It is certain that the movement cannot within any reasonable measure, of time become established without State assistance, and it is the definite opinion of all those who have worked it up in Ireland- and Scotland and Wales and England that it is one which can be much better worked on a voluntary basis than as an institution of government. In their Report for the year ending March 31st, 1912, the Development Commissioners gave their considered opinion on the point in question in the following words : — " The arrangements for assisting the organisation of co-operation in Great Britain have been " settled in outline. The principle adopted by the Commissioners has been, in substance, to utilise the " existing voluntary societies which have done the work in the past, and entrust its extension to those " bodies, reconstituted, and strengthened by the admission of representative elements from outside. " Two reasons have weighed with the Commissioners in adopting this policy. In the first place, they " think that co-operation is particularly the kind of movement to which it is essential to retain the " enthusiasm of voluntary workers. They fear that the grant of Government assistance, and the " consequent measure of Government control, may to some extent weaken the spontaneous character " of the movement; but they feel that it has a better chance of surviving under the arrangements now " made than if the jiecessary assistance, which the Commissioners were glad to supply, had been given " to official bodies. Secondly, the geographical and other limitatioos of the available public authori- " ties, at least in England and Wales, render them inconvenient and probably expensive agents for " this particular purpose. The natural co-operative divisions of the country do not follow county " boundaries, nor is the area which one Organiser and his assistants can cover confined to one county." We see no reason to differ from this conclusion, but, accepting it, we have to ask ourselves whether the bodies which exist for the promotion of organised co-operation in Ireland and Great Britain are successful in their work, and whether they deserve the continued support of the State. 192. We have no hesitation in expressing our opinion that those bodies formed to promote organised co-operation in the United Kingdom deserve well of the State, and should receive continued financial support from it. They have arrived at different stages of development and strength and therefore their needs are different. 193. The help received by the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society from the State has been less generous than that extended to the sister societies, and the conditions imposed in the interests of local traders have been more stringent. There has also been considerable difficulty in adjusting the relations between the voluLutary body and the newer State Depart- ment. Nevertheless the Society seems to be holding its own, and its present position and future prospects may be regarded as highly satisfactory. The expenses for the current year are estimated at £13^500, of which £5,400 will be contributed by the State and the balance mainly by the organised farmers. It is, and has always been, the laudable ambition of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society to achieve financial independence, but it is recognised that this process must be gradual. Its work falls into two main classes : — The maintenance and supervision of existing societies on the one hand, and, on the other, new organising work, some of which will necessarily be done in specially impoverished districts, while some of it is of a definitely experimental nature. The time is at hand when the work done under the first heading may well become self-supporting, but it is not probable that in the ne&,r future the contributions of existing societies can be made to cover new developments. Such work may be subsidised out of public funds without offending against any economic principle, and we recom- mend that for this purpose the State contribution to the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society should be maintained during the period of reconstruction at least at its present figure. The development of such societies would rapidly help the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society to become completely self-supporting. Finally, we note with satisfaction that the prospect of harmonious working between the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society and the Department of Agriculture, which is a sine qua non of Irish agricultural progress, is getting brighter. 194. The Agricultural Organisation Society on the other hand cannot fulfil its responsi- bility to England and Wales unless it receives a much larger grant than at present. Private contributions are precarious in their nature and cannot be looked to as a permanent source 55 bf income. Rather they should be regarded as windfalls, to be earmarked for some special and temporary purpose, such as a new and experimental dcYelopment. On the other hand the support received by the Agricultural Organisation Society from its affiliated societies is indefensibly exiguous. In some way or other every member of the agricultural community who benefits, directly or indirectly, from the work of the Agricultural Organisation Society should through his society make a reasonable contribution to its funds. In 1911 the Governors estimated that to carry out their scheme in its entirety the annual grant required from the Development Fund should be £30,000. We are not in a position to express any opinion as to the exact accuracy or otherwise of this 'figure under present conditions, but we recommend that the present annual aggregate grant of £12,000 received from public funds should be steadily increased, as the Society shows its capacity for doing the work for which it was founded, and in proportion to the support received from other sources. 195. The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society has hitherto been treated less liberally in the matter of Government grants than the Agricultural Organisation Society- in England. It has only received from the Development Commissioners £1 for every £1 that it could raise from other sources. The arguments, which we have used in respect of private contributions and the contributions of affiliated societies in England, naturally apply also to the case of Scotland, but we are of opinion that the claim of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society for increased support from the State is a very strong one, and that it should receive a grant on the same scale as that given for the benefit of agricultural co-operation in England and Wales. The Scottish Smallholders Organisation has been treated on a more generous principle by the State as it appears to have little income in addition to the grants which it receives from the Scottish Board of Agriculture. It does not appear to us to be an ideal arrangement by which there should be two bodies in Scotland to some extent doing identical work and both receiving grants in aid from the Government. 196. The continued and increased support recommended for the Agricultural Organisa- tion Societies in the three countries should be accompanied by the carrying out of any changes which may be needed to make them effective. As we have already pointed out, in dealing with the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society, it is essential that the work of an Organisa- tion Society should be regarded as filling, in a complete scheme of rural reconstruction, a part complementary to that allotted to the State Department, and that accordingly harmonious rela- tions should exist between the two parts. It is, in our opinion, important that the organisers and instructors" appointed by the State should collaborate with the organisers appointed by the voluntary Organisation Societies, and assist each other as much as possible. In cases where financial assistance is received from the Development Commission it is desirable that there should be representatives of the State on the governing body of the Organisation Society for the purpose of supervising the proper expenditure of all moneys so granted and to satisfy the Treasury and the taxpayer that such monies are applied only to the "educational purpose for which they are given. 197. At the end of the war there will be an immediate call for the development of the work of the Agricultural Organisation Societies; and, accordingly, it will be necessary to work out in detail the policy which it is proposed to carry, out for the application of State money to agricultural organisation. In the West of Ireland the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society has even yet new ground to break, particularly in the direction of organising societies for the co-operative use of implements and machinery in districts where the spade, the sickle, and the flail have not yet been displaced by the plough and by reaping or threshing machines. This work falls under the second of the two classes of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society's programme, with which we have dealt in Paragraph 192, and State assistance may properly be used in carrying it out. 198. In Scotland the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society sees greater and greater opportunities of work in front of it, but cannot act for lack of funds. The societies of smallholders in the Islands and Northern Counties require constant help and guidance in their business, and in order to give this effectually organisers should be appointed to devote their whole time and attention to assisting societies in their particular areas. Education and assist- ance in the matter of book-keeping and the preparation of books for audit, and in the making up of annual returns for the Registrar, are urgently needed. There are possibilities of the resuscitation and development of the kelp industry if it could be properly organised. The crofters and the fishermen need the help and advice of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society just as much for the fishery as for the agricultural side of their business. The Scottish Smallholders Organisation looks forward to a great increase of small holdings after the war, and therefore to a constantly increasing call for its operations. r99. In England and Wales the Agricultural Organisation Society foresees the increasing need for the spread of business habits among agriculturists especially in the matter of book- keeping and accounts, and wishes to make instruction to that end among members of the societies a special object, and to establish an audit department after the successful model of the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society ; it desires to cover the country with a network of organisations for buying and selling for the farmers, to rope them together so as to get more products out of the soil and more profit for the cultivators, and to re-organise the Farmers CentraF Trading Board so that it may fill to the Agricultural Co-operative Societies the place which the Co-operative Wholesale Society fills to the Industrial Co-operative Societies; and particularly it wishes to be able to turn its attention to the question of transport in remote districts, because it believes that a fresh field of work lies before it in the collection and distribution of produce, and that the United Kingdom is more backward in this sphere of agricultural organisation than any other civilised country. 19792 ^ ^ 56 Agricultural Credit. 200. Credit is more necessary for the conduct of agriculture than for that of other businesses, because of the peculiar conditions of the industry and the long turnover of the capital invested in it. The fact.that the industry persists in any country is a proof that those engaged in it have capital or obtain credit somehow, but the manner in which that credit is obtained will materially affect the degree of prosperity which the industry enjoys. In the comprehensive policies for the re-organisation of agriculture, adopted by the continental countries since the third quarter of the 19th century in order to secure greater food production, a leading place has always been occupied by the subject of credit. As the result of much enquiry and experiment as to the most effective methods for providing facilities, especially to rtiedium and small farmers, for obtaining working capital, practically every European country came to two conclusions : — (1) Firstly, it was determined that the peculiar conditions of agricultural production failed to obtain due consideration under modern banking systems. Banks had developed into undertakings mainly adapted to serve home and foreign manu- facturing industry and commerce, so that, by virtue of their organisation and legitimate business objects, they inevitably tended to constitute inefficient agencies for financing farmers. The credit requirements of the latter had, however, enormously grown, whereas their facilities had become more restricted.. (2) Secondly, it was determined that the only efficient method of providing agriculture with credit facilities similar to those enjoyed by industry and commerce was the establishment of a co-operative credit system. In default of collateral, or banking security, credit necessarily was primarily dependent upon confidence born of knowledge of the credit-seeker, combined with facilities for the credit-giver to supervise; its fundamental basis was, in fact, .local knowledge before and after transactions. As it is not a business proposition for the purely commercial bank to decentralise to the extent required to secure such minute local knowledge of the standing and character of medium and small farmers, the only resource was to organise local institutions and to indicate how the necessary funds for their business were to be obtained. 201. In Canada and in the United States the same credit needs have recently grown acute. In 1912 all three presidential candidates pledged their parties to introduce measures to deal with agricultural credit; since that year several Canadian and American commissions have urged the need of co-operative credit systems for farmers. 202. .It should be noted that not merely economically backward countries, but also advanced countries with old and highly- developed bankiflg systems, such as IT.S.A., Holland, Belgium, Prance, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, framed policies on this basis. Countries so diverse as Russia, India, Japan have followed suit during the last dozen years with most remarkable results. For a somewhat longer period Bulgaria, Serbia and Roumania have had a thick network of credit societies with their State Agricultural Banks. 203. The subject has received the continuous attention of many legislatures, of which the following list of laws, important and unimportant, passed in respect of it in the years 1911-1915 only, is striking evidence : — LAWS BESPECTING AGRICULTURAL CREDIT. 1911-15 " Number Number Country. of Laws. Country. of Laws. Germany. (Imperial and Local Laws) 15 Canada ... 5 United States. (Local Laws referring to Indi- Mexico ... 5 vidual States) 14 Russia ... 5 Italy 12 China ... 4 Switzerland 11 Spain ... 4 Costa Rica 10 Rumania ... 4 Portugal ... .1. ... , 9 Ottoman Empire ... 2 Austria. (Imperial and Local Laws) 8 Mauritius ... 2 France 8 Bulgaria ... 1 Australia 8 Regency of Tunis ... 1 Sweden 8 British Indian Empire ... 1 Argentine 7 Union of South Africa ... 1 Denmark 6 Greece ... 1 Japan 6 Honduras ... 1 Uruguay 6 Norway ... 1 204. In 1916 the legislation on the subject in the different States of the U.S.A. culminated in a very important federal Act called the "Federal Farm Loan Act." Within the British Empire there has also been much legislation on the subject, viz., in the West Indies, in India, in South Africa, in British Columbia, in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, West Australia and Victoria, and in New Zealand. 205. In the Parliament of the United Kingdom alone has the subject been practically ignored, except, incidentally, as part of the effort to deal with the land question in Ireland and to provide Smallholdings in Scotland. On the other hand, of all the countries above mentioned, that in which agricultural credit has been most studied and developed is Germany, where the national strength has been as deliberately built up on its agricultural as on its military resources. We think it will be useful, therefore, to give a short , account of what has been done there, abstracted from the verv complete " Report to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of an 57 Enquiry into Agricultural Credit and Agricultural Co-operation in Germany, with some Notes on German Live-stock Insurance," by Mr. J. E. Cahill (Cd. 6626, 1913), to which all those who wish to study the subject fully may be referred. This account will be found in Appendix VII. 206. The conditions of German, and, indeed, of Continental, ■ agriculture dift'er funda- mentally from those of the United Kingdom in a particular which goes to the very root of credit. The majority of German farmers own the land they farm and they can pledge that land as security for a loan. The majority of farmers in Great Britain do not own the land they farm and therefore this security is not available to them. It follows that the solution of the problem of agricultural credit here must almost certainly be diiierent in important respects at least from the continental solution. 207. The conditions of Irish fairmerg, now that the Land Purchase Acts have effected the transfer to them of so large a proportion of the land of Ireland, approximate more closely to those of the Continent than do those of Scottish, Welsh or English farmers. Fortunately the subject as it affects Ireland has recently been fully dealt with in the " Report of the Depart- mental Committee on Agricultural Credit in Ireland" (Cd. 7375, 1914), to which we can refer all those interested in the subject. The principal recommendation of a majority of the Committee was to the effect " that much would be gained by the establishment of Credit Societies under the supervision of an Agricultural Credit Section of the Department of Agriculture, with the aid of an Advisory Committee, on which representatives of the co-operative movement, the Joint Stock Banks, and the various State Departments dealing in agricultural loans, might be invited to sit " " There is, we consider, ample scope in the sphere of rural credit in Ireland for the operations of Credit Societies which may prefer to remain solely under the supervision of the I.A.O.S., and of those Societies formed in connection with the scheme proposed in our Report. Time would bring out the respective merits and defects of each system. The important duties of central supervision and inspection performed by Unions on the Continent would thus be undertaken in Ireland by the Agricultural Credit Sections of the Depjartment of Agriculture and of the I.A.O.S." 208. They pointed out " that the figures of the various schemes of loans and grants for agricultural purposes administered by the Board of Works, the Congested Districts Board, the Department of Agriculture, and the Estates Commissioners reveal the large amount of financial aid to Irish farmers administered through these channels." Their conclusions on the subject of the pledging of the land as security were as follows: — "We have devoted special attention to the important question of long-term loans and the mortgaging of land in Ireland.. .... A complete system of compulsory registration of title is an absolutely indispensable condition of every sound system of real credit .... The establishment of a long-term credit mortgage institution on Landschaften lines may eventually become a necessity in Ireland, if it be not found possible to revise the Land Loan Schemes of the Board of Works with a view to their greater elasticity and their adaptation to the needs of small farmers. The development also of the agricultural loan schemes of the Department of Agriculture and of the Congested Districts Board, combined with the agency of Credit Societies for shorter term loans, should, in our opinion, prove sufficient in most cases for the credit requirements of farmers not met by the Joint Stock Banks. The full development of these sources of credit should, at any rate, be thoroughly tested before any experiment based on Continental Land Mortgage Credit Organisa- tions be attempted." 209! The Committee lay stress on the value to the farming community in Ireland of the credit given by the Joint Sitock Banks and we were definitely informed that this was so and that it was seldom that a farmer of good character could not obtain all the facilities of credit, however small, that he might require from the local branch of some Joint Stock Bank and on very reasonable terms. 210. Mr. R. A. Anderson, Secretary of the I.A.O.S., informed us that that Society had originally formed its Credit Societies on the lines of the Raiffeisen system, and that the chief objection to it in a mixed community was that the well-to-do man would not join a Society ^n which he might become responsible for the debts of men less well circumstanced. He also told us that none of these Societies were now being started by the I.A.O.S., but that a special clause had been added to the rules of all the Agricultural Societies enabling them to make loans to their members on the same lines as the Raiffeisen system. This experience of the I.A.O.S., which has resulted in the abandonment of special Credit Societies and in the incorporation of credit functions into the scheme of the ordinary Co-operative Societies will be of special interest when we come to consider the case of Great. Britain. 211. Scottish conditions of land tenure are certainly not more akin to the Continental than English, and yet it would appear that the problem of agricultural credit for the smaller farmers and for smallholders is somewhat nearer solution there than in England, owing to the greater readiness, of the Scottish Joint Stock Banks to cater for this class of business. 212. ISTevertheless, the S.A.O.S. includes among, the types of Societies affiliated to it a Co-operative Credit Society, Limited.. The leading features of this type of society are that the borrower must produce two cautioners to back nis credit, and that, as the title implies, the liability of the shareholders is limited to the amount of their holding. The Scottish Small- holders Organisation also has established as an off-shoot the Scottish Central Land Bank, Limited, in affiliation with, which a number of local credit societies has been formed. But the credit operations of both these organisations are at present only on a very small scale. 213. Principal W. G. Paterson, of the West of Scotland Agricultural College, ex- pressed the opinion that " something in the way of land or credit banks would be of the very greatest advantage and have marked effect on production." The general effect of the evidence we received was that while the opportunities of landowners for " long credit " were of the same 58 restricted type, and of large farmers for shoi-t credit were as adequate thi-ougli the operation of the Joint Stock Banks, as in England, the credit facilities of the smaller farmers were better m Scotland than in England owing to the closer touch which seems to exist between them and the local branches of the Joint Stock Banks. But the credit facilities available for the smaller farmers and smallholders are not yet adequate. Some of them habitually obtain it m most undesirable ways, not in definite borrowings from a bank, but in long-deferred payments to tradesmen and dealers. We were also informed that in parts of Wales the Joint Stock Banks more nearly meet the credit requirements of the smaller farmers and smallholders than in England. The reason why this should be so in Ireland and Scotland and in Wales is probably due to the fact that the Joint Stock Banks more often find it necessary to select local men as the Managers of their local branches in those countries than in England, and that the comparative absence of great industrial undertakings in the areas covered by many of the local branches of the banks in these countries makes the competition keener between the banks for such agricul- tural business as exists. Although this is so, the circumstances of all parts of the United Kingdom are sufficiently similar to make it possible to deal with their agricultural credit require- ments on the same lines, and to make it true that when describing those of England, and making suggestions for meeting the want, what'we write may be taken as applicable to the whole country. 214. The landowners of Great Britain constantly require long credit loans for the industrial equipment of their land for agricultural purposes. Comparatively few can erect expensive farm buildings or cottages or drain their land or construct roads or furnish water supplies out of income. They must borrow money either from their bankers on the security of their personal property, the extent of which is well .known to the Bank Manager, or they must effect a mort- gage on their land, or they can borrow from the Land Improvement Company under the Improvement of Land Act. 215. Particulars of the proposed improvement are sent to the Company and are submitted by them to the Board of Agriculture, who refer them to an inspector for a report. If this is favourable — i.e., if in his opinion the annual value of the property to be improved will be increased by an amount greater than the annual charge, they issue a Provisional Order, which is the authority to proceed, the execution of the work being under the control of the landowner or his agent. When the work is completed the Board's inspector again visits and reports, and if this report is favourable an Absolute Order is made making the sum advanced a charge on the property prior to existing mortgages and settlements, but not to quit rents. Crown rents, or tithe rentcharge payable out of the land. The Company's commission is 5 per cent, on the outlay, and this sum and also the Board's charges for inspection, the registration fee, and stamp duty, which on the average amount together to another 3 per cent., are added to the sum borrowed. For example, if £1,000 were borrowed for an improvement, the initial costs of effecting the loan would very likely be £80, and, consequently, the total amount of the loan on which the landowner would pay interest would be £1,080. The annual interest payable on this loan may not by the terms of the Land Improvement Act exceed 5 per cent, (and, of course, in present circumstances it could not be less), and* to this inust be added a sufficient additional sum to permit the return of capital within the period during which the charge is made. Eorty years is the longest time allowed, but it varies from 20 to 40 years according to the prospective life of the improvement. The present rate of payment works out at £7 19*. 4en no loss to the State. We believe that the security in the case of English, Welsh and Scottish farmers would also prove to be good, 65 Village Reconsteuction, Industries, and Social Life. 243. _ The intimate connection between a plentiful supply of agricultural labour and an increase in tlie output of home-grown food — the primary object of our reference — was recognised in the early stages of our encjuiry, and the recommendation with regard to farm wages con- tained in Part I. of our Eeport was framed to meet the competition of other and better paid industries. But, in our opinion, the question is not merely one of wages ; the conveniences and interests of town life exercise an attraction upon the young rural labourer which can only be met by offering counter attractions in the country districts ; and no agricultural policy will be worth having which does not aim at a better developed social life in our villages, at the intro- duction of fresh industries into the country districts, and at a large increase in the rural popula- tion. To this end an_ effort must be made to break through the stagnation in the life of too many villages by offering better opportunities for social intercoul'se and amusement, by arousing a stronger feeling of corporate existence and responsibility, and by opening out improved prospects of advancement to the energetic and hard working. With the advance of education a desire for greater opportunities has arisen among the more active and ambitious of the younger generation, causing them to covet the greater scope for their energies offered in urban districts. The proposals made under this head of our Report are designed to lessen the despondency of outlook sometimes associated with existing conditions, and to provide a machinery, which does not at present exist, for the improvement of village life. 244. The difference between villages, even in the same neighbourhood, is often marked. Some seem to carry outward evidence of the prosperity and happiness of their inhabitants, while the aspect of others, less fortunate, seems to indicate with equal plainness a dull and colourless outlook. In the former are seen smiling gardens, well-cultiva-ted and conveniently situated_ allotments, cottages in good repair, village playgrounds, and social clubs and reading rooms; m the latter, with land in abundance around, we find ©ottages possessing no gardens or insufficient gardens huddled together so as to reproduce some of the evils of town slums, and absenceof all the amenities of life, and allotments so distant from the centre of the village as to be difficult of access and inconvenient for cultivation, the whole presenting an appearance indicative of the conditions prevailing therein. Enquiry will usually show that the difference is due to the fact that in one village a guiding spirit has exercised a sustained policy of develop- ment, based upon a clear perception of the requirements of the inhabitants and a study of the best means of providing for them, while the other has been without these advantages. In this connection it has been pointed out that an examination of the maps of the. Ordnance Survey reveals howlacking in system has been the development of the ordinary village. In its midst, even adjoining the village street, may be often found land let with large farms, which might better be used for housing or other public purposes, for providing gardens, cow pastures or allotments, or for occupation with adjacent cottages. But it is no one's business to take the lead in demanding a better scheme of use for the land, nor does any machinery exist by which a re-arrangement could be carried out. An atmosphere of stagnation prevails, and it is not surprising that the best men in such districts prefer to try their fortune in places offering greater scope for their ambition. The less efficient remain, and the deterioration in the rural working population, of which complaint is often made, becomes an accomplished fact. 245. Our plan for dealing with these important matters is set forth in detail in Appendix XI. It will be sufficient here to state the general nature of our recommendations. We are of opinion that the machinery of the Parish Council, the Agricultural Committee of the County, and the Board of Agriculture should be utilised for the purposes of village reconstruction, and that under proper conditions the necessary land should be acquired by compulsory powers if it cannot be acquired by voluntary agreement. If cottages are built or smallholdings are created, we think that the inhabitants of the 'Village should be given the option of tenancy or ownership, but that ownership should not carry with it the power of sub-division or of utilisation for a different purpose than that for which the house was built or the holding created. The money required for a scheme should be advanced out of public funds and repaid by the Parish Council and the parties benefitted, following the exact analogy of a scheme under the Small Holdings and Allotment Act, 1908. 246. We have been much impressed with the value of the work done by the Rural League iri establishing village industries and of the Agricultural Organisation Society in establishing Women's Institutes, and we recommend that either the Agricultural Organisation Societies in the three countries or some analogous body should receive distinct grants for these specific purposes and that the task of fostering village industries and of forming Women's Institutes should be entrusted to them under the supervision and control of the respective Departments of Agriculture. Tithe Redemption. 247. As has been already shown in former paragraphs of this Report, much land may be required by the County Councils or by the Board of Agriculture within the next few years for the creation of smallholdings, and also for the purpose of what we have called Village Reconstruction. An ingenious method of obtaining this land, through the process of tithe redemption has been suggested to us by our colleague Mr. Rowland Prothero, M.P., by Sir Trustram Eve, and by Lord Milner. They have suggested, and we believe with reason, that, if the process were made legal and cer.tain necessary amendments were made in the Tithe Redemption Act, many landowners, who could not find the cash with which to redeem their tithe, would be glad to free their estates or part of their estates from liability to the payment of tithe rent-charge if they were allowed to do so by giving land in exchange for tithe rent- charge of equal value. 19792 ^ 66 248. Such a proposal would seem specially opportune at the present moment, when the value of tithe approximates, for the first time for. many years, to the commutation value and will certainly rise within three years to over £120, as both tithe owner and tithe payer would have something to gain by conversion; the former would obtain the advantage of a fixed instead of a variable income, based practically on the commutation value, and would thus be relieved from apprehension as to the possibility of a return to the low value of the past thirty years; while the latter would benefit by being freed from w'hat seems likely to be an increasing burden for some years to come, and one in respect of which the improvement in the value of agricultural produce brings no compensating advantage, unless the owner is himself in the occupation of the land. 249. We set forth fully in Appendix XII. the plan we recommend for the redemption of tithe by payment in land and the amendments in the Tithe Redemption Act which are absolutely necessary if the process of tithe redemption, whether by payment in cash or in land, is to be accelerated, and we explain the reason why these amendments are necessary. We are strongly of opinion that the redemption of tithe on equitable terms should receive every encouragement from Parliament. Local Taxation. 250. A readjustment of the burden of local taxation, so far as it affects agricultural land, has long occupied a foremost place among the reforms advocated by those concerned in the well- being of the farming industry. The chief grounds upon which a claim for an amendment of the present system is based are (1) that unduly heavy charges are imposed upon persons engaged in agriculture in that they are compelled by the conditions of their calling to occupy an amount of rateable property out of proportion, compared with other industries, to their profits and to the benefit which they derive from the rates ; (2) that certain of the services in respect of which rates are levied are of little or no benefit to the occupier of agricultural land ; (3). that there is a lack of uniformity in the valuation upon which the rates are assessed ; (4) that the contribution of the National Exchequer towards the cost of public services of a national character administered by local authorities is insufficient; and (5) that local rates are levied almost exclusively on real property^ and that personal property which constitutes the greater part of the national wealth escapes its fair burden of local taxation. 251. The matter is one which has been tbe subject of an exhaustive enquiry on three recent occasions, viz., — By the Boyal Commission on Agriculture, 1893. By the Royal Commission on Local Taxation, 1896, and By the Departmental Committee on Local Taxation, 1912. It will be seen from the following short resume of their findings that, although changing circum- stances resulted in somewhat different recommendations as to the best way of meeting the admitted grievance, the three enquiries resulted in a substantial agreement tbat (a) agricultural land stands in a peculiar position with regard to its assessment to local rates compared with other forms of rateable property ; and (6) the contribution it is called upon to make towards the cost of national services is unjust. 252. The Majority Report of the Royal Commission on Agriculture, 1893, signed by 12 Commissioners, stated : — {a) That the high rates which prevailed in the early part of the century owing to the maladministration of the Poor Law could not be taken as justifying the subsequent imposition of new burdens on agricultural land for national objects; and that a further rise in rates might, in view of the then existing depression , have the effect of causing land to fall out of cultivation, a danger which, in their view, had not been sufficiently regarded by Parliament when considering legislation which would impose new burdens on rateable property; and (b) That in order to do something to equalise the burden of local rates between agricultural land and other rateable properties, the former should be assessed to all local rates in a reduced proportion to their rateable value and the deficit made good by the national exchequer. 253. The Majority Report of the Royal Commission on Local Taxation, 1896, signed by 12 Commissioners, stated that in view of the character of agricultural property and the amount of the profits derivable therefrom, and the relative extent to which benefits accrued to the property and to its occupier by reason of the expenditure incurred by Local Authorities, it would be inequitable were rates to be paid on the basis of its full annual value. The Report went on to recommend that for all burdens of an onerous character {i.e., other than those in connection with which a preponderant share of the benefit could be directly traced to persons interested in the locality), and for the cost of the maintenance of highways, agricultural land should be assessed at one-half its rateable value; and that in respect of other burdens, in connection with which the benefit to the agriculturalist was small, such as expenditure under the Public Health Acts, he should continue to be rated at one fourth, the deficiency to' be made good by means of a errant from Estate Duty on personalty; and that the arrangement embodied in the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, should continue in the meantime. 254. The Report classified Poor Relief, Police, Education and Main Roads as national services, and discussed how their cost should be met. A local income tax and a special local rate on inhabited houses were found to be ooen to such objections as to make their adoption impracticable, and the conclusion finally arrived at was that either a direct contribution froid the Exchequer or an extension of the system of assigned revenues would be necessary to meet tbe increasing expenditure on these services, 67 255. All members of the Departmental Committee on Local Taxation, 1912, concurred- in the recommendation of the 1896 Commission that the abatement granted by the Agricultural Rates Act should be continued, and while they recognised the force-of the criticisms which- have Iteen levied at the form of the grant, they were of opinion that it would be exti-emely difficult to withdraw the grant without providing something in the nature of a substitute. They recommended : — (a) That haying regard to the changes which. have taken place since the introduction of the Assigned Revenue System in 1908, a considerable increase in the amount of the State subventions to local authorities was justifiable and necessary. (b) That the Assigned Revenue System, under which a large proportion of the present subventions are paid, should be abolished, and that in future all State assistance to local authorities should take the form of direct grants from the Exchequer. (c) That such grants should only be made in respect of. semi-national services — i.e., services which, though administered locally, yet partake somewhat of the diaraeter- istics of service administered by the State. (d) That the more important services which should be included in the category, were education, poor relief, police, main roads, public health, criminal prpseculiion and mental deficiency. . 256. Detailed recommendations as to the amount -of the Exchequer grants and the method of their allocation were made, the net increase of Government subventions being estimated at £4,700,000, £2,385,000 being in respect of elementary education and £2,315,000 in respect oi other services. 257. _ It is argued on behalf of the local authorities that a larger proportion of the cost of these services should bfe borne by the State than hitherto, or even than recommended by this Com- mittee. The equitable adjustment of the shares to be contributed by local and by imperial taxation to the cost of particular services is, however, one matter, and is, in existing condi- tions-, perhaps, the easiest part of the problem to deal with. The more diffipult part to deal with, the grievance of the ratepayers and the special grievance of agriculture in regard to the incidence of local taxation is another matter, and rises inevitably from the fundamental defects of the principles upon which local taxation is assessed. For this fundamental unsoundness the Poor Law Commission of 1839-43 and the legislation based on its report are responsible. Up to the year 1840, the clear intention of the law governing local taxation was to tax equally the proceeds of all industries. The facts of the case are set forth in the following quotations from, modem economists : — " Almost all the money raised by English local taxation at present is raised either by means of the. Poor Rate or by means of other ra-fces which though they have names of their own, are in reality nothing but additions -to the Poor Rate. The Poor Rate is based on the famous Act of 1601, and the principal of that Act, as modified by actual practice and local taxation, is still the basis of -the whole system. (" Rates and Taxes as affecting Agriculture," p. 76, by J. S. Nicholson.) " The accep-fced view of the 14th and 15th centuries was tha-t each, inhabitant should pay according to his alility and substance. (" The Uistory of Local Rates in England," p. 22, by Edwin Cannan.) ; "... The principle was fully recognised in the 14th century, which has had to be re-dis- covered in the 19th, that it is always persons and never things that pay rates and taxes. . . . But some visible sign was wanted of the ability and substance of people, and in this way the occupation of lands came to be the chief practical measure in the country and the occupation of houses in the -to-wn. . . . This confusion between persons and things had begun before the Act of Elizabeth, but there seems little 4oubt that, in modern phrase, the Poor Rate was intended to be a local Income Tax upon all the inhabitants of the parishes. The difficulty as to the case of non-residen-fcs was met by including not only the inhabitants but the occupiers of lands and houses. But it should be observed that the Act first applied tb the ' inhabitants,' and apparently the ' occupiers ' were brought in simply to cover the case of non-residents. In time, however, the exception entirely ousted the principle. It became more and more the cusixim to measure ability solely by the value of the lands and houses occupied. And in the end, as a result of these confusions between persons and things, what had been intended to be a local ipcome 1a,x on all inhabitants, levied ac- cording -fco ability and ' substance,' degenera-fced into a rate levied only on the occupiers of certain forms of property. ... In a few places, indeed, the system of rating in respect of stocJc-in'trade continued down -to the present century. And, as is well known, liability of stock-in-trade -to be rated was decided in the Law Courts in 1840, and was only annulled by an Act of Parliament. . . . Long before this, at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the drift of local and parliamentary opinion was in favour of greater taxation, of personal property. It was solely the practical difficulty of estimating the ability of people in terms of their other possessions which led to the customary .exemption of personal property." (" Rates and Taxes as affecting Agriculture," pp. 79 and 80, by J. S. Nicholson.) 258. The Act of 1840, following the recommendation of the Commission in respect of Local Taxation, relegated all local taxation solely to the basis of real property, and aggravated the burden of this proceeding by assimilating, and laying the foundation for the future assimilation of, all other rates to the Poor Rate. It is interesting and significant to observe that, in the United States of America and in Canada, this restriction of incidence was never adopted, and that local rates are there still levied on assessments based not merely upon the real property occupied by the ratepayer, but on a valuation of his whole business interests; so that the local rates there do approximately correspond to a local income-tax. "No one there finds such a system impossible ; and American and Canadian critics are feutprised that it should be so regarded in this country. The Inland Revenue Department here profess themselves unable to face its diffi- culties. Before proceeding further, the unfairness in, this operation of rating law, against which agriculturists complain, may be illustrated by a simple hypothetical ease. Two ifien reside in a rural district. In the market town a professional man— doctor, solicitor, auctioneer or another — makes by bis business an income of £750 a year. He occupies a house assessed at 197n3 ^2 68 ^75 a year, and is rated on a basis proportional to that assessment. Outside his garden wall lies a farm of 500 acres, on which the farmer, also a capable man, earns an income of £750 a year. His holding, including the house, is assessed (say) at the rate of 30s. an acre; total, £750 a year. The farmer is rated (subject to the remission of rate under the Agricultural Eating Act) on the basis of an assessment of £750 a year : that is to say, oji just ten times as much as his professional compeer. But this example needs certain comments : — (1) That when a tenancy is entered into the amount of the rates payable is taken into account in fixing the rent, and the rent is presumably reduced by that amount. So far, then, the tenant starts with a clean sheet, and the owner may be regarded as paying the rates. That he should pay them, as being a charge on real " property," is the intention of the Legislature, and theoretical economics assume that he " does so in the long run." This, however, is just as true with regard to the professional tenant : the rates of his house may equally be said to fall on the property he occupies, and not on his own earnings. But it does not affect the fact that for every penny added to the rates the professional man will pay on £75, and the farmer on £750, and that neither of them will pass on the increase to his landlord. (2) By the Agricul- tural Rates Act, 1896, the rates on agricultural land (not on the house or buildings of a farm) were reduced by one-half , and the loss to the local authority was made good by a grant out of the Estate Duty; — ^which remains at the amount which was called for at the d.ate of the 4ci— another of the empirical, illogical, and unequally acting makeweights by which Chancellors of the Exchequer have tried to ballast the cranky ship of local taxation. But even this ballast has shifted, for any new addition to the burdens falling on ratepayers since the date of the Agricultural Rating Act (and many have been added) has to be met in full by the authority concerned, and, where there is no one else in a rural district to pay the rates but agricultural occupiers, the relief they get in respect of such new burdens by paying half rates is next to nothing, since the nominal amount of the rate has to be doubled to yield the required amount, subject to the set off of such small contribution as may be afforded by those non-agriculturists who can claim no exemption. Whereas, therefore, the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, did reduce the disproportion between the rating of agricultural incomes and other incomes, it did so on no basis of principle and in a different degree in every different rating area, and such diminution only applies in a trifling degree to any subsequent charges that have been laid upon rural rates. 359. Three practical evils among others, which result to the State from this position of affairs, may be briefly noted : — (1) The agricultural industry labours under a constant sense of • injustice which contributes to maintain its habitual posture of an oppressed industry, and its discontent. This tends to embitter its attitude towards the commonwealth, and to render it distrustful of ihe intelligence, good faith, or intentions of the Government in any of its dealings, with agriculture. It forms a constant impediment to the work of the Board of Agri- culture. (2) Agriculture is regarded as a dangerous industry to invest in, as being liable to arbitrary and disproportionate imposts on the decision of a Legislature in which agricultural interests are in the minority. (3) The farming class is necessarily and reasonably caused to display in an exaggerated degree the opposition, to which all ratepayers are disposed, towards measures of obvious social advantage imposing any kind of obligation or burden upon local authorities. It is hardly conceivable that this would be the case with a class of men as humane and reasonable as any others, if they had the assuranee that the cost of such social improvements would fall upon the rest of the community in the same measure, in proportion to means, as it falls upon them. 260. In this connection it may be pointed out that, whereas until recently the special incidence of the cost of rateable services on agricultural holdings was in some degree set off by special relief in the assessment for income tax — which was, in effect, an arrangement which acted, however roughly and unequally, as a partial further adjustment in this field between local and imperial taxation — this relief has recently been reduced by the assessment of income tax on the full annual value, instead of, as heretofore, on one-third of it only. 261. Some authorities urge that the assessment of the farmer to income tax even on the full annual value of his holdings is a privilege, which cannot be justified, and that he ought to be assessed under Schedule I) oompulsorily, as he can be now by his own option. Others maintain that in the average of years an assessment on the full annual value of his holding is as accurate an assessment of the profits of the farmer's business as is possible and one quite fair to other income-tax payers. This section of our report deals only with local, and not at all with imperial taxation, and, therefore, a detailed examination of the subject would not be in place. We will, however permit ourselves two observations. We reiterate our conviction of the great advantage, which would ensue to agriculture, if all farmers were trained to keep accurate accounts ; we put on record our opinion that it would not be just to make any change in the manner of assessment which had for its object the imposition of additional imperial taxation upon the farmers as a class, unless simultaneously they were relieved of the admitted injustice under which they suffer in respect of local taxation. 262. There are doubtless grounds for the charge of lack of uniformity in the, valuation upon which rates are assessed, but the machinery for a fair and impartial valuation already exists, and if this were properly employed (as it is in the great provincial towns) no extensive or costly changes? would be found to be needed. In the great majority of cases an intimate knowledge of the annual value of ordinary hereditaments in their area is possessed by the assessment committees and overseers ; and apart from special properties (in connection with which professional advice should be obtained) this enables them to draw up a valuation list sufficiently accurate to secure a fair division of the burden between the ratepayers in the district. The main difficulty is in securing that the valuation list shall continue to be accurate, 69 for having once been approved, no statutory period, outside London, is laid down for its revision ; and there is, therefore, a tendency for that necessary, but heavy, work to be deferred, and for the lists to become out of date. This defect might be remedied, without serious diffi- culty, as in the case of London by the Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869, by providing for a quinquennial valuation. So far as the parish totals for county rate and similar purposes are concerned, what is required is that the total for each parish shall compare fairly with that of every other parish or unit in the area to which the rate applies. Doubtless cases have occurred, and still may occur, where the total of a particular parish has purj)osely been kept down in order that the quota payable shall be proportionately reduced. This is clearly unfair to parishes where the valuation is properly made, but since the Local Government Act, 1888, there has been a steady improvement in the correctness of the parish totals, and this might be accelerated by pressure from the Local Government Board on those districts which are lagging behind. Should the principle of the Metropolitan Act be extended to the whole country it would be possible, by associating surveyors of taxes and representatives of county and other rating authorities with the assessment committees, to make uniform and correct valuation lists, which would be available for both imperial and local purposes, and would be kept accurate by the quinquennial revision. We are of opinion that an improvement of existing methods on those lines would be preferable to any complete change in the machinery of rating, and could be effected without the great inconveniende and expense which would necessarily attend an entire change of system. 263.^', We will complete this survey by the insertion of three sets of figures* with regard to the contention that the contribution of the National Exchequer towards the cost of public services of a national character, administered by Local Authorities, is insufficient. The following Tables showing the total increase in the cost of these services in England and Wales, and the increase per cent, in the amount raised locally are, we think, conclusive. 264. The following tables show the increase of expenditure by Local Authorities during the past twenty-four years in respect of Education, Poor Relief, and Police. The aggregate expenditure does not include payments out of loans nor loan charges, as these are not classified in the Local Taxation Returns for the whole period covered. Education. Year. Aggregate Expenditure, EeoeiptB from Percentage of Receipts from Increase percent. in amount raised locally as Local Sources. Imperial Taxation. Local Sources. Imperial Taxatio n. compared with ] 889-90. 1889-1890 1894-1895 1899-1900 1904-1905 1906-1907 1908-1909 1913-1914 £ 4,056,696 6,437,869 8,828,012 19,596,971 22,150,233 24,068,087 28,069,952 £ 2,652,459 2,994,609 4,021,828 8,129,268 9,232,241 10,849,119 14,196,856 £ 1,404,237 3,443,260 4,806,184 11,467,703 12,917,992 13,218,968 13,873,096 Per cent. 65 47 46 41 42 45 51 Per cent. 35 53 54 59 58 55 49 Per cent. 13 52 206 248 309 435 1889-1890 8,112,990 18E4-1895 9,502,881 1899-1900 11,071,068 1904-1905 13,589,470 1906-1907 13,700,143 1908-1909 14,137j067 1913-1914 14,679,838 Poor Relief. (Including Pauper Lunatics.) 6,875,683 1,237,307 85 15 7,866,697 1,636,184 83 17 14 9,302,843 1,768,225 84 16 35 11,706,859 1,882,611 86 14 70 11,791,417 1,908,726 86 14 71 12,174,294 1,962,773 86 14 77 12,693,702 1,986,136 86 14 84 Police. 1889-1890 1894-1895 1899-1900 1904-1905 1906-1907 1908-1909 1913-1914 3,889,846 2,326,317 1,563,529 60 40 — 4,620,448 2,567,609 2,052,839 56 44 10 5,142,082 2,889,425 2,252,657 56 44 24 5,955,271 3,487,442 2,467,829 59 41 50 6,159,172 3,609,659 2,549,513 59 41 55 6,446,507 3,866,391 2,580,116 60 40 71 7,519,881 4,647,979 2,871,902 62 38 99 265. It will be seen that although the proportion of the expenditure borne locally and from imperial resources does not vary to any considerable extent, the increase per cent, in the burden upon the ratepayer has grown enormously. The cause of this has been two-fold; Parliament has continually imposed new, or heavier, duties on the Local Authorities, and Government Departments have been more insistent in their demands. 266. The following figures, based on a memorandum presented by the Central Land Association to the Departmental Committee on Local Taxation, 1912, show how well founded is the complaint that personal property does not bear its fair burden of taxation. The gross * These figures were furnished to the Departmental Committee on Local Taxation,' 1912, by the Central L4nd' Association and have been brought up to date. 19792 K 3 70 income for tlie United Kingdom brouglit under review by the Income Tax Commissioners in the year 1912-13 was £1,111,456,413, the rateable value for local taxation m the same year being £268,881,471. From the former sums deductions to the amoimt of £355,878,866 were allowed, leaving £755,577,547 as the actual income for the year upon which tax was collected. These deductions, however, included exemptions in respect of small incomes and other allow- ances, which are not admitted in the case of local rates, and in order to permit of a fair com- parison only such deductions as are common to both imperial and local taxation should be con- sidered. The following table makes this comparison: — Gross income coming under review for income tax ... ... 1,111,456,413 Eepairs (lands & houses 42,942,150 Wear & tear of machinery and plant 29,205,471 72,147,621 Nett income for purposes of income tax, less like deductions as are allowed in case of local rates 1,039,308,792 Rateable value upon which local rates were levied ... ... 268,881,471 AmoTint upon which local rates were not levied ... ... ... 770,427,321 267. While these figures can be taken as approximate only, owing to the differences in the rating systems obtaining in England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, they show how large a proportion of the national income escapes any direct contribution to local rates, and that, if ability to pay is to be taken as an accepted principle of taxation, they justify a demand for placing the cost of national services upon a wider basis. 268. In Scotland means and substance continued to be looked upon as rateable subjects, though to a continually diminishing extent, until finally abandoned in 1880. Since then, it may be laid down as a general rule that assessments for, parochial rates have been. levied on the annual value of lauds and heritages, one half being payable by owners and the other half by occupiers. This difference from the system followed in England, however, does not affect the principles discussed in the previous paragraphs under this heading. In Scotland, as in England,' thie'rating system bears more heavily upon agriculturists than upon other members of the community, whether measured by the criterion of " equality of sacrifice " or by that of " benefit received." 269. The conclusions we have come to are : — 1. That the only wholly satisfactory and complete way of meeting these difficulties would be to make all personal as well as all real property assessable for what is called local expenditure. We have not, however, the knowledge, on which to express the opinion whether a system, which apparently^ is found possible in other countries, is or is not possible in the United Kingdom. 2. That, if the system of grants-in-aid is continued the amounts of the grants-in-aid I should be revised and be readjusted quinquefliiially in order that the proportions adopted between them and the rates should be fairly and continuously maintained. 3. But that the next best solution, to the assessment of personal as well as of real property to so-called local expenditure, would be that a clean cut should be made between those services, which are mainly national in character and those which are mainly local, and, where a service is both national and local in character, between that part of it which is national and that which . is local, and that the Imperial Exchequer should bear the whole cost of the services classified as national, and the rates the whole cost of the services classified as local. 270. For instance. Criminal Prosecutions and the Maintenance of Lunatics seem to us to be mainly national services, and the charge for them should be borne wholly by the taxpayer. Roads, on the other hand, are both national and local in character. All main roads have become national roads with the advent of motor vehicles, and should become a charge on the taxpayer. The remainder of the roads should be maintained by the ratepayer. .In the matter of Education the adjustment is more complicated. Education is essentially a national service, and the case of the country aistricts in respect of the education rate is a particularly hard one. Under any land system whatever a point must come when the agricultural district becomes an exporter of population to the industrial district, and indeed the periodic importation of a rural population appears to be a necessity for the health and growth of an urban population. But one result of this process is that the urban districts get the benefit of a part of the education for which the rural districts have paid^ On the other hand, we share the general opinion of the great value of local knowledge and experience in local administration and especially in that of education.* The problem is to reconcile the use of this local knowledge and experience with that full authority of the central government, which is due to it, if the whole or the greater part, of the burthen of cost is borne by the taxpayers and not by the ratepayers. It is in pursuance of these ideas that we have recommended that the charge for Agriciiltural Education should be borne wholly by the Imperial Exchequer, and that we have indicated how local knowledge and experience can be utilised. 271. The services for which the taxpayer paid would be administered by responsible Ministers from Westminster, and they would use the accumulated experience of the; local authorities to assist them, but financial control would be vested exclusively in Parliament anc! in the Treasury. On the other hand, the local authorities would administer the services for 71 which tlie ratepayer paid, profiting by the advice but not subject to the dictation of the Govern- ment departments in Whitehall, and with financial responsibility only to the local government GXGCuOrS* Agkictjltukal Holdings Act. 272. Occupiers of agricultural land were first given a statutory right, apart from custom, to claim compensation for unexhausted improvements by. the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1875. This measure, however, permitted the parties to contract themselves out of its provisions, with the result that it became largely inoperative. In 1883 a Second Act was passed, which, while allowing the parties to agree upon the terms of compensation for improvements, exhibited a considerable advance upon the earlier measure in that it made void any agreements which were inconsistent with the Act on the ground that they did not provide fair and reason- able compensation, in substitution for that secured under the Act. Other statutes passed later and dealing with the same subject were the Tenants' Compensation Act, 1890, which gave occupiers of agricultural land the right of. compensation for improvements against mortgagees in possession; the Market Gardeners' Compensation Act, 18&5; the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1900; and the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1906. The last mentioned measure never actually came into operation as it was repealed, before the date of its commencement, by the Con- solidating Act of 1908. It contained, however, several important additions, the most notice- able being the right to claim compensation for unreasonable disturbance and for damage by game and, subject to certain conditions, the removal of restrictions, imposed by custom or agreement, on freedom of cropping and the disposal of produce. It also simplified the procedure in arbitrations, by requiring all questions arising under the Act or under the contract of tenancy to be referred to a single arbitrator. All these measures, together with the 1883 Act, have now been consolidated iii' the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1908, which may, there- fore, be taken practically to cover the existing law on the subject, although two later measures have been passed to meet circumstances which have arisen since 1908. These are the Small Holdings Act, 1910, and' the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1914, which empower tenants, dis- possessed respectively for the purpose of providing Small Holdings and for the purpose of' sale, to claim compensation for disturbance. 273. The Agricultural Holdings Act, 1875, was not extended to Scotland, but the main principles embodied in the English Acts have since been made applicable to agricultural holdings in Scotland, and the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1908, is a consolidation of the following measures : — ^The Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1883 ; the Market Gardeners' Compensation (Scotland) Act, 1897 ;v the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1900; and the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1906. Scottish conditions with regard to small holdings and sales of estates were not thought to necessitate an extension of the 1910 and 1914 Acts to that country. In 1910 the Agricultural Holdings (Scotland) Amendment Act was passed with the object of making reference to a single arbiter, under Section 11 of the 1908 (Scotland) Act, no longer applicable " to valuations of sheep stock, dung, fallows, straw, crops, fences, and other specific things the property of an outgoing tenant agreed under a lease to be taken over from him at the determination of a tenancy by the proprietor or incoming tenant." 274. The 1908 Acts have now been in operation for a length of time sufficient to enable an accurate estimate to be made of the manner in which they have fulfilled the objects for which they were passed; and in view of the important influence on agricultural methods of a feeling of confidence that an adequate return will be secured from improvements made by th& tenant, we have endeavoured to ascertain the views of those bodies most competent to give an opinion on this point. The following Departments and Societies were asked to expre.ss in detail their views as to the desirability, or otherwise, of any amendment to the existing Act: — The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries; the Board of Agriculture for Scotland; the Central Chamber of Agriculture; the Farmers' Club; the National Farmers' Union; the Surveyors' Institution; the Land Agents' Society; the Central Association of Tenant-right Valuers; the Scottish Chamber of Agriculture ; and the National Farmers' Fnion of Scotland. "We desire to acknowledge the valuable assistance given by these bodies to the Sub-Committee, and, having carefully considered the opinions expressed by thgm, we have arrived at the following conclusions. For convenience of reference we have divided them under the following heads : — A. Compensation for improvements. B. Comi>ensation for disturbance. C. Damage by game. D. Freedom of cropping and disposal of produce. E. Procedure. F. Arbitration. G. First Schedule. H. Second Schedule. I. Generai.1. ' S. Market Gardens. A. Compensation for Improvements. 275. The basis of compensation prescribed by the Act is the value of the improvemeni to the incoming tenant, and not, as was the case under the 1875 Act, the cost of effecting the improvement, with a proportionate deduction for each year which had passed since it was carried out. The proper way, therefore, of assessing the compensation payable m respect of any E 4 19792 ♦ 72 improvement would seem to be to ascertain the capital sum wliicli would represent the additional rent which an incoming tenant would b'e prepared, to pay over and above that which he would have given had the improvement not been carried out. The reference to the inherent capabilities of the soil contained in the earlier measures, does not appear in the Act of 1908, but the deletion of these words has not had any appreciable efEect. upon the practice of valuers. Subject to the view expressed in the next paragraph we are of opinion that the principle now laid down as the basis of compensation is equitable and needs no amendment. 276. It has, however, been suggested that the existing method of assessing compensation does not sufficiently take into account the cumulative fertility due to a system of high farming, beyond the recognised requirements of good agriculture, being followed over a lengthy period. The terms of the Act do not appear to assign any limit to the time during which the improve- ment, for which compensation is claimed, must have been executed, and compensation in respect of a general improvement to the holding would not, therefore, seem to be excluded. We are, however, informed that in practice the Courts only recognise direct {e.g., residual manurial value) improvements, and not indirect improvements in their interpretation of the Act. It is clear that a man who is under an obligation to cultivate his land in a husbandlike manner, and to leave it clean and in good heart and condition, should not be compensaTted for carrying out the terms of his contract; but there is real force in the argument that the man who has done more than this, and who by high farming has consistently grown heavier crops and consequently has been able to produce more manure, should not at the termination of his tenancy be required to hand over an improved holding without adequate compensation for its increase in value. We are of opinion that the Acts should be so amended as to make it clear that a claim for improvement of this character may be sustained, but for this purpose a record of the condition of the holding on entry and of operations during the tenancy is essential. ISTo compensation of this sort could be fairly awarded without accurate information of the system of farming, the quantities of hay, straw and roots sold off, and the equivalent manurial returns in their place. The burden of proof that the letting value of the holding had been improved, without any special consideration in respect of rent, or other benefit, such as is contemplated under Section 1 (2) (a) of the Act, should rest on the claimant. 277. We have considered the suggestion that the schedules should be done away with, and that the tenant should receive compensation for everything which he has done to add to the value of the holding, but we are of the opinion that the adoption of such a proposal would tend to increase the likelihood of disagreement between the parties, and add' to the expense of settlement. If the list of improvements comprised in the schedules is insufficient, we consider the point would best be met by an extension of the schedules. The suggestion has been made to us by the National Farmers' Unjon that just as the improvements in respect of which compensation may be claimed are scheduled under the Agri(3ultural Holdings Act, 1908, so also the subjects in connection with which dilapidations may be assessed should be detailed in a schedule. We recognise that the two things cannot be placed in precisely the same category, as the latter are usually covered by the conditions of the lease or agreement of tenancy, and are claimable in respect of actual breaches of those conditions, while the improve, ments for which claims may be sustained are not as a rule specially mentioned. There would, however, be some advantage in the adoption of the proposal where no agreement exists, or where the custom of the country is either ill-defined or non-existent. We are of opinion that in such cases a schedule of dilapidations might act as a deterrent to bad farming by specially drawing the attention of agricultural valuers to the responsibilities imposed upon tenants to farm in a husbandlike manner and to keep the buildings, fences, drains, roads, &c., in a proper and tenantable condition, and by informing them of the exact extent of their responsibility. Section 1 (2) (&). — A recent decision of the Appeal Cburt (Megglson v. Groves) has ruled that any sale of hay within the last two years of the tenancy, irrespective of when grown, must be taken into account under this sub-section. We believe that this view is contrary to the intention of Parliament when the Act was passed, and we recommend that the set-off under this sub-section against the tenant's claim for compensation should be restricted to the hay and straw grown within the la^ two years of the tenancy. Section 4. — We recommend that i-n order to £(,void a ground for litigation, agreements, made after the passing of an amending Act and substituting compensation in place of that provided under the Act, should be void except in respect of the recommendations we shall make to meet the peculiar case of market gardens. Section 5. — Should be amended in order to make it clear that the fact that a tenant has undertaken in his agreement to effect a particular improvement, should not debar him from receiving compensation for its value to an incoming tenant, unless his agreement shows that he has been allowed some benefit by the landlord in consideration of his executing the improvement. B. Convpensation for Disturbance. 278. Section 11, English Act; Section 10, Scottish Act. — It is generally agreed 'that the compensation allowed under the existing Acts is insufficient in cases of capricious disturbance. We are of opinion that in such cases the tenant might reasonably be allowed an additional year's profit, beyond that made during the year in which the notice to quit is running, in addition to the compensation for loss already allowed under the existing Act. In view, how- ever, of the possibility of disagreement as to assessment of profits,, we prefer to base the addi- tional compensation to be allowed on the rent paid, and we recommend the insertion, after 73 " entitled" in the above sections, of the following words, " to a sum not exceeding one year's rent in addition to compensation for the loss or expense directly attributable to his quitting the holding," &c., &c. The Agricultural Holdings Act^ 1914. — We also recommend that the provisions of this measure, which permits tenants dispossessed of their holdings for the purpose of sale to claim compensation for disturbance, should be extended to Scotland; and that where a holding ia sold in more than one lot, and notice to quit is given to the tenant before the sale has been completed, such tenant should be entitled to claim compensation from the original vendor. C. Damage by Game. 279. Section 10, English; Section 9, Scottish Act. — The right of claiming compensation for damage by game allowed under the existiufr Acts only applies to damage by game the right to kill and take which is vested neither in the tenant nor in any one claiming under him other than the landlord. As the tenant has a statutory right to kill ground game, he cannot under these sections claim compensation for damage by ground game, although in many cases, where he occupies land adjoining woods not in his occupation, it is impossible for him so to keep down the game as to prevent damage. We are of opinion that these sections should be enlarged so as to allow compensation from persons from whose land ground game comes and does damage, provided that the claimant has fully exercised his existing rights to kill ground game on his holding. The provisions of the 1908 Acts appear to have been largely inoperative;' and, speaking generally, grievances relating to game preservation cannot be adequately met by the method of compensation. We have made recommendations under the heading Elimina- tion of Pests and Weeds for dealing with the whole question in another way, which we believe are likely to prove more effective. D. Freedom of Cropping and Disposal of Produce. 280. Section 26, English Act; Section 23, Scottish Act. — In order to meet the needs of districts where no custom obtains tenants holding under no agreement should be required to farm their land fiiUy and properly, and according to the accepted rules of good husbandry, during the last year of the tenancy ; and in such a manner that the incomer may not be prejudiced either by the land not being left properly cultivated or cropped, or by there not being left thereon a sufficient quantity of hay, straw, or manure to ensure the continuity of economic management. For this purpose the out-going tenant should be required to give the first option to purchase at a valuation manure, hay, or straw, which he proposes to sell otf in the last year of his tenancy to the in-coming tenant or the landlord. E. Procedure, 281. In connection with the procedure laid down for the assessment of compensation com- plaints group themselves under two main heads, (1) the cost of and (2) the delay in arriving at a settlement, and we have endeavoured to meet these complaints by the suggested amendments to the Act which follow. But we are of opinion that the Act is capable of improvement in connection with the notices which are required to be given under various sections, and we therefore suggest amendment in this respect also. 282. We recommend the following amendments in procedure: — (a) That no arbitrator should be permitted to appoint a clerk without the permission of the Board of Agriculture. • (6) That when the Board of Agriculture is requested to appoint an arbitrator it should order claims and counter claims with answers to objections, and particularly any objections based on questions of law, to be lodged with them. (c) That thereafter it should appoint an arbitrator with or without power to appoint a clerk and legal assessor, it being understood that such power would D.ot be granted unless a question of law were disclosed at the outset or the claim was complicated, but with right to the arbitrator to re-apply should a legal question subsequently emerge. (d) That the Board of Agriculture should prepare and issue to arbitrators specific direc- tions regarding procedure in arbitrations together with a set of arbitration forms. (e) That no appeal on a question of law should be allowed where the sum awarded does not exceed £100. (/) That all claims should be submitted in detail not later than one month after the expiration of the tenancy. (g) That in the event of claims by either party remaining unsettled three months after the termination of the tenancy, the matter should stand referred to a single arbi- trator to be appointed by the Board of Agriculture. (h) That where settlement is delayed, the arbitrator should have power to direct payment of such a sum on account as he considers justified by the circumstances. (i) That sums awarded in respect of dilapidations should be separately set out and awarded to the landlord. They should not be treated merely as a ^et off against payments to the outgoer for tillages, manures, &c., instead of being made available for repairing the neglect in respect of which they are awarded. 283. We make the following recommendations with regard to notices : — (a) The landlord should have an absolute right to give notice of an intention to claim compensation for the deterioration of a holding, and should not depend as at 74 present upon the preferment of a claim by the tenant for compensation for improvements. A notice by the landlord for this purpose should be submitted with details of the claim not later than one month after the expiration of the tenancy. (b) Notice to claim compensation for disturbance should be permitted up to not less than two months before the termination of the tenancy, instead of within two months after notice to quit has been received, as laid down in the 1908 Acts. In this respect the precedent of the 1914 Act should be followed. F. Arbitrators. 284. It is stated that the settlement of tenant right valuations is sometimes entrusted to persons who possess neither the educational nor professional qualifications necessary to enable them to deal properly with matters requiring a considerable amount of technical and judicial training. It would not be practicable to limit the choice of either party in appointing his representative, but it is suggested that the Board of Agriculture might do much to raise the standard of those employed to make such valuations if it admitted to its list of persons eligible for appointment as single arbitrators only those who had achieved certain definite qualifica^ tions. We commend this suggestion to the attention of the Board. The case is different m Scotland, where professional associations -requiring a recognised examination or practice quali- fication for membership are less general, and we, therefore, make no corresponding suggestion to the Scottish Board of Agriculture. G. First Schedule. Part I. 285. We are of opinion that some means should be adopted for enabling necessary improvements comprised in Part I of the First Schedule to be executed in the event of the refusal of the landlord to give his consent, or his inability himself to carry them out. We have in mind particularly items (8) water supply, (9) fences, and (13) reclamation of waste land„ We recommend either that the tenant should be given the right of appeal to the Board of Agriculture, which should remit the case, if of importance, to the Panel of Assessors described in paragraph 54 of Part I. of this Report, or, if not of importance, to the Agricultural Com- mittee of the County, whose decision should be final. If this course is followed the items should be left in Part I. Alternatively the items might be transferred to Part II and an appeal to the Board of Agriculture be allowed on the part of the landlord against their execution. H. Second Schedule. 286. Rule 10. — In our opinion the time laid down within which the payment of the money awarded as compensation must be made under the award is longer than necessary. We recom- mend that the Rule should be amended so as to require the award to fix a day for payment within one month after its delivery. Rule 14. — It has been represented to us that a deadlock, causing friction, not infrequently occurs through default in taking up the arbitrator's award, and that the difficulty might be met by making the parties jointly liable to the arbitrator for his costs and expenses, without prejudice as to the party upon whom they would ultimately fall under the award. The point is one to which, we think, the Board of Agriculture might with advantage give consideration. I. — General. 287. Section 3 (3). — In view of the rise in the interest, commanded by capital, this sub- section needs amendment. The rate allowed in respect of interest pn capital and for the purpose of sinking fund should be raised to the level at which the landlord can borrow money. Section 23 (iii) delete " for labourers." Section 35 (3). — Oxir attention has been drawn to a case in which the landlord of a mortgaged property was bankrupt at the time the tenancy terminated, and the mortgagee entered after the quitting and foreclosed, with the result that the tenant lost the compensation due to him for tenant-right. To meet such a case we recommend that section 35 (3) should be made of general application so far as it applies to compensation for improvements. Section 40. — We are of opinion that occupiers of glebe land should not be placed in a worse position than other occupiers of agricultural land with regard to notices to quit under Section 22 of the 1908 Act, and we therefore recommend that the provisions of Section 22 should be extended to cover tenancies of glebe land on change of incumbent. 288. It has been suggeste^d to us that, when a mortgagee takes possession and gives notice to an occupier, the occupier has not the right to claim compensation for unreasonable disturbance under Section 11, but we are informed by the legal authority which we have consulted that that is not so, and that, if the notice to quit is given without good and sufficient reason, compensation can be claimed from the mortgagee in possession as " the person for the time being entitled to receive the rents and profits of the land." In this connection we wish to state that when the Board of Agriculture has taken over the management of a mortgaged and ill-managed estate, as proposed in Part I of this Report, and finds it necessarv to raise a Land Improvement Loan for its industrial equipment, the interest on which by taking precedence will leave an insuffi- cient margin for the interest of the mortgage, we consider that it ought to give notice of it? intention to the mortgagee and give him the choice between foreclosing at once and continuing to run the risk of losing part of his interest. 75 ./. Market Gardens. 289. We have received evidence from the representatives of intensive cultivation, especially in connection with the present position of market gardens and fruit farms. Theoretically the relative obligations of the owners and tenants of market garden land are fully and satisfactorily settled by the Market Gardens Compensation Act, 1895, as amended by the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1908; but practically this is not so, because, as we have been informed, since 1909 it has been impossible for a tenant to obtain a lease or agreement in respect of market garden land, except in the Evesham district, unless he contracts out of the provisions of the Act. It was frankly admitted to us that the attitude of the owners is not unnatural or unreasonable in view of the excessive and quite unreasonable awards in respect of compensation given against them by certain arbiters in cases where the tenants had deliberately farmed, not with a view to intensive cultivation, but with a view to creating a claim for compensation. In these cases no incoming tenant would pay the compensation awarded, and the owner had, there- fore, to pay it. And yet the witnesses for the intensive cultivators agreed that the. basis of compensation under the Act, the value to an incoming tenant, was the right and, indeed, the only fair basis. 290. Thus a deadlock exists for which a solution must be found. There is not an unlimited scope for the extension of. market gardens; but clearly there is a scope for extension, and equally clearly it, is to the interest of the community and essential for the development of the full pro- ductiveness of the soil that where there is a scope for the development of market gardens there should be no check on the utilisation of the land for this purpose. 291. There is a clear and definite distinction between market gardens and other classes of agricultural land, which makes provisipns which may be applicable to that one class of holding quite inapplicable to other holdings. The industrial equipment in the shape of buildings, fences, drains and roads required of the owner in the case of market garden holdings is small, while the capital embarked by the tenant in the cultivation may easily equal, and soraetimes exceed, the capital value of the land itself and of its industrial equipment. In the case of an ordinary agricultural holding of (say) 500 acres the capital invested by the tenant will not exceed £5,000, but the capital invested by the owner in the industrial equipment of that farm in buildings of all sorts, drains, fences, roads and water supply may easily amount to as large a sum apart from the value of the unequipped land. 292. We enquired whether the cases of hardship were common when a tenant of market gardeii land, whose agreement included a clause contracting out of the provisions of the Market Gardens Compensation Act as amended, received notice to quit from his landlord, and we were informed that such cases very seldom occurred except when the land had become ripe for building and the landlord desired to regain possession of it for the purpose of letting it on a building lease. The witnesses who appeared before us expressed the opinion that, where a landowner has to carry the risk of compensation on the scale inevitable in the case of market gardens, he was entitled to receive a higher rent for the land than he would obtain in ordinary circumstances, but they contended that it was not just that the tenant should lose the compensation he would otherwise receive from an incoming tenant if he quitted, his holding, because the land became devoted to habitations instead of to agriculture. 293. Our attention was particularly drawn by them to the custom prevailing in the Evesham district, which they asserted solved the problem with impartial justice to landlord and tenant. The following extract from a farm agreement embodying the Evesham custom was placed before us : — " Tbis land is not let as market garden land, nor is it to be treated as suoh, but in the event of the tenant making any of the improvements specified in Section 42 oi the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1908, the landlord will not object to the tenant niaking them on condition that:; — (1) In the event of the tenant giving the landlord notice to quit, the tenant shall make no claim against the landlord for compensation; (2) That in the event, of the tenant wishing to give up his holding without giving notice to quit he shall have the option of introducing an. approved incoming tenant with whom he shall make his own arrangement as to compensation, and (3) That in the event of the landlord giving the tenant notice to quit the landlord will pay such conapensation for improvements as could have been obtained under Section 42 of the above Act if it had been agreed iiat the same should apply to the tenancy. " The tenant, shall not, nor will, underlet, assign, or otherwise part with the possession of the said land or any part thereof to any person or persons whomsoever, for any period whatsoever, without the consent in writing of the landlord or his agent first obtained, but such consent shall not be unreasonably or arbitrarily withheld. "That if the tenant shall neglect or fail to abide by, observe and perform the stipulations hereinbefore contained, and on his part to be observed and performed, or any or either of them, or if he shall abandon the said land or permit the same to remain uncultivated for the space of one calendar month or upwards at any one time, or if the. tenant at. any one time hereafter cease to reside within three miles of the said land, or if his rent shall be in arrears and unpaid for the space of one calendar month after either of the half-yearly days of payment thereof, then and in eitherof the said cases the tenancy so agreed upon, shall absolutely cease and determine saving all remedies to the landlord for breach of this agreement (which he would have had in case 76 the tenancy had continued) and the landlord may appropriate to his own use all the trees, crops and buildings on the said land without giving any compensation to the tenant in respect thereof and the landlord shall be at liberty to re-enter on the premises and all occupiers thereof to expel and remove." 294. We have referred to the Eeport of the Departmental Committee on the Fruit Industry of Great Britain, 1905 (Cd. 2589), and we desire to draw attention to (9), (10), (12), and (13) of the summary of their recommendations on page 37. " (9) It is further suggested that, in cases where a tenant gives notice to quit, he shall not be entitled to receive compensation unless he presents to the landlord a successor who is willing to take over the holding at the same rent; that in the event df his so doing, and the landlord accepting his nominee, the compensation be paid directly by the new tenant to the old tenant, but that the landlord have the right to refuse to accept the out-goer's nominee, in which case he must pay compensation to the out-goer under the provisions of the existing law. " (10) That the Board of Agriculture should appoint experts in fruit valuation, and should call them together for the purpose of formulating general rules for estimating the amount of compensation to be paid to an outgoing tenant of a holding under the Agricultural Holdings Acts on the basis of the value to an incoming tenant. " (12) That it would be to the advantage of landowners and tenants in fruit districts if, under the provisions of Section 5 of the Agricultural Holdings Acts, 1883, they settled the basis of compensation by the ' particular agreement ' therein referred to. " (13) That a Bill should be passed for facilitating the purchase of small holdings by tenants with assistance from public funds, somewhat on the lines of the measure brought in by the Et. Hon. Jesse CoUings, M.P., in the session of 1904." 295. No. (9) is tantamount to a recommendation of the Evesham custom. No. (10) has in the light of experience been shown to be necessary, and we desire to endorse it. We shall make a recommendation to meet No. (12), and we have already in previous paragraphs of this Report endorsed No. (13). It seems to us peculiarly appropriate that tenants whose financial interest in their holding equals or exceeds that of their landlord should be encouraged and assisted to acquire its freehold. 296. We recommend that in the case of all leases or agreements made after the passing of an amending Act, in respect of holdings to which the provisions of Section 42 and the Third Schedule of the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1908, are intended to apply, the Evesham custom, as described above, shall (except in respect of the denial to the tenant of the right to live outside a three mile radius from the holding) be substituted for the provisions of the Agricultural Holdings Acts, 1908, but the improvements in respect of which compensation ca,n be claimed under the Evesham custom shall be those, and those only, which are specified in the Third Schedule of that Act. 297. The effect of this substitution will be that, if the tenant wishes to quit the holding he must find a tenant willing to succeed him and to pay compensation on entering to an amount to be agreed between them, and that, if no successor be forthcoming, the landlord is relieved of any liability to pay compensation. 298. If, on the other hand, the landlord chooses to give the tenant notice to quit and can find no successor willing to pay the outgoing tenant the compensation he claims, or if he unreasonably or arbitrarily refuses to accept as an incoming tenant the person who is willing to pay the outgoing tenant, who has given notice to quit, the compensation he claims,^ then he will himself become liable to pay compensation to the outgoing tenant on the principle laid down by the Act, viz., the value to an incoming tenant. 299. It has been pointed out to us, however, that it will be necessary to deal with particular agreements such as exist in Essex. In such cases landowners and tenants would, with a full knowledge of all the circumstances, enter into an agreement for land to be used for market gardening purposes on terms mutually satisfactory to each party, but for the fact that at the termination of the tenancy such an arrangement is liable under the Act to be upset on the ground that the terms agreed upon did not constitute fair and reasonable compensation in lieu of that authorised hj the Act. We propose that where the parties are prepared to enter into any such agreement, they should be permitted to apply to the Board of Agriculture to submit the proposed terms to an assessor appointed from the Panel recommended in Paragraph 54 of Part I. of our Eeport. Should the terms be approved by him they should be allowed in substitution for the Evesham custom and have effect as though laid down under the Act. 300. There remains the further and most difficult case of a definite refusal on the part of a landowner to allow land to be used for market gardening where there are at any rate reasonable a priori grounds for thinking that it is in the national interest that it should be so used. In such a case we recommend that the tenant should have the right of appeal to three members of the panel of assessors, each party being given full opportunity of stating his case. The three assessors should be appointed by the, Board of Agriculture following the procedure laid down in Paragraphs 54 and 55 of Part I. of our Eeport. Such an appeal, however, should only apply to the planting of fruit bushes and trees and to ordinary marked garden cropping. It should not give the tenant, if successful, the right to erect glass houses and require the incoming tenant or owner to take them over on the termination of the tenancy. The assessors chosen from the panel must be informed that their decision in such a case must be based on the opinion that there is no other equally suitable land available by agreement, and that the land in question is so specially suitable for market-gardens purposes, when regarded from the point of view of site, climate, soil, and market facilities, that it is clearly to the national interest 77 that it should be so used. If the decision of the assessors is in favour of the tenant's applica- tion, then the land in question should henceforth come under the provisions of Section 42 of the Agricultural Holdings Act as amended according to our recommendations, whether let to that particular tenant or not. The effect of this provision woxild he that the owner would let the land at a fair rent, as otherwise he would have it in hand. He could not let it to another tenant as ordinary agricultural land, because the land having been scheduled as market garden land, any tenant could use it for that purpose and claim compensation under Section 42. It would, therefore, be to the owner's interest to let it to the man who would give for it the best market garden rent. If the owner decided in the circumstances to keep the land in hand and did not turn it to the best national advantage, then the provision for applying pressure suggested in Paragraph 56 of Part I. of our Report could be brought into operation, and he would lose control over this land unless he himself cultivated it as a market garden. Since the increase of food production has become a matter of national security and welfare, such pressure will have become justifiable in the case of land which, in the opinion of com- petent assessors, is clearly marked out as specially suitable for market gardens. 301. Finally, we are of opinion that the undeveloped land duty shauld be reconsidered in the light of experience in connection with market garden land near populous places. It is not in the interest of the community that such land should be withheld from buildings where houses are really required, but neither is it to its interest that market gardens should be handed over prematurely to the builder in order to escape this duty. It is sufficient if we indicate our opinion that an adjustment between two conflicting public interests is required. 302. It has been represented to us that the Agricultural Holdings Acts, even if amended as we suggest, would not give adequate security for the capital expenditure of tenants, and we can imagine that, while these Acts may sometimes give even excessive compensation in the case of bad or indifferent farmers, they may sometimes^ fail to compensate the best farmers in an adequate degree. It is on this account, as well as for other reasons, that we have urged the desirability of taking active measures to promote the increase of occupying ownership through land purchase. Reclamation and Dbainage. 303. The process of reclamation has been going on in Ireland for centuries, and is still in active operation. It almost always takes the form there of the removal of the top stratum of peat and the disclosure of a soil better adapted to cultivation. Each separate operation is a modest one, but the cumulative results are important. So far as we know no general survey has been made of Ireland with the special object of ascertaining 'whether larger schemes of reclamiation of a different kind could advantageously be undertaken, nor has any attempt been made to carry out the reclamation of the land from which peat has been removed by modern methods, utilising the resources and knowledge which science has put at our disposal. The drainage question on the" other hand, both arterial and local, has always been a question of the greatest importance to Irish agriculture. Much good work has been done, but other work has been unsuccessful owing to its limited scope or to faults of engineering. The subject has hitherto only been dealt with in a piece-meal fashion. 304. Since the issue of the Third Report of the Royal Commission on Coast Erosion, the Reclamation of Tidal Lands, and Afforestation, in 1911, much information on the subject of land reclamation has been accuinulated by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Development Commissioners also have since their institution in 1911 given much attention to the subject. One of their number, our colleague Sir Daniel Hall, has made a special study of the problem of land reclamation, and the opinions he has formed are so clearly expressed in the memorandum which he laid before the Departmental Committee on the Settlement and Employment of Soldiers and Sailors on the Land, and it presents such an admirable exposition of the possibilities of land reclamation from the point of view of its advocates, that we make no apology for reproducing it here. Memorandum on the Reclamation of Land, by Sir Daniel Hall, K.C.B., M.A., F.R.S. The area of land under cultivation in England rose year by year from the date at which exact records begin up to 1892 ; since then, it has declined similarly year by year, about 800,000 acres in all having been lost. In the main, this loss represents urban encroachments which have no longer been balanced by the bringing into cultivation of portions of the margin of waste still existing in %he country. The work of reclaiming, which had been most active towards the middle of the last century, proceeded in two ways, occasionally as a landlord's enterprise on a large scale, but more generally as the tenant farmers, with or without improving leases, gradually drained and cleaned up the rough land adjacent to their holdings. The process stopped with the great fall in agricultural prices; the cost of the labour to clear the land ceased to be repaid by the value of its produce, for at that time labour was the main, almost the only, item in the cost of reclamation, and no new factor had arisen to alter the situation. In Germany, however, the march of events has been very different ; the cultivation of the waste land — moor and heath — ^has been taken in hand in increasing areas year by year. For example, in the small province of Oldenburg, about an average of 60 settlers per annum were placed on reclaimed land between 1901 and 1910, but the numbers rose to 130 in 1910 and 166 in 1911, each colonist possessing some 20-25 acres of land that had been added to the cultivated area. So convinced of the economic soundness of the process had the State become that in 1913 the Prussian Diet sanctioned a loan of IJ millions sterling, half of which was to be devoted to State schemes of reclamation, 150,000Z. to drainage, and 500,0002. was to be used in subventions to provincial schemes of reclamation. This contrast between the action of the two countries is not to be accounted for simply by the difference in fiscal policies and the higher prices for agricultural produce ruling in Germany; it is in the main due to the fact that the Germans had studied the problem and were employing modern resources both in the way of knowledge and materials to the treatment of the land. The same process has been going on in the free trade countries of Holland and Belgium. In Great Britain no advance had been made upot 78 the methods in vogue at, the beginning of the nineteenth century, the land was drained where necessary, the rough vegetation was burnt off, the soil broken up, the only treatment other than mechanical being a dressing of lime. Once cleansed, the land was put under the ordinary crops, with, as a rule, extremely poor results for many years, though eventually, by dint of perseverance and an annual expenditure that was in the aggregate considerable, though perhaps not large in any one year, the land accumulated fertility and became a paying proposition, like the little farms one sees everywhere bitten out of the waste on the flanks of the New Forest^ on the Bagshot Heath, and the Surrey wastes. The German land reclaimers, on the other hand, have recognised that the natural infertility of the heaths and moors is in the main due to their deficiency in mineral salts — lime, phosphoric acid, and potash — and after the mechanical operations of drainage and clearing had been effected they set themselves to remedy this deficiency by an initial expenditure on fertilisers that would appear to a farmer enormous for such land, but without which even a moderate crop cannot be grown. In this way the land at once becomes capable of yielding a living return for the labour of cultivation, the initial outlay on basic slag and kainit proves to be much less costly than the recurring losses involved in growing crops with no special manuring until some sort of fertility is built up. Indeed, in many cases.one sees that the existing farms reclaimed from the heaths in Great Britain are still suffering in part from their original deficiencies ; their productivity is at a low level, because even after half a century or more of cultivation the soil is still short of lime, phosphoric acid, potash, sometimes of one constituent, sometimes of all three. It is necessary to emphasise this general statement — ^that land reclamation as practised in Great Britain ha,s never taken into account the -chemical constitution of the soil and its possible rectifioafiion by cheap mineral fertilisers, largely because the process was already falling into disuse by the time those fertilisers became available, and because few landowners have had sufficient confidence in the situation or faith iii science to embark capital on agricultural enterprises during the last 30 years. It is for this reason that such accounts as are available of the costs of land reclamation in England afl'ord no guidance to the possi- bilities that are open. They sometimes show good results where the land was initially healthy, as on Lincoln Heath, or v/here plentiful, supplies of town refuse were available, as in Cheshire, Bedford, or parts of Surrey ; elsewhere they have been unremunerative and have led to the widespread ■ tradition that the most ruinous of all proceedings is to try to turn bad land into good. Before discussing the different types of waste land that are capable of reclamation in Great Britain, it is perhaps advisable to render the term more precise by excluding those forms of improvement that may be regarded as within the scope of a tenant holding a lease of reasonable duration. Many examples of rough waste land occur that can profitably be btought into cultivation by ordinary means, e.g., fields of clay land overgrown with briers and brambles, which only require cleaning and draining, with a dressing of basic slag, to convert them into decent grass land. The term " reclamation '" is better reserved for such cases as involve a preliminary expenditure of capital on a scale comparable with or greater than the initial value of the land, and begin with certain defined operations which are apart from the ordinary routine of cultivation. Reclamation deals with land, the initial value of which lies between dEl and perhaps £7 per acre as an upper limit, and the outlay before the land can be let for ordinary farming may be as high as £7 an acre, irrespective of buildings and roads. In Great Britain opportunities for reclamation on a reasonably large scale are to be found as follows : — (1) Salt Marsh and Sloh Lands under Water at High Tide. — ^While no great area of this debatable ground exists, payable areas ritpe for reclamation are to be found in many of the estuaries of our rivers, particularly on the East Coast. Round the Wash the process has alwaysbeen going on and could now' be resumed with advantage; other areas have been examined in the Dee Estuary, the Firth of Forth, Cromarty, &c. The process is well understood; it consists in throwing up a wall round the area, embanking any streams and providing them with outlets, cutting drainage channels and providing them with sluices to discharge at low water or with a pumping station. In the Eastern Counties experience has shown that it is rarely wise to embank land that has not already been so far built up by natural actions as to have acquired a green covering of vegetation. The embankment is comparatively costly in labour and varies with the size and shape of the area, but the land gained is nearly always of high quality, worth from £30 to £50 an acre. Perhaps the chief obstacle to the prosecution of such work is the uncertain nature of the title to areas of this kind. In the main the property resides in the frontager; the Crown possesses certain ill-defined rights but rarely can make use of them except to deal with the frontager, the more so as the strip to be reclaimed is often only accessible by leave of the frontager. (2) Areas of Blown Sand adjoining the Sea. — On the coast of North Wales several large areas of this kind are to be found; next the sea comes a line o,f dunes, behind which is a comparatively level stretch covered with rough grass and rushes, the soil being almost pure sand. To reclaim these areas the dunes have to be fixed by planting with Austrian pine, gorse, elder, marram grass, &c., a few drainage cuts are often necessary, then the light soil is readily brought under cultivation. This type of land is well suited for market garden cultivation, both by its ease of working and proximity to the seas, provided that it is liberally supplied with phosphatic and potash manures at the outset. Spme of these areas contain a certain proportion of strong alluvial soil adapted to corn growing and akin to the valuable land adjoining the Wash and the Humber. The cost of the preparation of the land for cultivation is low, but the charges to be met depend in each case upon the proportion the cultivable area bears to, that of the dunes requiring fixing. In some cases too high a price is demanded for areas of this kind capable of profitable reclamation because of their possible value of development as seaside estates. In character intermediate between this type and that previously described are certain areas that are neither links nor slob land. In one case there lies about six square miles of land that only commands a few pence per acre for rough grazing, in part strong alluvial soil, in part peaty and elsewhere sandy, a large proportion being subject to flooding at high spring tides. The work required is embankment, drainage, possibly a pumping station, and special manuring on the peaty and sandy portions of the area, but the cost would be small in proportion to the ultimate value of the land to be gained for cultivation. (3) Heath. — In England there exist comparatively large expanses of uncultivated sandy heath, now covered with a valueless vegetation of heather or bracken and worthless grass. Such is the " brek " land of Norfolk and Sufi'olk, other heaths further south in Suffolk, land upon the Bagshot Sand formation and Lower Greensand in Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire, the Dorset heaths, &c. The reclamation of this type of land has been reduced to a system in Germany ; after drainage where necessary, the clearing of shrubs and bushes and levelling of any mounds or banks, the surface is pared and allowed to rot for a winter, or if a meadow is to be formed, a tilth is obtained by continued cultivation with implements of the disc f^ype. At the same time, about 2 tons per acre of chalk or its equivalent, 8 cwt. per acre of kainit and 5 of basic slag, are worked in as the fundamental preliminary dressing, these quantities being increased if a meadow is in preparation. For a meadow a special mixture of grass and clover seeds are sown directly on to the shallow worked surface with surprisingly good results. For the arable land the best preparation is to grow a crop of lupins the first year and turn that in, thus increasing the stock both of nitrogen and humus and binding and adding to the water-holdint-- capacity of the soil, Afterwards the land will grow all the cereals, especially rye and oata; 79 potatoes, carrots and peas give good crops, and lucerne also answers well on such land. Liberal manuring with artificials is required in the early years, the cost is made up by the cheapness of cultivation. In Germany as much as £7 an acre has been paid for such heath land, the reclaiming, including the ploughing in of the lupin crop, costs £5 to £6 per acre, and aft^r two or three years' cultivation the land sells at £20 to £30 an acre. A small experiment is in progress by the Development Commission on 200 acres of land of this class in Norfolk, formerly let as a rabbit warren; in the second year 136 acres were under crop, and, though the season (1915) was unfavourable, yielded per acre 27^ bushels of wheat, 28 bushels of oats, 17 bushels of peas, and 65 cwt, of potatoes. The cropping of 136 acres that had been reclaimed in the previous year cost in 1914-15 £1,051, and the receipts are estimated at £1,330. Despite difficulties with regard to labour and the dearness of the indispensable potash manures, the reclamation of the 160 acres which are now clear and ready for ordinary cropping has not cost more than £4 lis. per acre, exclusive of management and administration, charges for which have been heavy on so small an experimental area. It may be estimated that land of this class having initially a letting value of 2«. to Ss. an acre (exclusive of sporting rights) may be given a letting value of 15s, per acre by an expenditure on reclaiming property of about £6 per acre. Buildings have also to be provided, but the cost is low because no horned stock has to be provided for — about £5 per acre (reckoning half the cost of cottages to.be covered by their rent). The reclamation of this type of land would therefore just pay its way, but the land improves with cultivation, so that in 20 years' time it would be worth a further 5s. or so per acre. In many cases the chief obstacles to the acquisition of land of this type are the existence of common rights, often of the smallest value to the commoners, and in the Eastern Counties the high value attached to the land for sporting purposes. (4) Low-lying Moor and Bog. — A few areas exist in this country where the land is water-logged and is covered by a thick accumulation of peat. Such are the carrs and moors near the mouth of the Trent and a few inland areas like the Bog of Tregaron in Mid Wales and Otmoor in Oxfordshire. The reclamation of land of this type has been very thoroughly studied in Holland and Germany, and in Friesland and North Germany flourishing colonies of small arable farmers may be seen on such moors that formerly carried only a crop of rough grass. As the reclamation depends upon thorough drainage, the scheme has to be a comparatively large one in order to deal with all the sources of incoming water or to straighten and deepen the river channel so as to lower the water level on the drowned land. When the surface is dry the deficiencies in phosphoric acid and potash, and often in lime, have to be repaired as on the heath land, but the accumulated vegetation provides a great asset in the shape of nitrogen which becomes available when the mineral salts are supplied, so that the reclaimed lands carry good crops. Sometimes it is remunerative to remove the lower layers of peat for fuel, and it is often desirable to bring a layer of earth or sand to the surface. The cost varies with each scheme, according to the extent of drainage required, the value of the peat, the proximity of mineral soil, &c., but areas of this type are regarded in Germany as the most profitable of all. To what extent similar processes can be extended to the higher lying peat and bog areas in places like Dartmoor, parts of Wales, the North of England and the Highlands is doubtful, because the climatic conditions are often too severe to pei'mit of profitable crops to be grown. For the present, at any rate, until more experience has accumulated, it would not be wise to touch land of this kind except by way of experiment on selected favourable areas, as, for example, on some of the c"at over bogs in Ireland. (5) Upland Sheep Walk. — ^In many parts of the country, notably in Mid-Wales and the Lowlands of Scotland, lie extensive tracts of grassy iiplands which have never been improved in any way and are held as farms of 1,000 acres and upwards for breeding sheep which are sold away and fattened on the Lowlands. In Mid-Wales many thousands of acres of land of this type are let at rentals of about Is. per acre. They possess a fair mineral soil generally deficient in lime, the herbage is rough and poor, but consists in the main of grass ; boggy patches occur in which peat has accumulated. Being grass covered, game is scanty, and the sporting rights of little value; on the other hand, certain commoners' rights often exist though there are few commoners to exercise them. From the evidence afforded by neighbouring farms, it is certain that this land is capable of profitable development, and that much of it is cultivable when the situation, is not too exposed nor the slopes too steep. The difficulty of communication has been the main reason why the land has not been divided into smaller farms and improved. The work of reclamation would begin with the construction of roads. .The better land by the stream course* would be prepared for arable cultivation by drainage and the use of basic slag arid lime, th« steep slopes would be best utilised for forestry, while the higher land would be still left as sheep walks to be improved by the occupier as time went on. After the preliminary operations, what would be aimed at would be the creation of small farms of 150 acres or so of ^e better land, 20-30 acres of which would be under the plough and the rest improved grass, while to each farm would be attached a stretch of sheep walk above the forest. The forestry and the farming would react favourably on one another as the forest would provide winter occupation for the occupiers of the farms and thus derive the labour for planting and maintenance which would be otherwise unobtainable in those districts. The relative proportion the forests would bear to the farms would depend upon the configuration and elevation of each district. It is not possible to frame any general estimate of the expenditure and returns for reclamation of this kind, but as the rentals run as high as 12s. an acre for farms in Wales on precisely the same class of land, and at similar elevations as that which in its unimproved state only commands Is. to Is. 6d. per acre, and the buildings and fences cannot be set at more than £4 an acre on the existing farms, there is a considerable margin for expenditure. The cost of the roads should not be wholly debited to the reclamation, as they will to a large extent be paid for in the increased rating of the area. None but schemes on a large scale, however, ofi^er prospects of ultimate success, and some time would elapse before they became paying propositions. It may be esti- mated that the gross expenditure on the reclaimed land (regarding the afforested portions as a separate enterprise) would be £8-£10 an acre before the farms could be let; and for the first year or two the rents would have to be kept low, not risine to the normal for at least five years. But, allowing for half the land in forest, it would ultimately carry a 'family per SOL acres where it now only carries a family per 1,500, acres. One aspect of reclamation work that has not hitherto been considCTed is that it would afford a con- o.derable volume of employment for large gangs of unskilled labour during the preliminary period of actual reclamation. Most of the work that requires to be done—embankment, drainage, levelling, clearing, <5;c., road-making, and even building — coulfl be done under direction by able-bodied men with no previous experience of the land. For example, regiments awaiting discharge could well undertake such work on a prepared scheme with a small amount of technical direction, the huts that have been erected in so many camps about the country being moved to supply the necessary housing. As the work progressed and became more definitely agricultural, the men with a desire to i-emaiii in the country, and some aptitude for farming, could be selected to become the occupiers of the holdings that had been prepared for farming, and, since the occupiers wotild form definite colonies, some technical guidance could be provided in the earlier years. SI 80 In conclusion, it should be said that the full value of reclamation schemes is" only apparent after the lapse of time, the true capacity of the land is only attained after many years of cultivation, the best uses to which it can be put in any district are only learnt by experience. Many of the advantages also are indirect : the land won is sheer gain to the cultivated area, no previously existing labour is displaced, the increased population provided for, the absolute addition to the production of food and to the wealth of the nation both by the commercial exchanges promoted and the new contribution of rates and taxes. 305. Great attention also has been paid to this subject by Sir Sydney Olivier, K.C.M.G., late Permanent Secretary, and by Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B., Assistant Secretary of the Board of A.griculture and Fisheries, and, although they do not differ substantially from Sir Daniel Hall in opinion either as to the attitude which the State should adopt towards this question, or in their practical conclusions, yet they utter a note of caution to which we think it right to give place in this Report. 306. The following quotations are extracted from a Eeport drawn up by Sir Sydney Olivier and Mr. Middleton in response to a request from our Chairman when he was President of the Board of Agriculture. and Fisheries: — " From the purely agricultural point of view it would bo unwise to regard the adoption of a programme of land reclamation as a matter of primary importance. Having regard to the extent of land that has gone down from arable cultivation during the last 35 years, it is clear that the application of whatever amount of capital and labour may be available to lands already nominally in cultivation would produce, if such application could be effected within, say, five years from the end of the War, a more rapid and substantial increase of the food supply than could the application of a similar amount of capital and labour to any extent of land which it would be practicable within the same period to " reclaim," whether it be estuarine land or land which has remained waste on account of its natural barrenness. " For the purpose of increasing the national food supply, land already in hand has the great advantage over " waste " land that it is already largely capitalised, and, more important still, is abeady equipped and provided with a trained directing staff: the whole of such a staff would have to be provided for added land. An increase of 1 acre in 20 on every farm in England and Wales — ■ requiring in each case a triiling effort of the farmer — would add 550,000 acres to the total under the plough. " From this point of view, therefore, it would not appear economical for the Government to invest large sums of money or to expend much adininistrative energy on a programme of land reclamation, except to a certain extent, as part of a programme for the afforestation of waste poor lands available in large areas and suitable for planting, of which there is unquestionably a very considerable extent. In connection with such a programme of afforestation, a certain amount of agricultural reclamation and settlement might be conveniently and economically effected, and would be advantageous and indeed indispensable. " It has been estimated, on the basis of observations made in connection with the work of the Land Reclamation Society, that (assuming that the Government were to set up an agency to frame proposals for reclaiming all land that offers any possibility of such treatment) it would be easy to find as much as 250,000 acres of suitable land in Great Britain. "If no regard need be had to limitations of practical policy, this estimate is, we think, unneces- sarily moderate. If such limitations must be regarded and attention paid to the category of time, we think it is too high. " A small proportion of the area in mind would consist of estuarine lands, the reclamation of which, if they are properly chosen, may be regarded as likely to add to the food supply and to increase demand for labour : but they are not attractive for residential settlement. " As regards the far greater proportion of the lands viewed as reclaimable, they are sandy or peaty wastes which It would be proposed to dress heavily with lime and complete chemical fertilisers before they can be offered as available for profitable farming. " Though this method has not yet been experimentally proved in England, there is plenty of evidence that the treatment proposed has produced useful farming land in Germany, Denmark, and other North European countries, especially where the principal cereal crop is rye. " If such lands can be made cultivable, they have the advantage that their light soil renders them easy t6 work. The countervailing risks attendant on light soils are familiar and need not here be enlarged upon. " The grounds for confidence in this method viewed from the agricultural standpoint are sufficiently strong to make it appear desirable that the Government should at least embark in a test on a sufficient scale. " The case for a reclamation policy appears from the foregoing considerations to be, from the' agricultural point of view, somewhat speculative, but deserving of a fair and thorough testing. " Without, however, desiring to underrate the agricultural promise of such reclaimed lands, we cannot but consider that it would be misleading to count upon being able to put on the market as much as 250,000 acres of new land which would attract farmers in preference to the land that agri- cultural experience has already led them to exploit. " That experience indicates that the class of land proposed to be dealt with is likely to be the first to fall back into a neglected state under any stress of unfavourable markets. Merely as a physical proposition, the lighter the land the more continuous attention to manuring is required to keep it in fertile condition. There is no sufficient reason to presume that the farmers who would take it up will be more intelligent, thrifty, or persevering than those who have already allowed land, both of this character and of the opposite qualification of being unduly heavy, to fall into ruin. " With all these reservations, however, it may be surmised with a good deal of confidence that as much as 100,000 acres of land might be so advantageously dealt with, and that such an area could be attacked within a reasonable period, say, 2 or 3 jears from the date of the establishment of an organised agency for dealing with the project. And, as a reclamation policy, it may not be extravagant to hold that such an effort would be worth embarking on." 307. From Sir Robert Wright, Chairman of the Scottish Board of Agriculture, we have received a memorandum on Land Reclamation, wherein the opinion is definitely expressed that " There are large areas of land in Scotland suitable for reclamation," and giving a list of the schemes which have actually been under consideration by the Board. 308. In respect of Wales also we have received evidence from our colleague, Mr. C. Bryner Jones, M.Sc, from the Welsh Agricultural Council, from Mr. H. Jones-IJavies, a Development Commissioner and County Land Agent for Carmarthenshire, and from other witnesses, which leave no doubt in our minds that in their opinfon there is much reclamable land in the Principality. 81 309. The difficulties in the way of land reclamation are beyond doubt formidable, but th^ are not, we believe, insuperable. We do not propose to dwell on the technical +W h ^^^' l^ecause they are a matter for experts, and because we agree with Sir Daniel Hall that the advances in engineering science and agricultural chemistry, as shown by the reclama- tions accomplished in Germany and elsewhere, have greatly facilitated the solution of that aspect of the problem. The difficulties to which we must draw special attention may be .described roughly as legal and financial. The following paragraphs are extracted from a memorandum presented to the Eeconstruction Committee by the Development Commissioners : — "I* will ts seen from Sir Daniel Hall's memorandum that the only scheme of reclamation, which is now being conducted by means of the Development Fund, is the improvement of some 200 acres of heath land in Norfolk. The reasons for this small result throw some light on the main obstacles which any large policy of land reclamation will be called upon to overcome. Apart from the legal limitations imposed by Parliament upon the employment of the Development Fund (such as the Commissioners' lack of executive power and the inability of the Treasury to make any advance to individuals or to companies trading for profit), the substantial difficulty is that of acquiring land, however apparently useless it may be, at anything but an exorbitant price, and without prolonged delay. The reclaimable area is often in several hands, and one or other of the parties concerned may be unwilling to sell. There may be rights of pasturage or turbary to be acquired, and it is a lengthy and not always a possible process to estimate the value of -all these claims beforehand. This kind of difficulty, perhaps, reaches its climax in the case of areas formed by accretion from the sea, where the question who is the rightful owner leads the enquirer into a legal domain, itself by no means reclaimed and settled. Even if the owners of a given piece of waste land are known, it is necessary, before the Government can decide to make an offer for it, that a survey should be made and in many cases an engineer's report obtained; without such information the Department often cannot estimate the cost of reclamation or consequently determine whether the scheme is worth pursuing. By the time these enquiries and surveys have been made,- the owner or owners have discovered that the Government, or somebody connected with the Government, wishes to acquire the land, and the price rises accordingly. Purchase under the existing compulsory powers is likely to result in the award of a price which, with the legal costs involved, would destroy any hope of maKing the scheme a commercial success. " A further example of the difficulties attending any attempt at immediate action is afforded by the reclaimable land on the shores of the Wash. From the mouth of the Welland to Gibraltar Point stretches a strip of marsh that has so far accreted from the sea as to be covered with grass, the area of which is variously estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000 acres. This is all " ripe " and can be profitably reclaimed, as the value of the resulting land would be as high as £30 an acre. The title appears to reside in the frontagers, though the Crown (the Duchy of Lancaster and the Board of Trade) claims rights, in p.arts as, representing the Lords of the Manor. At a conference with sundry of the frontagers, it was made clear that, though the scheme as a whole would be profitable, no single frontager is likely to attempt any reclamation. Many of the frontagers are small men, and the enclosure of a single area of even 200 to 300 acres would involve extra ei^ense and be subject to additional dangers. The frontagers would accept a general scheme which would give them the land subject to a rate to pay interest and sinking fund on the cost, they would also agree to the allocation of a certain area of the recovered land to the Crown or other authority carrying out the work. No authority exists to whom the scheme might be entrusted. If the frontagers could agree to promote a private Act constituting a body analogous to a Drainage Board, the necessary authority would be formed but the procedure would be slow, and the frontagers are unlikely to come together to provide for the necessary preliminary expenditure. There is no possibility under present conditions of getting to work on this obviously profitable scheme should a call for employment come at the close of the War. " It will be gathered that in the Commissioners' opinion any large policy of land reclamation pre-supposes some reform of the law which will enable a Government authority to acquire land cheaply. It may be added that it is almost as essential to find means of preventing Icng delays before possession can be obtained even of land of which the prices does not go to arbitration. Under present conditions there will probably be an interval of about two years between the date when a reclaiming authority decides to reclaim a given area of land and the time when it can enter into possession and start work. It need scarcely be pointed out how this fact affects the question of reclamation works as a means of providing employment in a season of bad trade." 310. Sometimes the price asked for the land is apparently unreasonably high; often the cost and delay in obtaining possession by the process of the Lands Clauses Acts is prohibitive; and over and over again there is such a multiplicity of owners, not one of whom could by any possibility carry out the work alone, and of commoners or others, interested in the area proposed to be reclaimed, that no existing authority can deal with it within any reasonable stretch of time or except at a cost which would preclude all chance of economic success from the operation.. 311. In our judgment a oase for reclamation and for the intervention of the State in effecting it has been made out. We are generally in agreement with the following extracts from the conclusions of Sir Sydney Olivier and Mr. Middleton : — " We consider that, under present conditions, it is not safe to rely on wide generalisations, and that no quantitative programme of land reclamation can be formulated until an agency has been constituted to take up and investigate the merits of each proposition that presents itself. " If and vhen a reclamation agency is established (which might be done on lines similar to those which must be followed in establishing an agency for afforestation), the question whetter any particular area of land should be compulsorily taken for reclamation or for afforestation combined with agricultural settlement ought properly to be considered with regard to that area by a comparison of the return that it promises to such reclamation with what the owner can claim as its utility under existing conditions. If the balance is then judged to be in favour of a project of reclamation, the question whether that project can be undertaken will have to be decided on further examination of what will be the cost of extinguishing or expropriating the existing private interests in the land. " Before anything at all can be done, Parliament must set up such an agency, and determine whether it will give power to take lands compulsorily at its own discretion or only after a form of arbitration on the merits of each project. " Parliament must also decide what factors of value in cases of compulsory acquisition are to be taken into account in assessing compensation in addition to the present value for cultivation or planting purposes. . " If such a competent agency is established, it should be enabled, within proper precautionary restrictions, to embark upon one or more schemes of experimental reclamation and cultivation of barren land on a fairly large scale." 19792 F 82 Acquisition of Land for Reclamation Purposes. 312. We have been in communication with the Forestry Sub-Committee of the Eecon- struction Committee as to the future method of acquiring land by public authorities; we are in substantial agreement with them, and believe that our views have already been communicated to you. It will be sufficient, therefore,' if we repeat here that we have joined with the Forestry Sub-Committee in recommending that a special Sub-Committee of the Reconstruction Committee should at once be constituted to consider the different purposes for which land is likely to be required by the State or by Local Authorities, and to report as to the method by which land so required should be obtained and the basis which should be adopted for compensating the owners. This Sub-Committee should be composed of a few persons particularly qualified to advise on this very technical subject, » and we have recommended that their terms of reference should be sufficiently wide to enable them to advise, if they think fit, a new procedure, not in the form of amendments to the Lands Clausfes Act', but applicable only to cases in which the land was being acquired by public authorities for public purposes. 313. The subject of the employment of Sailors and soldiers on demobilisation is not part of our reference, but, as reclamation has been freely spoken of in this connection, we think it only right to state that Sir Sydney Olivier and Mr. Middleton feel grave doubts whether reclamation can be largely utilised as a field of employment for demobilised sailors and soldiers, and that they point out that in any event there could be no hope for the success of such a scheme without long and elaborate previous preparation and organisation. Drainage : Existing Acts. 314. We turn now to drainage, arterial and local, which, with the kindred subject of sea-defence, are matters of vital interest to landowners and farmers in many localities. There is much legislation dealing with this subject in a local aspect, affecting only limited areas or parts of a river, and often relating solely to one part of the problem, e.g., by providing for the maintenance of the banks of a river without any provision for the maintenance of the bed of the river in a condition to reduce to a minimum the pressure on the banks. 315. The general legislation on the subject goes back to the Bill of Sewers of 1531, which, as amended by the Sewers Acts of 1831, 1841, and 1849, to a great extent regulates the powers of Commissioners of Sewers and Drainage Boards at the present time. Though there are on the Statute Book a conside^ble number of Acts dealing with land drainage, it may suffice to refer only to the Land Drainage Acts, 1847, 1861, and 1914. 316. Land Drainage Act, 1847 (10 ^ 11 Vict. c. 38).— The greater part of the Act deals with facilities for the execution by landowners of works of drainage or warping for the improvement of their land, but these provisions do not appear to have proved to be useful and no action has been taken under them for many years. 317. The Act provides also (section 14) that where, by reason of the neglect of an occupier of lands to maintain or join in maintaining the banks, or to cleanse and scour or join in cleansing and scouring the channels of boundary drains, streams, or watercourses, injury is caused to other land, the proprietor or occupier of such other land may, after giving the prescribed notice, execute the necessary works and recover the expenses, or contribution thereto, from the party in default. The Board of Agriculture found that the existence of this provision was almost unknown, and therefore issued a leaflet which is believed to have resulted in some use being made of the provision, but even if this should be done more frequently it would go- but a little way to secure the proper drainage of a low-lying district. 318. Land Drainage Act, 1861 (24 Sf 25 Vict. c. 133). — The main purposes for which Commissions of Sewers are appointed by the Crown and elected Land Drainage Boards are constituted under the aboye Act of 1861 (which first introduced the representative principle in these matters), are the making, maintaining, and improving of walls, embankments, and other defences of lands against inundation of the sea or overflow of rivers; and the maintenance and improvement of arterial drainage, that is, sewers or watercourses which carry off superfluous surface water; and the scouring thereof and removal of obstructions to the flow of water therein. 319. The Act of 1861 extends the powers of Commissioners of Sewers with regard to making new works, purchasing land, and borrowing money for the purposes of the exercise of their powers, the period for repayment being limited to 30 years. The Act also enables indi- vidual obligations for the maintenance of walls, banks, or sewers to be extinguished by commutation, thus paving the way for their maintenance by the Commissioners at the expense of the whole district benefited. 320. But the part of the Act which has been most effective is Part II., which enables the Board of Agriculture to constitute an elective Drainage Board for any area requiring a combined system of drainage, with all the powers of a Commission of Sewers. Advantage has been taken of this in many instances, but it would seem that the simplicity and comparative cheapness of the procedure has had the undesirable result of Drainage Boards being con- stituted for areas of quite inconsiderable extent, without any supervising authority to harmonise the operations of the various Boards. 321. But there are many more districts which were constituted Drainage Areas under Private Acts of Parliament previous to the passing of the 1861 Act. In some instances not only do these private Acts contain unsatisfactory and inefficient provisions, but interested persons are specially barred from being on the Boards of Management, which is totally opposed in principle to present ideas and to the spirit of the 1^61 Act, 83 322. Moreover, mtich of the legislation wliicli has been passed is ludicrously ineffective because a medley of different sets of Commissioners have been appointed to manage different sections of an area drained by a single river with the result that, holding widely different views of duty or policy, the action of one Commission has been rendered nugatory by the inaction of another. In connection with the area drained by the Ouse (Norfolk) there are, we are informed, 41 different authorities, a legislative feat worthy of a place in a Gilbert and Sullivan opera but cruelly disasti'ous to the people and agriculture of the fen country. The consequence is that great damage has been done to agriculture in recent years by recurrent floods and that the question is one clamorous for settlement. 323. The late Lord Thring, acting on behalf of the County Councils Association, intro- duced a Floods Prevention Bill into the House of Lords in 1898, and since then the same Bill has been reintroduced on several occasions in both Houses, but it has never passed. The matter was taken up again by the Central Chamber of Agriculture in 1904 and representations made to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, but no legislation has resulted except the temporary Land Drainage Act, 1914, under which the Board may by Provisional Order con- stitute bodies for the construction of land drainage works and give them certain powers. It is desirable that this Act, though it is insufficient to deal with all the problems of land drainage, should be continued in operation until the whole matter can be dealt with by Parliament in a comprehensive matter. New Reclamation and Drainage Authorities Recommended. 324. In his evidence before us Dr. E. J. Russell, D.Sc, Director of the Eothampsted Experimental Station, laid great stress on the immense importance to agriculture of this question of drainage, and suggested " that for a large area, in certain cases a whole watershed, a " drainage authority should be established which should be responsible for the drainage in the " same way as the County Authority looks after the roads." 325. Land liable to damage from floods may be classified either as land liable to overflow water from rivers and streams due to faulty or inefficient banks, or to the absence of any banks, or as land liable to flood owing to the want of an efficient watercourse to take the water away. Similarly fields are waterlogged either because the drainage system has got out of order, or because there is no drainage system. Almost every witness who has come before us has raised this question in its narrower or wider aspect, and we have no doubt that the evil is very real and cries for a remedy, but it is clear to us that drainage and reclamation are two questions which merge into each other. We recommend that a Reclamation and Land Drainage Authority be established for each of the three Kingdoms as a new and separate division of the Department of Agriculture uiider the immediate control of its Parliamentary chief. 326. These authorities, which in each case might consist of two or three carefully selected Commissioners, should be specially charged with the duty of making a survey of the country from the point of view of possible reclamation and of obtaining the areas suitable for the purpose. They should further be empowered to obtain detailed surveys of selected areas, to -prepare schemes for dealing with them, and to obtain such engineering estimates and other reports as would enable them to form an opinion on the prospects of the undertaking as a commercial proposition. Having obtained the consent of the Treasury to a scheme so justified, they should be the Authority to carry out the reclamation or to delegate it to some other approved body, to which end they should be given power to acquire the land compulsorily and speedily so that the work should not be delayed until all the legal processes had been finally exhausted. 327. If the ownership of the land in question is in one or two well-known hands, the owners should be given the opportunity of doing all the work themselves. If they are not able or willing to do so, they should be given the opportunity of contributing part of the cost and of receiving a proportional share of the profit of reclamation, aild the same opportunity should be given where there are a larger number of definitely ascertained owners among whom com- bination for the iexecution of the work is impossible. Rights of commonage, if not satisfied by a money payment, could be exchanged for equivalent rights after the reclamation had been effected. Otherwise the Authorities themselves should prepare the plans and carry out the schemes. In England and Wales operations could be financed by the " Woods and Forests," the manage- ment of the agricultural estates of which we have advised should be absorbed into the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the land when reclaimed could be added to and held as part of the Crown lands. Isolated plots of land, inconvenient to hold or manage separately, could be sold to the adjacent owner, such as a frontager in the case of an estuarine reclamation. There are also many isolated plots of land, which could profitably be reclaimed, but in respect of which in England and Wales each operation would be scarcely large enough to be undertaken by the Authority. In those cases, if satisfied from the results of the survey that the scheme was a sound one and economically profitable, the Authority could empower the County Council to carry it out, if it wished to do so, and to utilise the land for small holdings. As the Scottish Board of Agriculture is itself charged with the duty of creating small holdings in Scotland, it would probably be convenient that the reclamation of these isolated plots of land also should, if suitable for small holdings, be in Scotland executed by the Reclamation and Draiuage Authority. Such schemes could be financed. by the same methods as are now authorised by statute for the purchase of existing farms. 328. In the mountainous part of Great Britain in the course of years an important addition to the cultivated area of the country could be made, as in the past, by small reclamations from the hillsides made gradually and from time to time by the occupiers of the 19792 . Ffi 84 adjacent farms. In paragraph 283 we suggest an amendment to the first schedule of thei Agri- cultural Holdings Act which we think would tend to encourage this process. 329. The Authorities should have the power to constitute a local authority to take charge of the land drainage of a county or of a special land drainage district, or for a watershed, or for the whole course of a river, with full powers to execute all works necessary for uninterrupted drainage, and to levy rates on all property definitely benefiting from such drainage. So far as possible the Agricultural Committees of the counties concerned should be utilised in forming these local land drainage authorities. 330. It will sometimes happen that some special work, such as the removal of a serious obstruction at the mouth of a river, will be greater than the local authority can bear. In such cases it would be reasonable that the Reclamation and Drainage Authority of the country concerned should be empowered to apply to the Development Commission for a loan or grant for the execution of this special work, and that the Development Commission, if satisfied that the scheme is a good one, should give it. 331. In respect of all minor works of drainage the Agricultural Committees of the Counties should be made responsible for the general condition of drainage within their counties. They should have power to insist that the necessary watercourses and ditches are kept clear of obstructions, and where outfalls do not esist, to order the outfalls to be made. If their directions are not attended to, they should have power to carry out the work themselves, and to recover the cost from the defaulting owner or tenant. It should be within their discretion to delegate their power of supervision and direction, but not of execution, to Rural District, Urban District, or Parish Councils. At present there is a deficiency of knowledge or of accumulated experience in these islands both in respect of reclamation and of drainage, and the value of that which would be acquired, if the Reclamation and Drainage Authorities recom- mended by us are constituted, would be very important to agriculture. Deee Forests. 332. We have considered the question of deer forests from the only points of view with which we are concerned, the increased production of food and the increase of thie rural popula- tion. Sir Robert Wright, Chairman of the Scottish Board of Agriculture, informed us that, according to figures with which he had been supplied, there were in the year 1883, 1,710,000 acres of land devoted exclusively to deer forests and sport in the crofting counties of Scotland; that in 1912 this area had increased to 2,932,000 acres, and that outside the crofting counties there were 668,000 acres, making a total in 1912 of 3,600,000. In 1895, 320,000 acres of deer forest were scheduled by the Royal Commission on Deer Forests as being suitable for ciiltiva- tion, and Sir Robert Wright thought it probable that the area had considerably increased since that date. He also thought that some of the more exposed of the mountain land scheduled might be kept profitably under wedder stock, while the lower land might be suitable for ewe and lamb farming. He did not think that the production of- food from the land above the 1,000 feet level could be estimated at a high value, and attached more importance to the con- version of the land below that level into small holdings. 333. Mr. Norman Reid, a member of the Scottish Land Commission, emphasised the opinion that mere altitude ought not to be taken as an indication that the land should properly be used for deer. The Deer Forests Commission of 1895 had looked at the question from the point of view of the small holder, and not from that of the greatest economic production. He agreed that there was land suited for deer but not for sheep, but he thought that a great deal of land now in deer forest would carry sheep, either in large farms or preferably under the Club System, and sometimes store cattle, or could profitably be planted. In his opinion land under sheep not only produced much more food and wool than under deer, but also carried a larger population. He agreed that a reason given" for the creation of deer forest's was that sheep farming had become unprofitable in the period of agricultural depression, and that the matter was complicated by the pfreat cost to the land owner of taking over the sheep at their acclimatised value, but he.thought the sheep rents had formerly been too high. He considered that the rents obtainable from sheep, combined with grouse, would compare favourably with the rents which had been commanded by deer forests, and that consequently there would be no loss to the counties in the assessment to rates by reason of the change. With regard to the gradual reintroduction of sheep, he anticipated no difiiculty if the land were thrown open to them. They would increase and spread over the new land from the old land, thus obviating the necessity of any large and immediate outlay of capital in stocking. 334. Lord Lovat said that in the Highlands too much land was devoted to deer, but that there were serions difficulties in converting deer forests to other uses, and that, methods of sub- stitution must be carefully studied by persons who thoroughly' understood those difficulties. It was not easy to secure tenants for high crofts and farms. The grazing value of Highland pasture had been deteriorated by the absence of cattle and the presence of sheep and deer, and draining had been greatly neglected. Lord Lovat said that, from the point of view of rent, land devoted to deer produced about five times as much as when let for sheep, that in the Highlands 40 to 60 per cent, of the rates was derived from land assessed on its sporting value, and that, as the rates were already very high, any sudden change in the incidence of rating would be a very serious matter. In his opinion deer forests on th'e whole carried a slightly larger population than sheep farms, but they produced much less food, and, of course, no wool. The reason for the conversion of so inuch land from sheep farms to deer forests since 1892 was in the first. place 85 the assurance of tlie higher rent, and in the second place the very large sums which owners had had to pay to sheep farmers, who surrendered their tenancies, for the acclimatisation value o± the sheep and their determination not to be so caught again. 335. Lord Lovat stated that deer forests could only be converted into sheep farms by extending the sheep runs from existing sheep farms or crofter grazings. To stock isolated torests with sheep would involve an enormous mortality among the unacclimatised stock. Moreover the amount of forest land which could be converted into sheep farms was strictly limited by the amount of wintering available in Scotland and by its comparative proximity, in his opinion the solution, of the problem lay in forestry, combined with small holdings, and he considered that the higher and less profitable land should remain under deer except where it would carry Highland cattle, and that it was very important that experiments should be carried out to ascertain what further possibilities there were in the country for the wintering both of sheep and cattle. 336. We have carefully considered this evidence and we are of opinion that for reasons of national security and welfare it is necessary that as much of the land now devoted to deer forests as can be utilised for agriculture or forestry should be so utilised. Some of this land can be used for small holdings, some of it for planting, some of it for sheep runs, some possibly for store cattle, and some of it had best remain deer forest. But it is not possible by any generalisation to define the land which should be used for each of these purposes. We recom- mend that the investigation of this matter should be the work of a special branch of the survey already recommended by us in Part 1 of this Report. 337. The restoration of sheep farms would give a large increase of the meat supply and of the production of wool, but the process can only be slow and difficult owing to the cost of acclimatising new stocks of sheep. Therefore, we agree with Mr. Eeid and Lord Lovat that the process should be gradually accomplished by the extension of existing stocks. It would be a great advantage if stocks of store cattle also aould be carried on some of the forest areas, and we think it right to draw attention to Lord Lovat' s suggestion, that the question of wintering arrangements should be thoroughly examined. 338. We are of opinion that Lord Lovat's caution in respect of the effect on the rates of the substitution of sheep farms for deer forests is justified. There will, therefore, be some advantage in the gradual nature of the process necessitated by the difficulties of acclimatisation. 339. In conclusion we desire to express the opinion that the surest way of increasing the production and the population of the Highlands will be by the adoption by the State of a national policy of afforestation and by the intermingling of plantations and small holdings. Elimination of Pests and Weeds. 340. The Irish Department of Agriculture has power in respect of the eradication of weeds and the suppresion of plant diseases and a control over the sales of seeds which are not possessed by the English or Scottish Boards of Agriculture. It has power to enter all premises where seeds are sold and take samples; it can test these seeds at its Seed Testing Station and take effective measures to prevent the sale of seeds which are found to be impure. The Irish Depart- ment has also the power to punish a farmer who permits certain scheduled weeds to grow on his land, provided that the County Coimcil of the county^ where the farm is situated has consented to the application of the Act giving these powers to the county in question. The Department does not use its own inspectors in dealing with these cases, but acts through the Agricultural Committee of the County Council. We understand that it is satisfied with the powers it possesses except that it has not, but should have, power to increase the number of weeds contained in the schedule. We recommend that this power should be given to it. The eradication of vermin does not appear to be a troublesome question in Ireland. 341. No attempt has yet been made to deal with animal pests, such as rabbits, rats and sparrows, or with plant- weeds, in a systematic manner in England and Wales or Scotland, and we are behind some of the Dominions and some foreign countries in this respect. We recom- mend that there should be legislation to prohibit the sale of grass and clover seeds without a guarantee of purity and of germination and of country of origin, and that power should be given to the English and Scottish Boards of Agriculture to enter all premises where such seeds are sold and to take test samples, and to prosecute, when the sample is found not up to standard.* The ultimate authority should in all cases rest with the Boards of Agriculture, but they should be allowed to act through the Agricultural Committees of the Counties. The Board of Agriculture should further be empowered to make and publish schedules of weeds injurious to agriculture or horticulture, and power should be given to the Agricultural Com- mittees of the Counties to inspect land, on which weeds are allowed to flourish, and to order the occupier, including any local authority, to destroy them. It should be made an offence to neglect or disobey an order so given, and in case of negligence or disobedience the Agricultural Committee should have power to summon the offender, or to enter on his land and destroy the weeds and recover the expense of the operation from him. These powers may appear drastic but it is really intolerable that a bad farmer, or a careless landowner or local authority, should be allowed to grow great crops of weeds, the seeds of which are carried by the wind all over the surrounding farms, and no milder powers will in our opinion be effectual to abate the nuisance and the injury to food production consequent upon it. 342. Peats such as rabbits, rats and sparrows should be dealt with on the same principle. The Boards of Agriculture should be empowered to make and publish schedules of such animals injurious to agriculture, and the Agricultural Committees of the counties should have power • Since this paragraph was drafted the Testing of Seeds Order, 1917, regulating the sale and exposure for sale of seeds, has been made by the Pood Controller under the Defence of the Kealm Regulations. 19792 ^ * 86 to take action in any case where those pests are injurious to agriculture and so to food produc- tion. They should be enabled to organise common action in the county to compass the destruc- tion of these pests and to charge the expenditure on the rates of the whole county or of certain parishes in the county as the case may be. They should be empowered to order an occupiei" to destroy the pests issuing from his land, and it should be made an offence to neglect or disobey such an order. In case of default they should be empowered to summons the offender and to enter on his land and destroy the pests themselves and to recover the expense of the operation from him. In the case of damage done to crops by an excessive preservation of game they should have power, after satisfying themselves of the circumstances of the case, to order the game preserver to abate the nuisance and the penalty for failure in compliance should be a severe one. 343. If the Agricultural Committee of one county has a grievance against the Agricul- tural Committee of another county on the ground that its agriculture is being injured by weeds or pests emanating from an adjoining county, and that after complaint made no redress has been afforded, it should have a right of appeal to the Board of Agriculture, whose decision should be final. 344. Much damage is sometimes done to agriculture in a county by pests, such particularly as rats and sparrows, which are not bred within its confines but which issue forth at certain seasons of the year from neighbouring towns or cities, especially in the case of rats from great sea ports. It is not fair to agriculture that this should be so, and we think that those towns and cities should be made responsible for doing all in their power to abate the nuisance, and that the Local Government Boards for England and Wales and for Scotland should endeavour to find a remedy for a very real grievance. 345. We are convinced that the method we have proposed, that is through action of a public authority, is the right way of dealing wUJi this problem. The only alternative, which has ever been suggested is to allow one private individual to enter upon the land of another for the purpose of remedying a grievance of which he complains. Few men are impartial judges in their own cause, and in any event friction and ill-feeling are such certain results of any such action that comparatively few men would care to take advantage of the privilege if it were granted to them, and the remedy would therefore prove ineffective. In our opinion the Agricultural Committees of the Counties, if constituted according to our recommendation, will be exactly such bodies as can be safely entrusted with the powers proposed. They should be enabled, if they think fit, to act through District or Parish Councils, or to appoint officers of their own for these purposes. Sttpplt of Artificial Manures. 346. _ We have endeavoured to ascertain what will be the position after the war of the supply of artificial manures for agricultural purposes, and we have summarised the result of our enquiries in Appendix XIII. Unless the estimates, which we have received, are falsified by the shortage of shipping or by the formation of combinations or otherwise, the position will be satisfactory. Weights and Measures. 347. British agriculture has suffered from a minor, but at the same time very real dis- ability, in the extraordinary diversity of weights and measures applying in different parts ol the country to the sale and purchase of agricultural produce. Three systems of weights and measures have legal authority in the United Kingdom, (a) the Imperial Standard Weights and Measures, (6) the Cental (100 lbs.) with the imperial pound as unit, and (c) the Metric System, of which the first named is the more generally recognised; but apart from these, local or customary measures, without legal authority but in common use and differing from each other to a greater or less degree, are found in almost eyery county or district. The result is confusion, misunderstanding, and ground for minor litigation, which are detrimental to the industry, and which place the producer at an obvious disadvantage in his dealings with those more experienced in market operations. 348. In no other industry does such a chaos of different units, such a multiplication of divergent standards, exist. In some cases their origin is lost in antiquity, in some they were introduced by settlers from abroad, while in others they were based on local custom, reasonable and convenient enough, perhaps, at a time when communication between districts was difficult and meagre, but entirely out of place since modern facilities of transit have opened every market to the producer. There are, at the present time, something like 25 local measures or weights used in the sale of wheat alone ; while 12 different bushels, 3 different hundredweights, 7 different gallons, 13 different pounds, 10 different stones, and 9 different tons, are known to exist. 349. As an indication of the confusion caused by this plethora of standards, the following extracts from a discussion on the subject at-the Farmers' Club, in 1911, may be of interest : — " I bought some seed wheat a little while ago at Birmingham, and I thought I was buying it at 18 stone. I found out afterwards that it included the sacks, and I only got 17 stones 10 lbs. Every sack of wheat was 4 lbs. short, but I could not say anything, because that was the standard on the Birmingham Market. I went on to Stratford-on-Avon and found the farmers were selling wheat at . . . per bag, which is three bushels. Anyone taking the ' Mark Lane Express,' who is not quite up to the game, would be absolutely dumbfounded to see what we have to go through in order to find out the price per ton at which any marketable agricultural produce is quoted." 87- And— a timJ''irt!*™ '" which I am interested, I found we had to sell milk by the barn gallon which for I mrsured7w??X' ^ ^^7^^' represented two imperial gallons. Being doubtful on the point' ba« gallon but I fSf^! ^f ^"tt ^T^ *^^* '^°* """^^ ^"'^ *1^"« 2-125 imperial gallons t^o the Sracfuiy'gtuyro'L'aJtSns ■' ' "^""^ "^' ^"^^'"'^ ""' ''''' "'^^ ^^« ^-^^* ^'^^ -^^ i* -- And — And, again, — confled LTb^^'?^*' -"^il^ '°^!i'" ^"^"^ commercial operation he undertakes owing to our chaotic and conrusea system oi weights and measures. u '^^?" ^J^®,^eed for uniformity has long been recognised as pressing by leaders of agri- cultural thought. In 1869 the Council of the Central Chamber of Agriculture passed a resolution in tayour of all agricultural produce being sold by weight only, with the cental of lUU lbs. as the standard; and it was largely due to the movement inaugurated by this resolution that the cental was made a legal standard of weight by Order of Council in 1879. This con- cession, however, had little effect in securing uniformity; it neither enforced a single standard nor placed any restriction upon the employment of customary units; indeed, an effective commentary on the difficulty experienced in making a break from long-established custom is attorded by the following report which was unanimously adopted by the Central Chamber of Agriculture as recently as 5th June, 1917. It will be seen that the recommendation originally- made nearly 50 years ago is again put forward in almost identical terms : — " (a) That the present legal standard pound be the unit of weight, and that the existing legal «ental of 100 lbs. be substituted for the hundredweight; 20 such centals to be the ton of 2,000 lbs. " (b) That transactions for sales or purchases of agricultural produce and requisites other than liquids, but including milk sold wholesale, shall be by weight under "this Standard and System. " (c) That all official quotations shall be given on the basis of the pound and cental and that the Press be urged to adopt the same basis for all market quotations. " (d) That Section 8 of the Corn Eeturns Act, 1882,* be repealed and that the Tithe average be adjusted in future upon the cental basis. " (e) That a provisional period of two years be allowed before the new system shall be compulsory, after which all contracts under any other standards shall be unenforceable except for foreign trading." 351. While we are at one with the Central Chamber of Agriculture in looking upon the simplification of the weights and measures used in agriculture as an urgent necessity, we recognise that the subject has a wider and more national aspect than the requirements of a single industry. We hesitate, therefore, to make any exact recommendations as to the means by which the needs of agriculture should be met, preferring to suggest that the whole question of imperial weights and measures should be made the subject of enquiry by a Special Sub-Committee of the Eeconstruction Committee, which would be in a position to examine representatives of every profession, trade and industry concerned, and correlate the requirements of the country as a whole. We, therefore, confine our recommendations to the following general principles : — (a) A uniform standard of weight should be laid down on which alone sales and purchases of agricultural produce, other than liquids and certain market-garden produce, should be legal. (5) A uniform standard of measure for liquids should be similarly laid down. (c) A uniform standard of number for certain market-garden produce, regularly sold by number, should similarly be laid down. (d) Official and other market quotations should be required to be in the terms of the standards laid down. (e) The several standards should be selected so as to cause as little interference as possible with existing methods. (/) A certain transition period should be fixed, at the end of .which the new standards should be recognised. Transport. 352. The dependence of agriculture on the ability to place produce readily and cheaply on the market and to obtain manures, implements, coal and other farm necessities with equal facility, is so immediate and direct that no report upon the reconstruction of agriculture would be complete without reference to this important subject. It is interesting to note that the great renaissance of agriculture in the middle of last century followed the introduction of railways, and was to a great extent made possible by the opening out of new markets which accompanied their spread throughout the country. The present revival in agriculture has synchronised with *Note. — Section 8 or Corn Returns Act, 1882. In the weekly summary of quantities and prices each sort of British corn shall be computed with reference to the imperial bushel. An inspector of corn returns shall convert into such imperial bushel all returns made to him in any other measure or by weight or by a weighed measure, and in the case of weight or weighed measure shall convert the same at the late of sixty imperial pounds for every bushel of wheat, fifty imperial pounds for every bushel of barley, and thirty-nine imperial pounds for every bushel of oats. 19792 F i 88 a further development in transport by means of tke mechanically driven road car, and it remains to be seen whether the introduction of the motor may not exercise a corresponding effect upon the agriculture of to-day. It will be necessary to consider later the place which will be occupied by the motor in agricultural transport, and whether it will best act in combination with or, to some extent, in displacement of existing means of transport. It may be also that the development of aircraft may eventually help in the solution of the problem of agricultural transport. 353. The general question naturally divides itself under two heads: — (a) facilities for, (o) cost of , transport. Dealing first with (a) facilities for transport, this again may conveniently be sub-divided into those where the distances to be covered are respectively long and short,, ordinary railways and canals coming within the former and light railways and motor services within the latter category. 354. We deal with the whole question at some length in Appendix XIV. to which we woulti refer those of our readers who are keenly interested in the subject. It will suffice here if we summarise the result of our conclusions. 355. The canals are little used for the conveyance of agricultural produce or of agricultural requirements other than town manure. There are no stations on the canal banks where goods can be stored and the farm roads do not lead to the canals. It is not possible to define with exact precision the different spheres of activity of light railways and of motor services. In one district, where the farm buildings are accessible by good roads to motor vehicles, a motor service may best meet the need of the locality. In another district, where the farm buildings generally lie off the made roads and are accessible only by unmade and often steeply inclined tracks, a light railway may be preferable. 356. It does not appear that the rates and services provided by our railway companies in respect of internal traffic compare unfavourably with those given to producers on the Continent for similar traffic. Whether there are grounds for the complaint that the English companies favour the foreign through traffic at the expense of home traffic was the subject of a Report by a Depart- mental Committee set up by the President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1906 (Cd. 2959). The Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, lays down that " no railway company shall make, nor shall any Court or Commissioners sanction any difference in the tolls, rates or charges made for, or any difference in the treatment of home and foreign merchandise, in respect of the same or similar services," and the Committee in question found that no deviation on the part of the railway companies from this rule had been substantiated, and drew attention to the need for better combination on the part of English growers, if they were to be in a position to claim similar facilities to those accorded to their foreign competitors. Clearly, however, even the most careful organisation would not as a rule enable local traffic to be offered to the companies in the same bulk as that arriving in shiploads from the Continent, and we, therefore, strongly endorse the suggestion made by Mr. Haygarth Brown in his Minority Report that to charge rates for foreign produce lower in proportion to the cost of the services rendered than the corresponding rates for home produce should be looked upon as preferential treatment, and that H.M. Government should take the steps necessary to enforce the law as to undue preference. 357. In our opinion the need for better facilities of transport of every description in rural districts is urgent and immediate, if agriculturists are to be placed in a position to take full advantages of the recommendations we have made for the development of their industry, and are to be enabled to devote themselves to the cultivation of their holdings in the fullest degree. But the matter is not one for the agriculturist alone; the industrial penetration of the countryside, which in some parts has been a feature of recent years, and which, with the im- provement of telephonic and other means of communication and the growth of local rates in urban districts, seems likely to develop further in the future, makes it of a far wider national importance. The necessity for a prompt and ready delivery of milk, vegetables, and other agricultural produce, in such districts, as well as for the transport of goods manufactured or required by such communities, adds to the importance of the subject, and we recommend that the whole question should be made the subject of detailed enquiry and report by a Special Sub- Committee of the Reconstruetion Committee set up for that purpose. Conclusion. 358. We have completed our task to the best of our ability, but shall permit ourselves certain further reflections before finally quitting it. Since Part I. of our Report was sent in Parliament has passed the Corn Production Act, in which, it embodied the three principles for which we contended, a guarantee of the price of wheat and oats to secure stability of conditions for all who live, from the land, a minimum wage to ensure his fair share of the profits of agriculture to the agricultural labourer or farm servant, a power in reserve to the State to influence the use of land to the greatest national advantage. ' But the Corn Production Act has been passed aa a war measure, and is therefore a temporary Act. We must renew our assurance with all the earnestness at our command that, unless after the war the principles of that Act are (with the necessary adjustment of details to the values and conditions of the time) embodied in a permanent statute, there can be no hope of the people of the United Kingdom becoming emancipated from dependence on supplies of foodstuffs brought from overseas, or of the increase of our rural population. And, again, we must emphasise the fact that Parts 1 and 2 of our Report are hot separable policies. They are strictly interdependent and mutually essential parts of one policy. Without the aid of the measures recommended 89 in- Part 2 the stability of tke industry of agriculture and the authority of the State secured by Part 1 can only produce partial resiilts. "Without the armour provided by Part 1, the measures of reconstruction recommended in Part 2 are foredoomed to impotence. iJo9. It cannot be too often re-affirmed that the recommendations we have made have never been asked for by landowners or farmers, and that they have been made exclusively in the national interest and not in that of any individuals or class of individuals. We have believed that elementary considerations of national insurance demand that this country should become self-supporting in the matter of foodstu:5s in the event of any future emergency, and we have shown how this can be done. ■ We have believed that it is an urgent problem of national welfare to increase the rural population, to give it a fuller sense of social unity, and to open out to the , agricultural labourer the opportunity of intellectual a^d material advancement, and we • have . also shown how this can be done. But no one will be- justified in picking out those of our recommendations with which he happens to agree, and- in rejecting those which do not happen to fit in with his personal opinions, and then in expecting the mutilated policy to bear fruit. It was not our wish to send in Part 1 of our Eeport separately; we did so because we were so requested by the Government ; but as a result we have had the advantage of seeing the criticisms made upon it, and we have endeavoured to profit by those which have fully accepted the assumption of our reference and have dealt with our recommendations in no mere spirit of destruction. 360. We have been asked how great an increase of our home-grown food supply is necessary in the interests of national security and how great an increase is possible? Our reply is that in any future crisis like the present war this country must be wholly independent . of oversea supplies of corn, potatoes, or dairy produce, and that it must be less dependent on overseas supplies of meat than it. is now, and that, if the measures we recommend are con- tinuously carried out, the dependence of this country on overseas supplies of food will become- continuously less during the years of peace, with the result that on the outbreak of war, and by carrying out the plans of the Board of Agriculture carefully matured in times of peace, specifying the crops to be grown, the country would become self-sufficient in the food stufEs named after the first subsequent harvest in respect of the cultivations for which these plans had been carried out. With sufficient land under the plough and in good heart this is a perfectly practicable policy. Without a sufficient. increase of arable land it is not practicable. To cover the interval before the first harvest it would be a wise completion of the policy of insurance to have a store of grain in national granaries. But it may be urged would it not be a better and simpler plan to rely on national granaries altogether and not to attempt the policy of the plough? The answer is that it would cost more to establish national gianaries to supply the United Kingdom during a three or four years war than the policy we recommend will cost, and that sole reliance on a granary policy would not only bring with it no increase of the rural population, but a certain further diminution, resulting from the certain further con- version of millions of acres from arable to grass'. 361. Again the ques-tion has been asked whether the guarantees are intended to make arable cultivation more profitable than grass cultivation, or whether, they are needed simply to establish a position under which arable cultivation shall be reasonably profitable and under which farmers can be fairly asked to adopt it, whether other methods are more profitable or not. We intended to make it clear, and believe that we did so, that the answer is the latter and not the former. In this connection also we are asked wherein will consist the anticipated increase in the cost of production after the war. The answer is that so far as we can foresee the cost of all the goods that the farmer buys in the process of his industry will be greater after the war than it was before. It is also quite certain that in many parts of the country the wages of the labour he employs will cost him much more than before the war. It is argued that this is not so, and that when the Southern labourer receives a good wage his labour will become so much more efficient that it will cost the farmer no more than it did before. That this will be true in the long run we do not doubt, but neither do we doubt that it cannot be true during a transition period. Every man's method and style of work become fixed long before he reaches middle age, and to suppose that an agricultural labourer, or anyonb else, can suddenly change his whole method and style of work, because his wages have been raised from 17*. to 25s. a week, seems to us a delusion. The proof of the working of the Corn Production Act will be of the greatest value as affording the experience, in the light of which the permanent rate of the guarantee of wheat and oats can be fixed, and a definite period set to the landowners and farmers and agricul- tural labourers within which they will be expected to have rendered the greatest service in their power to their country by making it self-supporting in the matter of foodstuffs in the manner we have indicated. 362. It is curious how persistent is the impression that milk and butter and cheese can only be produced on grass land. Quite lately the following reflection about the Corn Production Bill appeared in a leading article in a well-known newspaper, that it was " useless to increase the supply of corn if the supply of milk is at the same time diminished, and the Bill, if it proves a real stimulus to the breaking up of grass land, will do that." It cannot be, too often repeated that no one proposes to plough all or nearly all the grass land; that what is proposed is a great increase in the ploughed land while leaving an immense acreage still under grass, and that the increase of the proportion of ploughed land will make it easier, not more difficult, to maintain the dairy herds, Because even if a considerable reduction of pasture bte made, the crops grown in the course of the rotation would afford as much or more cattle food than the same land did under grass, and would in addition provide the grain for human food. There ,is % no juggle about this. The simpl© fact is that suitable laiid under the plough ^rows nnich more food for man or beast than the same land under grass. We print as Appendix XV; a paper we have received on this subject from Mr. T. H.Middleton, C.B., of which we quote here the last two sentences. " These methods of estimating are admitte4J.y speculative, but each "^ approaches the subject differently and the agreement is close. The concvlusion I draw is that ^ ' per unit of area the ploughed land of this country supports about four times the population I' maintained by its grass land. It should be carefully noted, however, that food value is ''^ estimated in tenns of ' energy,' and that, if we considered also the supplies of protein and fat, grass land would appear in a' somewhat better light." 363. We have received from public bodies greatly deserving of our respect strong expres- sions of opinion on the subject of security of tenure for tenant farmiers. The Welsh Agricultural Council have asked for " fair rent " and " security of tenure." The National Farmers Union of Scotland propose that " rent should be fixed," in the absence of agreement, by a neutral authority appointed by the Government," The National Farmers' Union of England and Wales state " that over 1,260,000 acres annually for several years previous to the outbreak of war farmers received notice to quit from one cause alone — apart from many othfers — ^that being sales or intended sales of their holdings," and propose the establishment of an authority equally representing owners and occupiers with the following powers:— (1) to review and, if necessary, annul wanton, or unjust notices, (2) to terminate a tenancy if the farmer is farming his land unsatisfactorily, (3) to prevent disturbance merely because of sales or intended sales of holdings. 364. We have not been able to check the figures given in respect of the acreage annually affected by notices to qiiit by reason of sale or intended sale, and it is of course true that' in certain circumstances such notices to quit are justifiable, but we have no hesitation in expressing our opinion that, if these figures can be shown to be accurate' the inevitable, result must be a deplorable sense of insecurity. In the section dealing with ownership and tenancy we have set forth the solution of this problem, while in that, which is concerned with the workings of the Agricultural Holdings Act, we have recommended increased compensation for disturbance due to sales. 365. On further consideration we can see no escape from the conclusion we reached ia Part I. of our Report that, as the landowner and the tenant farmer are partners in the cultivation " of the land, and since the landowner invests more capital in the industrial equipment of the laud (apart altogether from that invested in the land itself) than the farmer invests in its husbandry, and since it is essential for increased food production that the landowner's investment of capital in the industrial equipment of his land should be continuously renewed and indeed increased, arid since it is certain that the inevitable result of the establishment of a land court to fix rents would be that the landowners would decline (as every one else would in their place) to spend another penny for the purpose, and that the tenant farmers themselves could not find the capital for the purpose, the policy of "fair rents" and "fixity of tenure" is incompatible with that of increased food production, and therefore of national security. We are confident that the way we have marked out in Part I. of our Report is the better way, and that, if the ancient principle, herein reasserted, is accepted and acted upon, these vexed questions of conflicting interests will be settled, perhaps not always to the satisfaction of the parties concerned, but in the interest of the community. That principle is that an owner or occupier of land must hold it with a full sense of his responsibility and duty to use it for the security and welfare of the nation and that in case of flagrant abuse the intervention of the King's officers is justified. 366. Other criticism has been of a very different character. It has attacked our recom- mendations, while wholly ignoring the terms of the reference set us by "Mr. Asquith, the permanent character of the menace to our communications in war time from the submarine and from aircraft, and the certain fact that, if the policy of " laisser faire " once more prevails, the process of the conversion of plough land to grass will be resumed with uninterrupted rapidity. It is not possible to attach any value to criticism of this kind. 367. It has also been tfrged that the high prices prevailing during the war would have induced farmers of their own accord to plough up their grass land and that so the desired result would have been attained without any guarantee on the part of the State. There is absolutely no basis in fact for this suggestion. It is the universal experience of all those who have been responsible for food production during the war that no present high prices would have led the farmers of their own initiative to plough up their grass land, both because of the special present difficulties of arable cultivation owiag to shortage of labour during the war, and because of the dread of a fall of price after the war of unforeseen extent. 368. Another and extraordinary class of criticism has been directed, not at the actual recommendations of Part 1 of our Report nor at the details of the Corn Production Act, but at any attempt to, foster agriculture or to develop food production in the United Kingdom,. Stripped of all phrases the contention is that in the interests of British manufacturers and of the British mercantile marine agriculture must be kept in a continuously depressed condition and that nothing must be done to increase the productivity of British or Irish land !. The argument runs as follows: — Where is the labour to come from for increased food production? All the labour that can be obtained will be indispensable in our mills, engineering and ship- building yards. Not a man must be diverted from these industries to the cultivation of the land.. We cannot be both a great manufacturing and a great agricultural nation. Therefore, unless we are prepared to retire from business and accept the position of a fifth-rate power it is 91 y to our Bjanufaoturing interests that we must devote our minds- and rioiwtarj our h^adsabcfut,- agriculture. Moreover, what will happen to our mercantile marine ii we cease, to be dependent on overseas supplies of corn and meat ? The greatest possible number of wheat cargoes are essential for the prosperity of our mercantile marine. Any, substantial increasje of the home- production of food willisb^ia deadly blow to our shipping. : And what will the. Dominions say if- we reward tlieir devoted. support in this war by the adoption of an agricultural policy which will greatly diminish the. amount of f oodstufis. we, purchase from them ? Remember, too, that our climate is so bad. that it is,jiot really, suited to agriculture, and, that there is no use in growing wheat in England,, because it. is of such poor quality that when it, is grown we can only use_ 15 per cent, of it in making a loaf, the other 85. per cent, must be imported. And all this fugs about agriculture is made because of the submarine menace, when, if we cannot overtake and subdue it, we need not trouble ourselves to outline an agricultural or industrial or any other policy, we shall have to take our orders from Berlin. 369. That this argument is socially unsound needs no demonstration. It wholly ignores the value to a nation of a mixed rural and urban population. It denies any place to agricuiture,. in the nationaL-life.. It is based on supposed considerations of national wealth only.: Carried to its logical conclusion it would degrade the use of English land to th^i perpetual sport of the manufacturing rich and to the occasional playground of the industrial poor. And why stop there .P If it is right to keep the production of home-grown corn down to the lowest possible point in order th'at. the mercantile marine may have the greatest possible number of wheat cargoes to bring home, why not reduce the prodiiption of home-hewn coal to the lowest possible point, and so open up a vast new carrying trade for our shipping ? The fact is that the argument is as wholly unsound economically as it is socially.. The great development of German agricul- ture, which has enabled the German Empire to sustain the war f,or three years,, exactly synchro- nised with the equally great development of German manufactures and of the German mercantile marine. It has also synchronised with an immense increase of the German population and an almost complete cessation of German emigration. Why should our experience be different? It would indeed be a' deplorable dilemma if we had, to choose between the prosperity of agricul- ture, manufactures, aiid shippin'g, if their interests were in fact inutually antagonistic. But the exact contrary is the case. The greater the production of our soil the greater the home market for our inanufactures and the greater the demand for overseas goods which our country cannot supply. No one would suggest that a great addition to our national wealth in aiiy other form than agricultural products, such as the discovery of great oil wells- in the United Kiiigdom, could possibly in the result be bad for our national manufacturers or- our national trade and shipping. Why,- therefore, should it be bad because the form; 'which the increase in national wealth has taken has. been the extraction from our native soil of a, much greater bulk of food- stuffs than hitherto? If the investment by the nation in agiiculture of the comparatively small sum we, suggest results in the production in this .country of a large proportion of that =£200,000,000 (or a vastly larger sum at war prices)- worth of foodstuffs an-nually imported before the war, will that be a bad commercial proposition- for the nation? 370. Nor is there any foundation for the jealousy expressed lest the supply of labour to agriculture should be withdrawn from manufactures. There will be no,suGh,-is5!iti:drawal; The expansion of British agriculture will not be instantaneous. It will, as in Germany, be gradual over a series of years. Is there no room for the agricultural population itself to expand or possibility of its increase if there is such room? In the two years 1913 and 1914 alone more than 600,000 British subjects emigrated from the United Kingdom (Cd. 7794—1915). Our object is to provide a healthy, happy, and good livelihood on their native soil for as many of our fellow countrymen and women as we can who would otherwise emigrate. The critics need not worry about the labour supply ; that will settle itself. - 371. The suggestion that our climate is not really suitable to agriculture is an astonishing example of the profound ignorance about everything agricultural and rural in which so many of our urban population have unfortunately been brought up. The truth is that taken all round there is probably no soil or climate in the world more suitable to agriculture. The potential wealth is there latent in the soil. We have only to extract it by the application of labour, capital, and science. The suggestion that we cannot eat a loaf containing a larger proportion of English wheat than 15 per cent, makes one wonder how we of this generation happen to be here at all considering that our iorefathers for many centuries never had any wheat to make their loaf of but what was home-grown. It is true of course that we have gradually become accustomed to a loaf containing a very large percentage of hard wheat and that the existing milling plant has been constructed and developed in view of that fact. It is therefore good news that comes to us from the Cambridge School of Agriculture that they are confident of success in breeding an: English wheat which will have the same milling properties as Manitoba wheat. f • • 372. It is not di£6.cult to answer the question " What will the Dominions say -to the new Agricultural Policy? " They will say " Tour first duty to the whole Commonwealth of British nations is to insure your people against starvation in any future war. We will do our best to avoid such- a war, bilt we cannot be certain that we shall succeed. You- musl^therefore adoptl-a- policy, which can assure, the safety- of your children, and, as, it must take a. generation, to mature, you must begin it now." 373. The argument that " if, we camipt overtake and. subdue the submarine mena'ce we h-eed not trouble ourselves to outline an, agricultural or industrial or any other policy, we, shalL have to take our orders from Berlin " deserves an answer. The future menace to our overseas commu- nications in war i time arises from the. potential developments of 'submarine and aerial warfare 92 and those developments will be available to all other nations as well as to Germany. It does not follow that all our overseas, communications will be closed. That is highly improbable so long as we maintain the Navy at the necessary strength and adequately develop our air fleet. But it does mean that it will probably be impossible to maintain such an overseas volume of trade in war time as would enable us ever again to finance our allies as we have done in this war, and it does mean that it would be perfect madness to enter upon such a war in reliance upon overseas supplies of food or munitions of war. It we were self-supporting in the essentials of national existence, in such circumstances the United Kingdom would be able to face such a struggle with equanimity and the Navy would be freed for the work of keeping open the communications of the Empire, for the movement of troops, for the support of our armies, and above all for attacking the enemy. 374. In this matter we naturally desired to be fortified with the opinion of the Admiralty. We accordingly wrote to them and drew their attention to the terms of the reference we received from Mr. Asquith, and said " that any observations which the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were able to make in the light of their subsequent experience would be of great assistance to the Sub-Committee." The following is a paraphrase of the reply which we have received and which the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have passed as accurate and given us authority to reproduce in this report : — The submarine attack on the overseas food supply of the United Kingdom has thrown a great additional strain upon the Navy in the present war. The Navy has so far been able to keep this submarine attack in check, but no means have yet been discovered to render sea-borne traffic immune from attack. Consequently any effective steps to make this country less dependent upon the importation of the necessities of life in the present war would result in a great reduction of anxiety. The certain development of the submarine may render such vessels still more formidable as weapons of attack against sea-borne commerce in a future war, and no justification exists for assuming that anything approaching entire immunity can be obtained. Therefore, the experience of the present war leads to the conclusion that any measures which resulted in rendering the United Kingdom less dependent on the importa- tion of foodstuffs during the period of a future war, and so in reducing the volume of sea-borne traffic, would greatly relieve the strain upon the Navy and add immensely to the national security. 375. Soon after Part I. of our Report had been sent in the Rt. Hon. R. E. Prothero, M.P., Sir Charles Bathurst, K.B.E., M.P., and the Rt. Hon. George H. Roberts, M. P., found, the pressure of their official duties such as to compel them to retire from the work of this, Sub- Committee. We greatly regretted the loss of their services as colleagues. To our Secretaries, Mr. H. L. French and Mr. A. Goddard, we are most grateful for their constant attention and efficiency. The President and Council of the Surveyors' Institution were good enough to allow us to hold all our meetings in their offices, and we wish to put on record our appreciation of this great courtesy. 376. In Appendix I. to this Report we give a summary of our recommendations. We are. Sir, Your obedient Servants, (Signed)' BELBOIINE (Chairman). CHARLES DOUGLAS. AILWYN FELLOWES. W. FITZHERBERT BROCKHOLES. A. D. HALL. WILLIAM A. HAVILAND. C. BRTNER JONES. *DENIS KELLY. ♦HORACE PLUNKETT. G. G. REA. EDWARD G. STRUTT. H. L. FRENCH, A. GODDARD, Joint Secretaries. 30th January, 1918. * In signing this Report I think it right to state that I was prevented by illness from taking any part in the deliberations of the Sub-Committee until near the end of May, 1917. Two months later I was appointed Chairman of the Irish Convention ; and it became impossible for me to attend more than a very few meetings of the Sub- Committee, or even to give any detailed study to the documents. I do not withhold my signature as I am strongly of opinion that a new agricultural policy is urgently needed and I agree, in its main outlines, with the policy recommended above. (Signed) HORACE PLUNKETT. 93 LIST OF APPENDICES. I. — -'Summarj of Recommendations * ... ... II. — List of witnesses who have given oral evidence before the Sub-Committee III. — Memorandum on wheat production received from Professor R. H. Biffen, F.R.S. IV. — The " Agricola " scheme of cropping V. — Number of persons engaged in agriculture in the United Kingdom as returned at each census from 1831-1911 .. VI. — Tne education of landowners and of land agents ... - ... VI r. — Extract from the report to i the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of an enquiry into Agricultural Credit and Agricultural Co-operation in Germany by Mr. J. R. Cabin VIII. — ^Extract from a report to the Agricultural Organization Society by Mr. John Ross IX. — Extract from the intrqduction of Part I. of the final report of the. Depart- mental Committee on the settlement and employment on the land of discharged Sailors and Soldiers .. . X. — Extract from the report of Lord Haversham's committee giving Sir Trustram Eve, K.B.E., of a reducible mortgage XI. — : Village reconstruction, village industries, and social life XII. — Tithe Redemption XIII. — The supply of artificial manures ... ... .:. XIV.— Transport XV. — Estimate of the amount of food (expressed in terms of energy) ploughed land and^by grass land jn the United Kingdom PAGE. 93 98 98 102 106 106 109 111 114 an example by 116 . 118 ... 122 . 124 . 125 ) produced by 131 APPENDICES. APPENDIX I. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS. Part I. Agricultural Wages. We recommend : — ' 1. That a minimum wage for ordinary agricultural ■ labourers should be established ... ..." ... ... ••• 2. That Wage Boards should be set up for each Adminis- trative County in Great Britain 3. That the Wage Board in Duhlin should be made permanent ... ... Price of Wheat and Oats. We recommend : — 4. That minimum prices for wheat and oats should be guaranteed : 4:2s. for wheat and 23*. for oats, or such prices as might correspond to these in relation to the standard- of value obtaining after the war 5. That payment should be based on the difference between the price guaranteed and the average price for the year ... 6. That payment should be made ov the number of quarters " fictually harvested Para. 21 26 72 Page. 16 17 33 21 16 33 18 35 19 36 19 60 2& 61 26 73 33 94 Methods of Securing Increased Production. We recommend : — ■ ' ' Para. Page. 7. That a general survey of the condition of agricultural land throughout the United Kingdom should be made from the point of view of its utilisation for food production 54 24 8. That the Board of Agriculture should have power temporarily to supersede owners in case of such mismanagement as seriously affects food production 56 * 25 9. That the Board of Agriculture should have power to dispossess tenants who cultivate their lands badly so- as seriously to affect food production ... 58 25 10. That a Departmental Comnlitte^ should be set up to consider the improvement of common grazing lands ... 11. That an increase in the number of cottages in rural districts should be brought about at the earliest possible moment 12. That the powers of thfe Irish Department of Agricul- ture under the Def^nCe of the Realm A*t, with regard to enforcing proper cultivation, should be extended and made permanent / ...^ . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 78 34 Sugwr Beet. We recommend : -77- ■ ,, ' 13. Thatj the Development Commissioners should no longer be debarred from making advances to associations trading for profit 66 26 14. That the Govfernment should assist in providing the funds necessaiy to establish a sugar factory ... ... ... 67 27 ■ > 15. That the present surtax should be continued for 10 years 67 27 16. That the Government should carry out a complete test of the commercial possibilities of manufacturing sugar from home-grown beet ... ... ... ... ... ...... 68 27 Pakt II. Scottish Boa/rd of Agriculture. We recommend : — 17. That a special Minister for agriculture should be appointed, who should be directly responsible to Parliament ... 101 38 18. That Statutory County Agricultural Committees should be set up ... ... ... ... 101 38 19. That a National Agricultural Council should be set up 101 38 20. That an Advisory Committee, on the lines of the Agri- cultural Board in Ireland, should be set up ... ... ... 101 38 Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for England and Wales. We recommend: — 21. That the Department should be housed under one roof 106 39 22. That the status of the Minister for Agriculture should be raised to that of the President of the Board of Trade or Local Government Board 106 39 23. That the staff should be strengthened and its responsi- bilities increased ... ... ... ... ... ... ••• 106 39 24. That Statutory County Agricultural Committees should be set up 25. That a National Agricultural Council for England should be set up , •■• 26. That the National Agricultural Council for Wales should be made statutory ... ... ... ... ... ... 109 40 27. That an Advisory Committee, on the lines of the Agricultural Board in Ireland^ should be set up 110 40 28. That delegates from the four National Agricultural Councils should meet annually 112 40 AgricultMral Instruction and Research. We recommend : — Scotland. 29. That the work done by the Agricultural Colleges should be developed and extended ... ... ... ... ... ... 124 41, England and Wales. 30. That the responsibility for agricultural education should be removed from the County Councils and centralized in . , the Board of Agriculture, the cost being borne out of national funds 142 et seq. 45 107 39 f 59 1108 ■■■26 39 95 England and Wales, and Scotland. 31. That an improved ruralized curriculum for Elementary and Secondary Schools should be laid down, and better prospects provided for teachers in rural districts 32. That demonstration and illustration farms should be established 33. That instruction should proceed in a number of direc- tions indicated in the paragraph 34. That a limited number of large demonstration farms run on business lines should be established Para. Page. { 149 et seq.- 46 124 41 159 et seq. 47 161 48 35. That research work should be developed 36. That livestock schemes should be extended, and live- stock officers become the servants of the Board of Agriculture . . . ^37. That the expenditure on agricultural education should be largely increased ... 38. That better opportunities for the agricultural educa- tion of women should be given 39. That students likely to become land-owners or land agents should be given greater opportunity of studying rural economy at public schools and universities Organisation and Co-operation. We recommend : — 40. That additional support from national funds should be given to existing Agricultural Organisation Societies ... Agricultural Credit. We recommend : — 41. That the procedure in .respect of loans should be cheapened and simplified _ 42. That short term credit through Co-operative Trading Societies and Farmers' Central Trading Boards should be pro- ' vided 43. That deposits in the Post Office Savings Bank should . be made available for use by Central Trading Boards ... { 162 48 117 ■ 41 126 42 163 et seq. 48 168 et seq. 49 175 50 176 50 178 51 Appendix VT 193 et seq. 54 216 219 223 58 59 60 Smallholdings: Ownership and Tenancy. We recommend : — 44. That an enquiry should be made into the success attending the special form of tenure set up by the Small Land- holders (Scotland) Act, 1911 45. That greater facilities for purchase should be given to smallholders desirous of owning their land; that County Councils should be urged to prepare schemes at once for the provision of smallholdings for ex-sailors and soldiers, both as tenants and owners; and that the Treasury should remove the financial restrictions at present placed upon them 46. That the principle of purchase contained in Mr. Jesse CoUings' Purchase of Land Bill should be adopted 226 60 229 61 241 64 Village Reconstruction,' Industries and Social Life. We recommend : — 47. That schemes for the reconstruction of a certain type of village should be drawn up on the lines indicated in the para- graph 48. That the development of rural industries and the formation of Women's Institutes should be a recognised activity of the Agricultural Organisation Society, or other similar body, and that distinct grants for those purposes should be given ... Tithe Redemption. We recommend : — 49. That legislation should be passed to stimulate tithe redemption particularly with a view to making land available for smallholdings or for village reconstruction without payment of 245 65 Appendix XI. Appendix XI. (22) 247 65 Appendii XII. 96 Local Taxation. Para. Page. 27r 277 72 72 277 277 72 72 278 72 278 73 We recommend : — 50. That a periodic revaluation for assessment purposes should be made 262 68 51. That the cost of national services should be more equitably apportioned between local and national funds 269 70 The. AgricultuTul Holdings Acts. We recommend : — 52. That high farming, beyond the recognised require- ments of good farming, should, subject to proper safeguards, be recognised as a subject for compensation 276 72 53. That a schedule of dilapidations should be set up for use where no agreement exists ... ... 54. That section 1 (2) (6) should be amended ... 65. That, subject to a limitation with regard to market gardens, agreements substituting compensation in place of that provided under the Acts, should be void 56. That section 5 should be amended ... :.'. 57. That section 11 (England), section 10 (Scotland) Act should be amended with a view to extending the compensation allowed in respect of disturbance ... 58. That the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1914, should be extended to Scotland 59. That the sections allowing compensation for damage by game should be extended to allow compensation to be claimed from persons from whose land ground game comes ... ... 279 73 60. That where no custom obtains tenants holding under no agreement should be required to farm according to accepted rules of good husbandry during last year of tenancy; and incomer or landlord should have the option of purchasing manure, hay or straw proposed to be sold ofE during last year of tenancy 61. That amendments in procedure should be adopted for the purpose of reducing cost of assessing compensation ... 62. That arbitrators in England and Wales, appointed by the Board of Agriculture, should have recognised qualifications 63. That the First Schedule should be amended .. . 64. That Rules 10 and 14 of the Second Schedule should be amended 65. That sections 3 (3) and 25 (iii) should be amended ... 66. That section 35 (3) should be made of general applica- tion so far as it applies to compensation for improvements ... 287 74 67. That the provisions of section 40 should be extended so as to place occupiers of glebe land in the same position with regard to notice to quit (section 22) as other agricultural tenants 287 74 Market Gardens. 68. That the principle of the Evesham Custom should be adopted ..., _ ... 296 76 69. That agreements outside the above should be permitted subject to approval by the Board of Agriculture 299 76 70. That in case of refusal by the landowners to allow .land to be used for market garden purposes, the procedure des- scribed in the paragraph should be adopted ... ... ... 300 76 lieclamation and Drainage. 71. That"the question of reclamation must be dealt with by legislation ... ... ••• ... ••• ••• ••• ••• 311 81 72. That a spiecial Sub-Oommittee of the Reconstruction Committee should be set up to report as to the principles on which such land should be acquired 312 82 73. That the Land Drainage Act, 1914, should continue in force until Parliament deals with the whole subject in a compre- hensive manner ... ... •.. ••_• .•• ••• ••■ 323 83 74. That Reclanaation and Land Drainage Authorities for each of the three Kingdoms should be established 325 83 75. That the County Agricultural Committees should have power to insist that minor drainage works are kept in proper working order -» ' -•• 331 84 280 73 282 73 284 285 74 74 286 287 74 74 97 Deer Forests. Para. We recommead : — 76. That land suitable for agriculture and forestry should be so utilised, and that a special survey for this purpose should be made ... 336 77. That a national policy of afforestation, and inter- mingling plantations and smallholdings should be adopted ... 339 Page. 85 85 The Elimination of Pests and Weeds. We recommend: — 78. That legislation should be passed to prohibit the sale of grass and other seeds without guarantee of purity, germination, &c. ; to schedule and deal with injurious weeds ; arid to eliminate animal pests 79. That the County Agricultural Committees should be given special powers to deal with weeds and pests ; that a Com- mittee suffering from supineness on the part of an adjoining Committee should have the right of appeal to the Board of Agriculture; and that the Local Government Boards should enquire into the injury done to agriculture by pests emanating • from cities, ports and urban districts, with a view to providing "a remedy 341 et seq. 85 341 ef seq.. 85 Weights and Measures. We recommend : — 80. That a Special Sub-Committee of the Reconstruction Committee should be set up to enquire into the whole question of imperial weights and measures ... 81. That a uniform standard of weight should be laid down on which alone sales and purchases of agricultural pro- duce, other than liquids and certain market-garden produce, should be legal 82. That a uniform standard of measure for liquids should be similarly laid doWn 83. That a uniform standard of number for certain market-garden produce, regularly sold by number, should similarly be laid down 84. That official and other market quotations should be required to be in the terms of the standards laid down ... 85. That the several standards should be selected so as to cause as little interference as possible with existing methods ... 86. That a certain transition period should be fixed, at the end of which the neW standards should be recognised 351 87 351 87 351 87 351. 87 351 87 351 87 351 87 Transport. We recommend : — 87. That a special Sub-Committee of the Reconstruction Committee should be set up to enquire into the whole question of transport improvement and facilities ... 88. That farmers should be induced to act in co-operation to obtain and send larger quantities of goods by water 89. That a scheme should be prepared to enable discarded army motors to be made use of in the organisation of transport services, and for other farm purposes • .t. 90. That some arrangement should be made by which public funds would be made available to assist in the organisa- tion of motor transport 91. That to charge rates for foreign produce lower in pro- portion to the cost of the services rendered than the corre- sponding rates for home produce should be looked upon as preferential treatment, and that the Government should take the steps necessary to enforce the law as to undue preference ... 357 Appendix XIV. (4) Appendix XIY. (14) Appendix XIV. (15), (l! Appendix XIV. (31) i97ai G 98 APPENDIX II. LIST OF WITNESSES WHO HA.VE GIVEN ORAL EVIDENCE BEFORE THE SUB-COMMITTEE. Name. Representing, Nominated by, or other Qualification. 1. The Rt. Hon. the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres 2. The Rt. Hon. F. D. Acland, M.P. ... 3. Professor John Wrightson 4. Mr. C. (now, Sir Charles) W. Fielding 5. Mr. George A. Ferguson 6. Mr. W. H. Beveridge, C.B. 7. Mr. H. Jones-Davies ... 8. Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B. 9. Sir Robert P. Wright ... 10. Mr. R. N. Dowling ... 11. The Hon. E. G. Strutt 12. Principal W. G. R. Paterson ., 13. Mr. Richard Edwards ... 14. Mr. C. Bryner-Jones, M.Sc. . 15. Captain (now, Sir) Beville Stanier, M.P. 16. Mr. E: J. Russell, D.So 17. Mr. Joseph Forbes Duncan 18. Mr. G. Bertram Shields 19. Mr. C. P. Hall .:. 20. The Rt. Hon. Viscount Milner, G.C.B., G. 21. Mr. J. M. Clark, F.S.I 22. Mr. W. W. Berry 23. Mr. Henry Overman 24. Mr. R. G. Patterson ... 25. Professor R. H. Blifen, F.R.S. 26. Mr. J. L. Green 27. Mr. D. C. Barnard ... 28. Mr. A. Goddard 29. Brig.-General The Lord Lovat, K.C.V.O., 30. Mr. John Drysdale 31. Mr. E. Jackson ... 32. Sir Henry Doran 33. Rev. A. A. David, D.D 34. Mr. R. A. Anderson 35. Mr. Norman Reid 36. Mr. F. T. Howard '.'.'. 37. Mr. Kenneth Chance C.M.G. D.S.O. I 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. I Mr. T. P. Gill and Mr. J. R. Campbell I Mr. Leslie Scott, K.C, M.P. The Rt. Hon. Robert Munro, K.C, M.P Mr. E.B. Shine .• Y Mr. F. N. Webb '.".; \ Mr. W. G. Lobjoit Mr. W. Colthup President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. Late Principal of the College of Agriculture, Downton, Wilts. Special Crop Reporter to " The Times." Farm^, County of Elgin. Assistant Secretary, Board of Trade Employment Department. County Land Agent for Carmarthenshire, Develop- ment Commissioner, &c. Assistant Secretary, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, Chairman of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. jDrganiser of Agricultural Education to the Liadsey County Council. Member of the Sub-Committee. West of Scotland Agricultural College, Glasgow. Farmer in Shropshire and Denbighshire. Agricultural Commissioner for Wales. Chairman of the British Sugar Beet Growers' Society, . Limited. , Director of Rothamsted Experimental Station, Har- penden. Hon. Secretary, Scottish Farm Servants' Union. Farmer in Haddingtonshire. Land Agent to the Duke of Bedford, Woburn, Bed- fordshire. Land Agent, Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Farmer in Kent and Wiltshire. Farmer in Norfolk, and Northamptonshire. Farmer in Staffordshire. School of Agriculture, Cambridge. Secretary to the Rural League. Small Holdings Commissioner, Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, Secretary to the Surveyors' Institution. Secretary of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society, Ltd. Manager of the Agricultural Department of the Co- operative Wholesale Society, Manchester. Permanent Member of the Congested Districts Board •for Ireland. Headmaster of Rugby. Secretary of the Irish Organisation Society. Member of the Scottish Land Court. Divisional Inspector of Elementary Schools, Board of Education. Managing Director of the British Cyanides Co., Ltd. Secretary and Assistant Secretary to the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. Chairman of the A. 0.8. Secretary for Scotland. Head and Superintending Inspector of the Live Stock Branch of Agriculture and Fisheries. Chairman of the Market Garden, Fruit and Hop- Growing ^ Committee of the Central Chamber of Agriculture. Farmer, Fruit, Hop and Potato Grower in Kent APPENDIX III. MEMORANDUM ON WHEAT PRODUCTION RECEIVED FROM PROFESSOR R. H. BIFFEN, F.R.S. (School op Agriculture, Cambridge.) GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 1. The area devoted to the wheat crop in this country is so entirely dependent on the prices obtaingd for the grain, that it is highly improbable that any extension will take place unless the farmers see their way to obtain greater profits from the crop than thev have in the past. ^ The interdependence is shown in Fig. I, where the lower line represents the price in shillings per quarter and the upper line the area in millions of acres 99 devoted to the crop. From 1870 until 1894, prices and acreage fell rapidly, but since 1897 the fairly steady rise in prices has been accompanied by a gradual rise in the acreage. The curves cross one another at several points, but this is due mainly to fluctuation in the acreage brought about by bad weather con- ditions during the late autumn when sowing should be in progress. Fig. I. — Home Crop. Comparison of Prices { ) and Areas { I8BO /ess /eoo /905 /9/0 2. There are reasons for considering that the rise in price and consequently the increase in the area under wheat will continue. It is impossible to set these out fully, but the more important facts bearing on this point can be briefly summarised. 3. The fall between 1870 and 1894 was due mainly to the enormously rapid increase in the area under wheat in the United States. During this period the American population increased relatively slowly, with the result that there was a vast surplus available for export. Further, the crops were produced under prairie conditions and the growers could afford to take a very low price for them. This, however, was a passing phase, for though the United States are still the largest wheat producers in the world, and though the area still tends to increase slightly, the amount exported tends to fall (Fig. II). The results are so marked that we find American agricultural experts seriously considering the possibility of the United States having to become a wheat importing country in order to feed the rapidly growing population. Fig. II. — Comparison of the Crop and Exports of the U.S.A. 100 4. It may be assumed that the course of events in America will prove typical of that of other countries where there has been a rapid rise in pro- duction under prairie conditions. The soils gradually become exhausted, and in place of continuous wheat cultivation a, system of rotations has to be adopted in order to restore and retain their fertility. In Canada, where production has increased rapidly from 1890 up to the present time, the first settled portions in the eastern parts of the country have been forced to fall back on the more intensive rotational cropping, leaving the newly settled western and north- western Provinces to carry on the system of extensive wheat growing under prairie conditions. It is impossible to say how much longer this cheap form of cultivation can be carried on. One of the most conservative of the Canadian estimates puts the undeveloped wheat area at about 14 million acres, whilst in another treble this figure is given as the area of new land which will ultimately be brought under this crop. It may be that Canada can double • her present production, though it by no means follows that there will be double the present surplus for export. 5. There are several facts which lead one to question the statement so frequently made that Canada will shortly be the Empire's granary. In the first place the profits made from wheat growing are small and they do not satisfy many of the growers. A recent report states that in Manitoba they only amount to 2.65 dollars an acre, whilst in Saskatchewan they are as low as 1.72 dollars. These two Provinces produce nearly three-fourths of the total Canadian crop. If profits continue at this level, it seems unlikely that there will be any great extension in the area under wheat. Further, there is a good deal of uncertainty about the yield of crop. On the whole it is high for prairie conditions (averaging 19.5 bushels per acre lor the period 1910-1914) but great losses are often experienced through the attacks of black rust, and in the northern districts much damage is often caused by frost before the grain is ready for harvest. , 6. The position in the Argentine, another of our sources of cheap wheat, is more difiicult to ascertain ' owing to the lack of reliable statistics. Since 1888 the' • area under wheat has increased from 2 to over 15 million acres, and in the same period our imports from 'this country have risen from 0-1 to some 25 per cent, of our total wheat imports. This has been accomplished in spite of an indifferent labour supply, bad systems of land tenure and very inadequate facilities for handling • the crop. There are also indications that. the wheat area may be increased still further, for lucerne cultiva- tion is becoming general on many of the largest cattle ranches, and this crop is an excellent preparation for wheat. Improvements in the methods of cultivation will certainly lead to a large increase in the amount grown. But this does not necessarily imply that the Argentine will be in a position to flood this country with wheat at a lower price than we can raise it here. The factors which (ell against this are the increasing needs of the Argentine population which appears to treble its numbers in about forty years, the uncertain- ties of tlio yield owing to drought, rust and the attacks of locusts, and the high cost of freights between the two countries. , 7. Russia, which is second- only to the United States as a iiheat producer, and occupies the first place if Asiatic Russia is included, has of late years provided us with about 10 per cent, of our total imports. An analysis of the figures for the past 30 years sliows no marked tendency for the amount to either increase or diminish, though it varies considerably from year to year. The increasing wheat crop of the country appears to be' absorbed locally, owing to the fact that wheaten breafl is gradually replacing that made from rye. But Russian agriculture is still carried on, on somewhat primitive lines, and it seems probable that the attention now being paid to its more scientific development will lead to a consid^able increase in the low average yields per acre characteristic of even the best wheat-growing districts. Lack of data prevent any consideration of the problem whether this increase will lead to greater exports or whether it will be required by the growing population. 8. Both India and Australia have for the past 30 years sent considerable, but very variable quantities of wheat to ^his country. In neither case can on© see much possibility of the amounts being increased sub- stantially, and the fact has always to be borne in mind that neither source is a particularly dependable one. 9. Whilst many of the facts are ill-defined, the general conclusions which can ■ be drawn are fairly clear. The world's crop continues to increase slowly, and concurrently with this the number of wheat con- sumers increases — partly through the growth of the population, and partly through wheat replacing other cereal foods. Prices have tended to rise of late years, a fact which may indicate that the world's consump- tion is increasing faster than its rate of production. There are now.no vast areas of land comparable with those of North and South America awaiting the pioneer wheat growers, and consequently there is no likelihood of any repetition of the 'over-production characteristic of the period 1874-1894. In all prob- ability the price of wheat will continue to rise still further, and a level will be reached at which it will pay the home producer to devote more capital and energy to the problem of feeding the nation. ' 10. In 1914, wheat cultivation on land capable of producing an average crop of 32 bushels an acre was profitable with wheat at 35s. per quarter. In the immediate future, the farmer will probably look for a price of 40s. per quarter to cover the increased cost of production brought about by a higher wages bill. On less fertile soils and also on soils where there is a certain ainount of risk in growing the crop owing to the difficulties of securing a tilth in the autumn months, a higher return — possibly amounting to 45s. will be expected. I. — Impbovembnts in the Kinds oi' Wheat Grown. 11. Increased production may be expected from any improvements in the kinds of wheat grown. Until recently, so little had been effected in this direction, that some of the oldest wheats in cultivation were still the best growq. But of late years the systematic study of cross-breeding has opened up greal possibilities of improvement. An examination of wheats collected from all parts of the wheat-growing world has shewn that, whilst practically all of them are valueless for cultivation here, some few of them possess charac- teristics of considerable value which are lacking in our own wheats, but which the plant-breeder can — to put the matter somewhat crudely— transfer to the varieties we now grow. This can be illustrated by a couple of examples : — (a) showing the possibility of increasing the yield per acre ; (6) of increasing the. value of the crop itself. 12. (a) The yield per acre is determined by many factors. One of these is the loss caused by the attacks of various fungoid parasites of which the common yellow rust is the most important. Farmers rarely recognise that its presence in a. crop is serious unless the epidemic happens to be particularly severe. Pro- bably this is due to the fact that no experimental data exist to show what these losses amount to. It appears to be from 5 to 10 per cent, of the crop annually, but this season several cases have come under my notice in the fen country where its attacks have reduced the yield per acre by one half or even so obviously ruined the crop that it was cut for hay. These losses are pre- ventable, for rust-resisting wheats have been dis- covered, and this characteristic has been transferred to varieties suitable for cultivation here. One of these has been tested on an extensive scale during the past four seasons, and found to give an average crop of 4 to 5 bushels more per acre than the ordinary rust- susceptible wheats generally grown. Records received from growers agree with these results, for they put the increase in their crops at 10 to 12 per cent. Still greater resistance has been secured, but as the varie- ties have not been tested on the wholesale scale by farmers, no reference will be made to them. However, taking only the results already obtained in practice, they point to the fact that the improvement in this single feature leads, with wheat at 40s. per quarter, to a gain of about £1 per acre. 18. (6) A comparison of the prices of English and imported grain shows that the home crop is worth some 3s. or 4s. less ptr quarter than much of the wheat from America and Canada. These higher prices are paid at the ports of entry, and by the time the grain reaches the inland mills (the farmer's natural markets) the difference in value amounts to 4s. or 5?, 101 14. The increased value of these imported wheats IS due to their superiority for the manufacture of the type of bread now in universal demand in this country. English wheats lack a characteristic found in these imported varieties which is known to millers and bakers as " strength." Until recently it was believed that this feature was determined solely by climatic conditions. This view has been proved to be incorrect in certain cases, and we now know of several varieties capable of producing grain here which is practically as strong as that of the best imported wheats. Unfortunately these varieties are not suit- able for general cultivation here. Their yield per acre is usually too low and the straw too slender and brittle to warrant any hopes of their ever being grown on an extensive scale. But their strength can be transferred to the heavy cropping kinds which we grow in this country. Many such types have been raised now, and the attempt is being made to find amongst these sorts suitable for the various soil and climatic conditions met with in England. The first strong variety raised and introduced has had a some- what chequered career, for whilst it has been found to succeed well in some districts, its cropping capacity in others has been too low to be satisfactory. It is now thoroughly established in the districts which suit it, and its produce is sought after by the millers, who willingly pay 3s. or 4s. more per quarter for it than they pay for the ordinary wheats. A second variety, has_ been introduced this season which in the pre- liminary trials has been found to possess excellent baking qualities, whilst its cropping capacity on the farm attached to the Plant Breeding Institute at Cambridge, and at two other places, has proved superior to that of Square Head's Master. 15. If, as there is every reason to hope, the problem of breeding satisfactory strong wheats has been solved, then their cultivation should add about £1 to~ the value of the produce of every acre of wheat in the country. 16. These examples by no means exhaust the possi- bilities of improving English wheats. 17. Probably, of the various methods suggested for extending the cultivation of wheat in England, the direct improvement of the plant itself will prove the most important if only for the reason that increased profits can be obtained without any further cost to the grower. II. — Intensive Cultivation. 18. Our present yield of some 32 bushels per acre is obtained with the minimum expenditure of labour and of manures on the crop. Compared with that of most wheat-growing countries it is high, but it reaches this figurfr mainly because wheat is now grown only on those soils capable of producing a crop of about this magnitude, or more, without much expenditure. It represents, roughly, the lowest yield at which cultiva- tion is now profitable. -The poorer wheat-growing lands whose yields might considerably reduce this average yield have now dropped out of cultivation. But 32 bushels per acre by no means represents the amount which could be raised if better cultivation became general. The maximum crop an acre can pro duce under the most favourable circumstances is still unknown. It is certainly over 88 bushels, for this amount has been reached on several occasions. 19. In ordinary practice, the only factor., affecting the yield per acre to which any attention is paid is that of the food materials available in the soil for the "growing crop. Where any deficiencies are sus- pected these are made up for by the more ol- less casual application of artificial manures, mainly in the form of Chili saltpetre or sulphate of ammonia. The results are usually profitable. At a rough estimate the careful use of artificials might increase the average yield per acre from four up to five quarters. Putting the value of the extra quarter at 40s. and the cost of the manures at 15s., this shows a, clear profit of 25s. per acre over and above that of the ordinary crop. This, too, is obtained with the slightest of risks. But it is unlikely that the average can be forced above this figure, for whilst much larger crops can be grown they become much more expensive to produce, owing to the operation of the law of diminishing returns, and owing to the fact that they are very liable to be laid in rough weather, and consequently are costty to harvest. Further, these over-fed crops are especially liable to the attacks of rust and other fungoid diseases,, and this considerably reduces their yielding capacity. 20. More intensive cultivation will have to go hand- in-hand with the improvement of the varieties grown. Stiffer straws, capable of carrying heavier crops, and varieties resistant to disease will have to be provided before the most can be made of intensive cultivation. Some progress has been made in this direction, and even in 1916, a year when disease has been more prevalent than usual, and crops have been correspond- ingly low, yields of 80 bushels to the acre have been obtained with a rust-resisting variety. Attention will also have to be paid to other factors determining the yield per acre besides the available supply of food materials. Information is badly needed on the effects of regulating the available water supply by appro- priate methods of tillage, the effects of deepening the root-run of the plants, of wider spacing and inter- tillage during the early stages of growth. Problems such as these might well be investigated by some of the experimental stations now in existence. III. — Extension oe Arable Land. 21. There can be no question that an increase in the arable laud of the country will lead to an increase in the amount of wheat grown. The fact which has been lost sight of in the past twenty years must be insisted on uow-a-days, that England is naturally one of the best, if not the very best, wheat-growing country in the world. Its climate and much of its soil are almost ideal for the production of the heaviest crops. Were it not for these advantages, -if our yield, for instance, had been only that of the United States, of Canada, or of any of the other great exporting countries, wheat would have disappeared by now from our systems of husbandry. But it has kept its place in spite of everything merely because our yields average some 32 bushels per acre without much trouble on the part of the farmers. 22. It is certain that there are at least three million acres suitable for wheat cultivation, and probably considerably more. Indeed, in the 'seventies, when the crop was worth some 50s. per quarter, over two and three-quarter million acres were grown. This area can be gradually reoccupied when the profits from wheat-growing make it economically possible. Much of the land now under grass which would have to be broken up is heavy and intractable, and it was the difficulty of working it which led to its abandonment as arable, rather than any lack of fertility. The com- ing of the motor plough with its capacity for working cheaply, and still more important, of working rapidly, should result in land of this type being got ready for autumn sowing under any except the most un- favourable conditions. 23. If, on the other hand, we consider the extremely light soils, usually looked upon as unsuitable for wheat-growing, our increasing knowledge of the best methods of handling them and of the "best varieties to grow should make their cultivation profitable. There is, further, the possibility of bringing large areas of land at elevations of 700 to 900 feet under wheat. The occasional crops grown under these condi- tions are often very satisfactory, but their lateness and the consequent difficulty of harvesting them stands in the way of their more extenswe growth. It should prove a relatively simple matter to breed varieties capable of maturing rapidly under these conditions. ia;92 a 3 lo^ APPENDIX IV. THE " AGRIOOLA " SCHEME OF CROPPINGl. i Handed in by Mi:. C. W. Fielding. Mr. C. W, Fielding, when giving evidence before the Sub-Committee (see Summaries of Evidence, para. 56- 76), gave particulars of the " ' gricola " scheme of cropping which he had worked out. (Schedule I. — Agrioola Scheme of Cropping.) Mr. Fielding wrote as follows : — " Roughly, the scheme involves a rotation of : One crop of wheat in each three years ; one crop of barley, oats, peas or beans each three years; one clover crop in each seven years; and one cleaning root crop in a seven year rotation; peas or beans should be intro- duced as one of the corn crops to aid the clover and to add natural nitrogen to the soil. "Calculating the crop that would result on no higher basis than the present average United Kingdom yields, the quantity available for human food and for animal food that would be produced by the ' Agrioola ' system of cropping was ascertained. " The wheat and potatoes that would be produced were found equal to the total United Kingdom pre- war consumption. In order to ascertain how far the other crops would go towards feeding the animals needed to supply the United Kingdom with its needs of meat, milk, butter, cheese, sugar, &c., required the calculation of the rations needed to feed cattle, sheep and pigs of all ages, as well as the horses to work the land. (Schedule II. — ' Agrioola ' Rations for Animals.) " The quantities of animal food available were found to be sufficient for all the animals that would have to **e kept to supply all needs of meat and half the imported butter. "I would like to point out that all the figures given in all the other Schedules are compilations of official figures and are all demonstrable by arithmetic. The Schedules II. of feeding rations requirements arc, however, matters of practice, and, to some extent, of opinion. I worked these out from data collected over many months from every source available to me. As proof that under the whole ' Agrioola ' scheme we can grow almost all our own food depends on the accuracy of these Schedules, I have been at great pains to verify that within small limits the rations are correct. As a practical check, I fed my own 30 farm horses and 300 cattle of all ages on these rations successfully for twelve months. I have also put the figures before the best experts, and so far no one has seriously disputed their suitability. . " Your Chairman, some months ago, thought my figures ' proved too much.' I therefore put them to another and very severe test. I converted the whole of the German crops into starch- units of nourishment, and then worked out what all the animals kept in Germany would have consumed in starch units had they been fed on the 'Agrioola' rations. (Schedule III. — Germany v. ' Agrioola ' Starch equivalents.) "The results show that in total, the proposed rations for English animals correspond almost exactly with the German practice. "I claim, therefore, that these figures demonstrate that we can produce not only all our Bread and potatoes, but all the food needed for the animals pro- ducing our meat, milk, cheese, &c., and most of our butter, if we crop the soil of the United Kingdom in a proper rotation suitable to the national needs. " What must be done to produce these results .f First, it means breaking up 4,000,000 acres of grass land; second, we must grow wheat in England at least one year out of three, produce more oats and barley in Scotland and Ireland, and also" produce an increased yield of about 213 per cent, of hay and wurzels through an increased consumption of basic slag and other phosphatic and nitrogenous manures. "The 'Agrioola ' scheme will also require the import of an additional Ij million tons of oilcak© (Germany before the War imported 2,000,000 tons, largely from our Colonies). If we require that we should keep nearly two million more cows, several millions more young horned cattle, and that we should increase our pigs threefold." 103 SCHEDULE I.—" AGRICOLA " SCHEME OF CROPPING. Table Showing how the Present Cultivated Area op, the United Kingdom can, on a Different' Method op Cropping, Produce all our Food Requirements. Pro- ■ '. ■., ' - Consumption. Crops Pkoposed duction Quantities required to Peed all Humans and Animals. Acreage. At present Averages. Horses. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. - Total. Acres. Total Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Tons. Qrs. Wheat. Equal to 8,000,000 — (32,000,000) Flour (the United King- — 4,830,000 • — -'i^ Tons. dom's needs). Bran, Middlings and other OfEals. ^^ _ 2,070,000 — 1,286,500 — 1,238,000 2,524,000 il Straw Barley, Beans and Peas... 4,000,000 12,000,000 5,786,000 6,20.0,000 — — 11,986,000 Grain — 1,950,000 — — — 1,956,000 1,956,000 Straw — - 5,000,000 — 3,200,000 803,500 1,000,000 5,003,500 Oats (chiefly Scotland and 5,000,000 — ' ^ L ,, Ireland). Grain — 8,430,000 3,128,000 — 321,000 3,449,000 Straw — 6,250,000 — 5,462,000 803,500 6,265,000 Potatoes 1,000,000 6,000,000 — — , Turnips 2,000,000 ,30,000,000 , — ■ ■ 16,736,000 12,856,00-6 29,591,000 Mangolds 1,000,QOO 25,000;000 ■2,357;000 20,782,000- ■• ■ 1,956,000 25,095,0|0, Clover, &c 3,000,000 5,250,000 1,408,000 2,008,000 3,416,0^(1 Total Arable) Cultivation j 24,000,000 /. Meadow Hay 6,000,000 9,000,000 2,000,000 5,341,000 803,000 _ 8,144^0b0 Grass for Grazing 18,000,0j30 Total Cultivated ) Area ... j 48,000,000 . Imported Import'ed : — now. / Cakes Linseed ) c - 361,500 _ 361,500 Decorticated — } 2,0,00,000 1 - 1,607,000 — 1,607,000 Cocoanut, Soya, Cotton i ( - 1,485,000 241,000 ~ 1,726,000 InJported 3,694,500 — 1913. 343,000 — — 1,890,000 Maize and Maize Meal 2,459,000 2,233,000 SCHEDULE 11.—" AGRICOLA " RATIONS FOR ANIMALS. (a.) Food op Horses aKd Colts : Rations per Horse and Colt i^er AnnujI. ■_ Oats. Hay. STRAW. M-AIZB. Mangolds. Grass. At lbs. day. Total lbs. per horse per ann. At lbs. per day. Total lbs. per horse per ann. At lbs. per day. Total lbs. per horse per ann. At lbs. per day. Total lbs. per horse per ann. At lbs. day. Total lbs. per horse per ann. At lbs. per day. Total lbs. per horae per ann. Work Horses— 200. days 100 „ 65 „ resting 12 8 4 2,400 800 260 10 5 10 2,000 500 650 15 15 20 3,000 1,500 1,300 2 400 15 3,000 60 6,000 Per Annum ... ' — -' 3,4C0 — 3,150 — 5,800 — 400 — 3,000 -=■ 6,ooog Colts (Average)— 365 days 2 730 10 3,650 10 3,650 — — — u^--.. ■ ■ 20 ■ 7,800 19792 G i 104 (b.) Total Food per Annum *or SoRSfis and Colts. Oats ... Hay .. Straw .. IMaize ..., Mangolds Grass .. 1,920,000 Work Horses. At lbs. p& Horse per ann. 3,460 3,150 5,800 400 3,000 6,000 Total Tons per ann. 2,965,000 2,693,000 4,971,000 343,000 2,357,000 4,714,000 500,000 Colts. At lbs. per Colt per ann. 730 3,650 3,650 7,300 Total Tons per ann. 163,000 815,000 815,000 1,630,000 Total per ann. Tons. 3,128,000 3,408,000 5,786,000 343,000 2,357,000 6,344,000 (c) Cattle— DUKiNO 180 Winter Days. * 2,000,000 Calves. 0-6 nithB.j>ld. 2,000,000 6-12 mths. , old. 2,000,000 1218 mths. old. 3 500,000 18-30 mths. old and Dry Cows. 600,000 Patting Stock. 4,500,000 Milking Cows. Total for 180 Lbs. each per day. Tdtal for 180 days. Lbtf. eao6 day. Total for 180 days. Lbs each per day. Total for 180 days. Lbs each day. Total for 180 days. Lbs. each per day. Total for 180 days. Lbs. e»ch day. Total for 180 days. Winter Days. Wbea*, and Oat Straw Meftdow Hay CloTeJ Hay Mangolds Turnips Linseed Decorticated Cake ... Cotton. Soya, or Cocoa- nut Cake Bran 2 3 3 1 Tons. 321,000 482,000 482,000 160,000 5 5 5 2 Tons. 803.000 803;000 803,000 320.000 16 5 20 2 Tons. 2,409,000 803,000 3,212,000 321,000 20 5 30" 3 2 Tons. 5,625,000 1,406,000 8,438,000 844,000 563,000 15 6. Summer, 5 60 6 Summer, 3 Tons. 603,000 201,000 201,000 2,410,000 241,000 12O,5C0 15 5 5 60 1 2 Tons. 5,422,000 1,807,000 1,807,000 17,890,000 3,800,000 1,447,000 723,500 Tons. 14,862,000 5,341,000 2,008,000 20,782,000 16,735,000 361,500 1,607,000 1,485,000 1,286,500 DCKINO 180 Summer Days cattle will be out at grass, the following Cake Allowances being made to Fatting Cattle only, riz. ! — 3 lbs. Of cake and 5 lbs. of olover bay. (rf) SllKEP. 12,000,000 Ewes and Lambs. For 60 days. 12 SHEEP Poi At lbs. per day. 000,000 • FATTENING. 90 days. 24,000.000 SHEEP. For 120 days. Total Tons At lbs. per day. Total Tons. Total Tons. At lbs. per day. Total Tons. per annum. Oats Oat and Barley Straw Hay Turnips Cake 1 1 1 5 321,000 321,000 321,000 1,605,000 1 10 4 482,000 4,821,000 241,000 1 1,286,000 6,430,000 321,000 1,607,000 803,000 12,856,000 241,000 (e) Pigs. 6,000,000 Growing (2-8 mouths). For 366 days. 2,000,000 Fattening (8-10 months). For 365 days. 800,000 Sows. For 365 days. Total Tons At lbs per day. Total Tons. At lbs. Total per day. ! Tons. I At lbs, per day. Total Tons. per annum. Pollard, Sharps and Middlings 1 Barley, Meal, Beaus and Peas I Maize Mesil 1 Potatoes (boiled) -^ Mangolds 2 Straw — 978,000 978,000 978,0.0 1,956,000 8 978,000 2 652,000 2 ' 652,000 2 2 260,000 260,000 1,238,000 1,956,000 1,890,000 652,000 1,956,000 1,000,000 105 SCHEDULE III— GERMANY v. "AGRICOLA" STARCH EQUIVALENTS. Table showing Comparison in Starch Equivalents between Actual Oonsumptiok of Food by Animals AND Calculated Consumption under "Aqricola" Scheme. Actual Consumption. Consumption under "Arbicola" SOHEMH. Total Consumption. At Starch Equivalents. starch Equivalents. Total Consumption. At Starch Equivalents. Starch Equivalents. Wheat and Rye offals Barley Beans and Peas Oats Maize and Maize Meal Linseed and Oil Seeds Hemp and Rape Oilcakes Tons. 5,534,000 6,647,000 1,654,000 9,407,000 904,000 1,129,000 312,000 526,000 0-54 0-74 0-69 0-63 0-84 1-19 1-00 0-55 Tons. Feeding Sti 2,988,360 4,918,780. 1,141,260 5,866,410 759,360 1,343,510 312,000 289,300 Tons. IFF Rations. 5,375,000 4,888,000 5,926,000 5,367,000 361,000 5,099,000 • 0-54 0-74 0-63 0-84 1-19 0-55 Tons. 2,902,500 3,617,120 3,733,380' 4,508,280 429,590 2,804,450 Total for Feeding Stuff) Rations J 26,113,000 — 17,618,980 27,016,000 17,995,320 Mangolds Turnips Potato and Sugar Beet Residues from Distilling, &c., say ... 36,900,000 10,060,000 15,000,000 0-07 0-07 0-15 Root I 2,583,000 704,200 2,250,000 Utions. 82,127,000 0-07 5,748,890 Total Root Rations 61,960,000 — 5,537,200 82,127,000 — _, 5,748,S90 Hay Wheat-and Rye Straw Barley Straw Oat Straw Mixed Corn „ Straw 30,015,000 32,000,000 5,000,000 13,500,000 2,228,000 2,000,000 0-24 0-11 0-17 0-20 0-70 0-20 Fodder 7,203,600 3,520,000 850,000 2,700,000 1,559,600 400,000 Rations. 19,057,000 35,632,000 0-24 Average. 0-14 4,573 680 4,988,480 Needed for Winter Rations ... . 84,743,000 54,689,000 : 16,933,200 9,562,160 54,689,000 9,562,160 Surplus for Summer Feeding ) of Excess Cattle ... ) 30,054,000 — 6,671,040 — — — 106 APPENDIX V. iTDMBER OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AS RETURNED AT EACH CENSUS FROM 1831-1911. Tear. Farmers and Graziers (a). Farmers' relatives. Farm employees. Total. Males. Females. Males. Males. •Females. Males. Females. England and Wales. 1831 276,037 m (c) 799,875 W («) i'),.. 1841 229,000 19,172 - (c) 922,855 37,294 (c) 56,466 1851 226,515 22,916 111,704 1,114,905 143,021 1,463,124 165,937 1861 226;957 22,778 92,321 1,106,279 90,249 1,426,557 113,027 1871 225,569 24,338 76,328 935,143 57,988 1,237,040 82,326 1381 203,329 20,614 75,197 849,829 40,346 1,128,356 60,960 1891 . 201,918 21,692 67,287 774,762 24,150 1,043,967 45,842 1901 202,751 21,548 89,165 631,728 12,002 923,644 33,550 1911 208,761 20,027 97,689 665,258 13,245 971,708 33,272 Scotland. 1831 79,853 (6) (c) 87,292 (6) ic) («) 1841 51,082 3,793 (c) 148,215 18,511 (c) 22,304 1851 48,658 4,865 24,168 148,783 64,527 221,609 59,392 1861 54,677 6,410 17,603 138,359 40,653 210,639 47,063 1871 48,396 6,817 34,473 122,227 42,773 206,096 49,590 1881 48,116 - 7,067 16,191 106,593 44,172 169,900 61,239 1891 47,525 6,807 17,081 98,718 22,055 163;324' 28,862 1901 45,573 7,522 17,550 88,091 19,810 151,214. ■ 27,-632 1911 43,966 6,712 16,627 87,832 15,037 148,425 21,749 , Ireland. : 1831 659,613 (6) (c) 667,4il (J) ic) («) 1841 453,268 18,134 (c) 1,228,771 126,549 (c) 144,683 1851 384,089 19,707 («) 935,027 1'I8,676 («) 168,383 1861 413,491 27,391 (c) 799,219 89,159 . («) 116,550 1871 392,251 31,390 16,473 665,896 81,950 1,074,620 113,340 1881 382,342 59,586 189,576 434,282 45,774 1,006,200 105,360 1891 348,435 68,568 212,731 374,147 27,013 935,313 96,611 1901 ...* ... 328,853 70,534 214,261 335,084 16,642 878,198 87,076 1911 328,473 54^694 169,216 '344,902 6,287 842,621 69,981 United Kingdt m. 1831 1,015,503 (b) (d) 1,464,608 (6) («■) (c) 1841 733,410 41,100 (d) 2,299,841 182,364 (c) (c) 1861 659,262 47,488 (d) 2,198,715 346,224 (c) (c) 1861 695,125 56,579 (d) 2,042,857 220,061 (c) (e) 1871 666,216 62,545 127,274 1,723,266 182,711 2,516,766 245,256 1881 633,787 87,267 280,964 1,389,704 130,292 2,304,465 217,559 1891 597,878 97,067 297,099 1,247,627 73,248 2,142,604 170,315 1901 577,177 99,904 320,976 1,054,903 48,354 1,963,056 148,258 1911 581,200 81,433 283,562 1,097,992 33,569 1,962,754 116,002 (a) Includes in the case of Scotland " Feuars " and " Portioners." (6) Presumably included with males. (c) No return. (d) Not returned as such (except lor Great Britain in 1851 and 1861). Notes. . (1) It must be remembered that the basis of the above figures is the description which each house- holder gives of himself, and the members of his house- hold. The number of farmers and graziers shown above bears no relation to the number of persons occupying agricultuial land, but represents only such as described themselves as farmers or graziers on their Census schedules, by reason of farming or grazing being their only, or principal, source of livelihood. In Ireland, for example, the number of agricultural occupiers in 1911 above 5 acres was 421,196, while the number of farmers and graziers according to the Census Returns was 383,167. (2) Owing to the different methods of classification, the returns for 1831 and 1841 do not afford reliable comparisons either with each other or with later years, and the same .stipulation applies more or less to the 18.51 census. With regard to later censuses also it should be remember^3d that occupation definitions do not carry precisely the same significance decade by decade, and consequently close comparisons are ruyb justified. (3) Farmers' female relatives are excluded as they are largely engaged in domestic duties and cannot be regarded as mainly employed on the work of the farm. (4) " Farm Employees " comprise (in the later censuses) Farm Bailifi^s, Foremen, Shepherds, persons in charge of horses and cattle, and ordinary farm labourers, but in the reports for earlier years such detailed , classifications are not given. In 1861 " drovers " are included for Ireland, as in the Irish return for that year " herds " were comprised in the category " herds and diovers.'" (5) The figures for the later censuses relate to persons aged 10 years and upwards, but the returns for 1841 (and 1851 in the case of Ireland), comprise also children below 10 years, while the occupation census of 1831, was apparently confined to persons of 20 years and upwards. (6) Persons engaged in market gardening and other auxiliary agricultural pursuits, are excluded on account of the difficulty of giving comparative figures for the different censuses. (7) The figures from 1881 onwards exclude the retired, who are included in some or all of the earlier 107 APPENDIX VI. THE EDUCATION OF LANDOWNEES AND OF LAND AGENTS. (See para. l7g.) T+ ^' + ^^® ®'^^'^^*ion of siirveyors, land agents, and landowners can be considered together, it must be begun m the schools and should be continued in the agricultural colleges and in tile universities. Few professions demand a wider range of knowledge than that of a land agent. He should possess an intimate knowledge of agriculture, forestry, building construc- tion accounts, local and imperial taxation, drainage, the Agricultural Holdings Act, the Settled Land Acts, and other statutes dealing with landed property; he should also have an acquaintance, real in character, though perhaps less complete than is necessary in connection with the subjects already mentioned, with agricultural chemistry, geology, botany, zoology, water supply, sanitary science and local government questions. 2. Specialisation in the early education of the land-agent is not advanced. A profession covering so wide a range of subjects requires a thoroughly sound general education in order fiilly to de.velop the mental faculties. An exclusively technical education, or an education too closely directed towards a particular profession, would confine the mind in too narrow a channel of thought. A thoroughly sound school education, of such a character as will tend to cultivate the powers of reasoning and observation, is the best foundation on which to base the technical 'training which must follow. 3. Since the foundation of the Eoyal Agricultural College, Cirencester, in 1845, various university and collegiate centres have instituted suitable courses of instruction for intending land-agents, and the nation owes a debt of gratitude to those who have founded and worked these institutions, provided that the necessary funds are available, it is generally agreed that such a course, to follow the school education, is to be recommended. A university education is doubly valuable in that it not only stimulates the mental faculties and prepares them to assimilate the practical training which must come after, but it should give the recipient a knowledge of men and a wider range of culture and sympathy which cannot but be of advantage to those whose business brings them into relationship with all classes of the community. 4. The Council of the Surveyors' Institution have recognised the advantage of the best possible professional education being placed within the reach of those ambitious of attaining the highest ranks of the profession, and have established scholarships tenable at universities of a total value of £790 per annum. The Surveyors' Institution has in fact done great service in this whole matter, but its efforts have been unsupported by the public schools, and only recently aided at Oxford and Cambridge. A young man cannot become a member of that institution unless he has passed a searching examination and become qualified for his profession. Many land-agents have qualified for surveyors, but it is an astonishing fact that men are some- times appointed agents for agricultural properties who have not only passed no examination, but who have had no experience whatever either of agriculture or of estate management. It is evident that landowners who make such appointments can have little perception themselves of the responsibilities, difficulties, or opportunities of land ownership. Happily there are a great number of land-owners and land-agents who do know this and who set an example of inestimable value ; but the fact remains that, in addition to those who are actually incompetent, there are a large number of excellently intentioned persons who do not realise that land owner- ship is neither an incident nor an accident of life but a profession, and, what is more, a difficult and exacting profession, and one which to a properly trained, hard-working and competent man may be made far more remunerative than is generally supposed. It is quite certain that if a land-owner knows his business, and is prepared to put into that business as much energy as is required for success in any other profession, if in fact he is rqady to give the full hours of a working day to it according to the size of his property, not only will everybody living on his property be more prosperous and happy, but the financial prospects of his own family should be greatly improved. If his property is small enough to be managed single handed, it is well if he can manage it himself. If it is larger, and he has the good fortune to have secured a good agent, the value of that agent's services and his satisfaction in his work will be doubled, if the landowner understands his business and gives his constant and sympathetic attention to it. If he has not secured the services of a good agent but does attend to his business, he will quickly appreciate the unfitness of his agent and make a change, or by criticism and guidance he may turn an indifferent agent into a good one. No one who has studied this question but is aware how much less return some estates yield to their owners than they would yield with better management. Therefore, it is necessary to dwell on the strictly business aspect of the case. But there is another aspect on which we wish to lay all the emphasis at our command, the unique opportunity which a landowner possesses of contributing by his personal wisdom, influence and sympathy, to the welfare and happiness of all of every class who live upon his iironertv' Herein lies the charm and attraction of ownership. But the infiuence must be personal * and the knowledge must be direct. The efficient agent cannot "be properly supported nor the incompetent agent be properly checked by a landowner who does not know his business or take his responsibility seriously. We- lay stress on these circumstances because there are pritics who consider the landowner a fifth wheel in the agricultural coach, and because we believe this opinion to be wholly erroneous We have pointed out in paragjaphs 46 to 51 of Part I of this Report that the landowner finds for the farmer both the land to farm and the industrial equipment of the land which alone makes farming possible; but if the landowner 108 did not make this double contribution of capital to the operation of farming, the burthen of this contribution must be cast upon the State, for only a minority of farmers could carry it. And there is a greater service still which the landowner can render to the commonwealth, and that is leadership in all forms of county government, in the amelioration of country life, and m progressive agriculture and forestry. It is just this power of leadership which we wish to see developed by all possible means at the universities. 5. Almost all landowners pass through one or other of the greater public schools, but what have the public schools done hitherto to bring home to them their special duties and opportunities? To which of them has land-owning been spoken of as a profession comparable to any other hard-working and interesting profession? Where has "agriculture been mentioned as a fascinating art? It is not suggested that agriculture can be taught at public schools, but something of rural economy, of the history of the land, and of the importance of chemistry to agriculture can be taught, and it is important that boys should have the opportunity, while yet at school, of appreciating, however dimly, what manual labour feels like by some practical work on the land such as has been going on at all the public schools during the war. Above all, the opportunity should not be missed of striking the imagination of those who are going to be landowners. 6. At the universities the opportunity for influence is gjeatly enlarged. The teaching and the schools should be definitely organised so as to meet the needs of future landowners, whether they take an honour school or a pass degree. There is no suggestion that landowners should not be encouraged to take the utmost advantage of the best teaching' the university can give them. What is suggested is that an adequate supplementary course in agriculture should be offered to those who study in the more famous schools, and that to those who have no special inclination towards philosophy or mathematics, towards science or history, the opportunity should be given of a degree, in which agriculture and rural and social economics might largely figure. We suggest to parents who are landowners that it is of vital importance to their sons, who will become landowners, that they should take such a degree or an agricultural diploma after taking an honours or ordinary degree. 7. After the university course has been taken some further help and encouragement is required for those who mean to adopt land-agenby as their profession. The most promising of these students will need continuation scholarships while they are articled in a land agent's office. The danger is that, unless such a prospect is open to them, they may not be able to afford to spend two or three years at the university. The Surveyors' Institution has set an ex- cellent example by endowing scholarships of this sort at the universities, and we hope that from one benefaction or another post-graduate scholarships may also be established. Agricultural Education at the Universities. 8. We have elsewhere mentioned the work being done for agriculture in other universities; the stress we now lay upon Oxford and Cambridge is due solely to the fact that the great majority of landowners go to one or other of these two older universities. We think it well to put on record what is actually being done there for agriculture and what may be done.. 9. The School of Agriculture at Cambridge is equipped with fine buildings convenient for teaching^ study and research; it is provided with a farm of 230 acres for teaching and experimental purposes and with another of the same size for research in Plant Breeding; it has a large staff of professors and lecturers and technical assistants ; and its work consists of — (i) Courses of instruction for — (a) the Special Examination in Agricultural Science; (6) the Diploma -in the Science and Practice of Agriculture, (ii) Investigations in agriculture and the sciences relating thereto, (iii) Examination and inspection of agricultural institutions, (iv) The supply of lecturers to the adjoining counties. (v) Supplying informajiion in answer to enquiries on points connected with agriculture and agricultural science. 10. A student who wishes to obtain the ordinary B.A. degree in Agricultural Science before beginning this course must have passed the previous examination. Parts 1 and 2, and the Preliminary Scientific Examination or a Special Examination, and his subjects of study are Agricultural Chemistry Physics Botany and Zoology, the Principles and History of Agri- culture, with Geology and Forestry as recommended additional subjects. 11. The examination for the Diploma in the Science and Practice of Agriculture is divided into two parts. Part 1 is the same examination as the Special Examination in Agri- cultural Science, but a student can be admitted to it without passing the previous or other examination and without joining the University or residing in Cambridge. Candidates for the Diploma are, however, urged to take the Natural Sciences Tripos, Part 1, with Chemistry, Botany, and either Zoology or Physiology Ss their subjects. They are then excused the whole of the subjects in the examination for the first part of the Diploma except the Principles of Agriculture, and at the same time can obtain an honours degree. Part 2 : a candidate for this examination begins his course by attending the classes on the University Earm during the first long vacation after he has passed his Natural Sciences Tripos. or his examination for the first part of the Diploma; and, during the next year, he must attend courses in Agiicultural Chemistry, Botany and Physiology, and in Agriculture, while Agricultural 109 Physics, Zoology, and Geology, the Parasites of Domestic Animals, tlie Principles of Cross- Breeding, the History and Economics of Agriculture, and Statistics are offered as choices of voluntary subjects. Moreover, facilities are provided for advanced study or research under the staff of the Department. 12. Further developments are now imder contemplation by which the college estates and the office from which some of them are managed may be utilised in the agricultural teaching of the University. It is proposed to build up a School of Eesearch Economy, in which should be included the existing School of Agriculture and central Land Office, to which the University and colleges should be invited to entrust the technical part of the management of their estates, and one side of the existing School of Architecture. We have here evidently a flourishing school doing a great work and with a great future before it. 13. At Oxford there is a School of Rural Economy which has been established on the Sibthorpian Foundation, and a Director of Researcli into Agricultural Economics. Both departments are housed in the same building, but they are independent of each other, not parts of one whole. The School of Rural Economy has a small stafE and modest equipmentj and it has no farm attached to it. There is at present no degree corresponding to that of Agricul- tural Science at Cambridge, but there is a Diploma in Agriculture and Rural Economy. The course of study for the Diploma must extend over two academical years and must be pursued at Oxford ; but members of the University who have kept by residence all the terms required for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts may be peripitted to pursue it elsewhere. It comprises the following subjects : Principles of Agriculture, Elements of Chemistry, Elements of Botany, Rural Economy, Agricultural Chemistry, Agricultural Zoology, Surveying, and at least one of the three subjects — the Elements of Economics, the Elements of Forestry, the Elements of Geology. The examination for the Diploma is held annually about July 1st. It includes written work, practical work, and a vivd voce examination. Every candidate must (1) have been admitted as a student for diploma; (2) have satisfied the examiners in the preliminary examination in the Honour School of Natural Science in Chemistry; (3) have satisfied the examiners in the Pass School in the Elements of Rural Economy ; (4) possess a sufficient know- ledge of Surveying; and (5) present certificates showing that he has attended approved courses of instruction in the subjects which he offers. In addition to granting the Diploma in Agri- culture, the University also recognises Rural Economy as a subject for the ordinary B.A. degree. The scope of the subject for this nurpose is the same as that included under -principles of agriculture in the diploma course. 14. It cannot be said that the school at Oxford has as yet caught on or acquired influence as it has at the sister University. At the present moment, however, a proposal for the institution of a Degree in Agriculture is under consideration. Considering the large nuniber of landowners' sons who go to Oxford, it appears to us to be a matter of great importance that the Oxford School of Rural Economy should be so developed that, after the war, the interest of these men may hi' aroused in the history of English land and of its tenure, that they may learn something of the laws and of the economics which specially affect country life, and that their imagination may be stirred to realise the great responsibilities and opportunities of the profession to which they have been born. Thework of Professor Adams in relation to Political Science has a direct bearing on the special worJf of Professor Somerville and of Mr. Orwin. All the materials seem to exist for the development of a famous school. APPENDIX VII. EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT TO THE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES OF AN ENQUIRY INTO AGRICULTURAL CREDIT AND AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION IN GERMANY BY Mr. J. R. CAHILL (Cd. 6626, 1913). (See para. 205.) AGRICULTURAL CREDIT. Mortgage (Long-Teum;) Credit. " In the number and variety of the agencies through which they can obtain long-term mortgage credit on relatively easy conditions, landowners in Germany, both large and small, enjoy signal advantages as compared with the corresponding classes in this country. Setting aside for the moment the Joint Stock Mortgage Banks, the whole of these agencies are in the nature of governmental, non-profit seeking institutions using the word " governmental " in a sense that would comprise the State, provincial, district, municipal (or communal) authority as well as those corporations of landowners which rank as public bodies. The various agencies may be divided into three main classes according to the purposes for which their loans are granted. In the first class there are four groups of institutions, namely, -the Land Mortgage Credit Associations (Landschaften), the State, Provincial, and District Mortgage Credit Banks, the Joint Stock Mortgage Banks, and the Savings Banks, all of which grant mortgage credit without requiring, in ordinary circumstances, any declaration as to the purpose of the loan. Th« second group comprises the Land Improvement Funds, the Land Improvement Annuity Banks, the Provincial Aid Banks, and the Imperial Insurance Institutions, all of which grant loans mainly for specific land improvement or building under- takings. The third group is that of the Rent Charge Banks, which are concerned with loans in connection with the creation and equipment of small holdings. "By far the most important class is the first; at the present time the total value of the outstanding loans granted on landed properties by the institutions comprised in it approaches £400,000,000. The Land Mortgage Credit Associations and the Savings Banks are represented in this total by about £170,000,000 each. With the exception of the Savings Banks and of the relatively unimportant Prussian Land Improvement no Funds all these mortgage credit organisations obtain funds mainly (when not exclusively) by the issue of land mortgage bonds. Thus the German landowner, by virtue of his institutional mortgage credit, is enabled to mobilise, as it were, a high proportion of the value of his lauded property by the creation of bonds that flow into the general system of securities, so that instead of only being able, like the English land- owner, to provide an individual mortgage security of very limited currency, he possesses facilities for converting a mortgage charge into a security realisable at any time in the general market. "The loans granted by the Land Mortgage Credit Associations are not subject to recall; the rate of interest is as moderate as possible, being closely related to the prevailing market rates for money, and cannot be raised; and while annual payments are required untjil at least a certain percentage of the capital debt has been accumulated in a sinking fund, repayment may be made by additional instalments at the^ mortgagors' convenience. Costs arising in connection with valuation and other preliminary expenses are kept as low as possible, and are often waived by the well-established Associations; the necessary contributions towards the cost of administration of the Associations are,- moreover, relatively inconsiderable', as the office holders, apart from the Syndics, usually give their services gratuitously. Proper consideration of loan applications is secured by the fact that these organisations are thoroughly conversant with agricultural con- ditions, and are in a position to appraise the value of estates and the business capacity of owners through their local representatives, who are themselves agriculturists and members. Through these local repre- sentatives, who, as members, are directly interested in the good management of their Association, the Asso- ciations are also enabled to secure continuous supervision of the mortgaged security without incurring expense. " German Savings Banks ai*e mortgage credit institutions of very great importance for farmers; in 1910 their total investments in rural mortgages may be estimated at £170,000,000. At that date Prussian Savings Banks alone, out of the total of their invested funds, which amounted to £579,000,000, had £115,000,000 outstanding on the security of rural property. They are pre-eminently, especially in Western Germany, the sources of mortgage credit for small and medium farmers, whom they accommodated also at a time when no other mortgage institutions were open to them ; and they now provide, in effect, nearly every district with a public mortgage credit institution. " From the foregoing summary of the organisation of German mortgage credit it will be seen that German landowners both large and small, are amply provided with credit agencies which, mainly of a public character and non-profit-seeking, grant loans, up to one-half or two-thirds of the valuation on first mortgage at moderate and unchangeable rates of interest, not subject to recall, and repayable by small^annual instal- ments to sinking funds, with facilities to make additional repayments on giving short notice. The Joint Stock Mortgage Banks form an exception in respect of profit-seeking, but the Mortgage Bank Act secures certain important advantages for landowners; and &e Savings Banks, although in theory they are debarred from granting loans not subject to recall, do in fact lend a considerable amount against reducible mortgages (which are not subject to recall), and, as regards the balance, are seldom forced to exercise their right of recall. Although not aiming at profits, these organisations are able to realise surpluses, the State and other Provincial or District Institutions, as well as the Savings Banks, contributing considerable sums annually to their guaranteeing authority for public purposes; wjiile the Landschaften, especially as a result of ancillary business (e.g., their Loan Banks), are able to apply substantial sums to the relief of the indebtedness of their members. " The organisation of Grerman mortgage credit presents the further important feature of decentralisation. The savings banks provide nearly every district with a public mortgage credit institution ; and the special organisation or organisations for mortgage credit in each Priissian Province, or in each State, bring their services within the convenient reach of farmers throughout their areas by their system of local representatives. " The organisation of institutional mortgage credit in Germany has been immensely facilitated by the complete system of registration of title in that country. The uniform system, based on the Prussian model and introduced for the Empire in 1900, provides for obligatory registration of title, priority of each regis- tered charge in the order of its registration, and freedom of inspection of the registers. These registers, drawn up for small areas and maintained by them, describe each estate and recite all personal charges (e.g., usufructuary rights) and other charges; and, in general, no claims against such estates not duly registered are valid in a court of law. It may be added that the total costs in connection with the registration or can- cel'-ation of mortgages are moderate. The registration of a mortgage charge for £500 in Prussia costs £2, and its cancellation half that amount, including in each case the notarial and court fees. Compulsory regis- tration of title as it exists in Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia, or at least compulsory registration of deeds (as in France, Belgium, Holland, North America and elsewhere), appears an indispensable pre- requisite for the foundation of a system under which landowners may obtain mortgage credit on suitable terms by the creation of land bonds which would take their place as first-class securities in the open market. In Ireland registration of deeds has been in force since the eighteenth century, and by reason of the transactions under the Land Acts, registration of title has taken place with regard to a great poi-tion of the country; in Scotland there is registration of deeds; but in England the system of registration of deeds appears to be in operation only for Middlesex and Yorkshire, and of registration of title only for London. Personal (Short-Term) Credit. " Under tnis heading is considered credit based mainly on the security of the general standing of the borrower, or of ihe borrower and his surety, as well as on an implicit estimate of his or their assets in the event of ultimate default, as distinct from credit based on the definitely assigned security of real property. The former credit tends to have the further distinction of being sought and granted for relatively short terms. " German farmers have advanced very far towards the solution of the problem of obtaining adequate credit at moderate rates of interest and on convenient terms of repayment by means of the 17,000 local co-operative banks established and conducted by themselves, such banks being further organised in central co-operative banks. The membership of 14,993^ocal banks existing on January 1, 1910, totalled 1,447,766 persons, a figure which represented one-sixth of the agriculturally occupied population of Germany in 1907 ; the total turnover in 1910 of 14,729 societies amounted to £261,665,000, and, at the end of that year, the loans outstanding for fixed periods, together with overdrafts, to £93,034,000, while at the same date the savings deposits totalled £92,429,000, and the deposits on current account £10,865,000. At the end of 1911 there were affiliated to 37 central banks (omitting the Prussian State Co-operative Bank) 17,668 societies of all kinds, of which 14,508 were credit societies; and the total turnover of these central banks in that year amounted to £410,391,000. " Despite this multitude of Raiffeisen banks, their large membership and business. Professor Riesser, the most eminent authority on German commercial and industrial banking, writing in 1912, observed that much still remained to be done and must be done in this direction, as ' agriculture requires a credit system adapted to the special nature of the conditions of its production.' And a distinguished Prussian Minister of Finance, in the course of a Parliamentary debate on the budget of the Prussian State Central Co-operative Bank, for whose foundation he was directly responsible, declared: ' This must be our goal — ^to have a co- operative loan bank in practically every parish of the whole monarchy. '' The first Association founded by Raiffeisen, in which the fundamental co-operative idea of the collective liability of the borrowers themselves appears, was that of Anhausen (1862). There were already in existence Ill •co-operative societies with unlimited collective liability, which had been created by Schulze of Delitzsch, a small town in the Province of Saxony, for the purpose of procuring credit for their members, who were mainly artisans, small employers of labour, and small shopkeepers. But Raiffeisen had in view the needs of agriculturists. " At the present time the majority of Raiffeisen banks in Germany may be said to present the following features : — limitation of area, so as to secure mutual personal knowledge on the part of members; low shares; permanent indivisible reserve fund ; unlimited liability of the members; loans only for productive or provident purposes; loans only to members; credit for relatively long periods with facilities for repayment by instalments; the determination every year by the members of each society of the maximum cfedit that may be held by individual members at any time as well as of the maximum total of saving deposits receivable and of loans that may be taken up by the Society ; absence of profit-seeking, dividends if paid being usually limited, as a maximum, to the rate of interest paid by borrowers for loans ; office holders, with the exception of the Secretary, not paid for their services ; promotion of the moral as well as the material advancement of members, and in particular the purchase of agricultural requisites for sale to members, and often the procuring of agricultural machines and implements for letting on hire to members. " The principal functions of Raiffeisen banks are : (1) to meet the needs of their members for supple mentary personal credit or current working capital, (2) to promote thrift among the rural population by receiving their savings, as well as the savings of non-members, and paying interest thereon, and (3) to act in general as the village banker. They are not meant to supply members with their entire working capital, but to supplement it; and, speaking generally, they supply such credit mainly on personal security and for productive or provident purposes. Loans are also frequently granted for part of full payment for holdings in those parts of Grermany where, smallholdings predominate ; and a certain number of credit societies have -carried out, with good results, the purchase and breaking up of fairly large properties. " These societies pay from 3 to 4 per cent. — at least 70 per cent, appear to pay 3 J per cent, and over — oh deposits ; and they endeavour to obtain deposits not only from members, but from non-members of every age and class. Savings boxes are distributed, saving stamps and saving cards of various values are sold, and every suitable means taken to collect the uninvested money of the community. As a result of their success in this respect the savings of rural communities are utilised for the purpose of further wealth production in the same area. "But it may be asked: what course is taken when deposits are insufficient (or even non-existent, as .upon the establishment of a society) or when they are over-abundant? As a rule, credit is obtained, or any excess of deposits over current needs lodged, at a central co-operative bank. From the beginning Raiffeisen recognised the necessity for combination among rural credit societies so as to provide them with a permanent centre at which depositing and borrowing might be advantageously transacted by non-profit-seeking organisa- tions which at once understood and took account of the special financial structure of co-operative societies and of the conditions of their business. At the presept time over 90 per cent, of the rural credit societies are shareholders or members of co-operative control banks, of which there are nearly fifty (including as separate banks the twelve branches of the Raiffeisen Central Loan Bank) in Germany. " These central banks are organised according to provinces or States. The German Agricultural Central Loan Bank, founded by Raiffeisen in 1876, extends its operations over the whole of Germany, but it has decentralised its business by the creation of 12 branches, which limit their operations to fixed areas co-extensive with a province, part of a province, or adjoining provinces, a State or congeries of small States, and which form in fact provincial banks. The other central banks in Prussia are attached to the Prussian State Central Co-operative Bank, which occupies in regard to them in some respects the same position as the Raiffeisen Bank occupies in regard to its branches. The scheme of organisation for Prussian Societies, is, therefore : (1) local societies balancing as far as possible monetary supply and demand among their members, (2) provincial banks adjusting similarly the needs of their constituent local, societies, (3) larger organisations at Berlin (namely, the State Bank and the Raiffeisen Central Loan Bank) balancing supply and demand among the central banks, obtaining necessary credit, and making necessary investments on the money market for them. " Outside Prussia no State Central Co-operative Bank has been established, but in all the larger States the Central banks are in receipt of State advances or ^redit to assist them when the monetary demands of the local societies are in excess of the deposits, of the latter and of other available capital. " It can hardly be anticipated that co-operative credit societies will increase at first with great rapidity in England, but English farmers are not alone in being highly conservative and distrustful of fresh projects ; in Germany the success of the movement was largely the result of the intensive propaganda carried on continuQusly from many sides as well as of the effective assistance of the State. The same persistent and penetrating propaganda itrork will be required in England ; and progress will probably be slow as in Germany. There are now nearly 17,000 rural credit Societies in that country; but twelve years after (1874) the first Raiffeisen bank was established there were only about one hundred of that type in existence, and in 1890 — nearly forty years after — their total number was 1,729." APPENDIX VIII. EXTEACT FROM A REPORT TO THE AGEICULTURAL ORGANISATION SOCIETY BY Mr. JOHN ROSS. (See para. 217.) HOW CAPITAL IS OBTAINED— THE BANKS. " Coming now to the ways in whic'- capital or credit are obtained, I take first the banks. " Throughout the country the condemnation of the attitude of the banks towards agriculture is almost universal. The general grounds of complaint are the indifference of the banks to the interests and the needs of agricultui-e ; their unsympathetic treatment of individual cases ; a tendency to deal with agricultural loans on a basis which, while possibly suitable for trade conditions, takes no account of the seasonal and other peculiarities of agriculture ; and the unfavourable or expensive terms required by them. This state of things is most commonly attributed to the disappearance of the old country b.'inker and his absorption by the Joint Stock Banks, who have substituted local agents 112 who in effect have only very limited discretion in regard to advances without reference to tlio hea^ office in London, and whilst styled ' managers ' are in effect little more than bank officials. Onticisin is also in many cases directed against the fitness of these men for their position from an agricultural point of view, particularly in their lack of the necessary intimate local knowledge, and even to lack of knowledge of agricultural matters. This is by no means to say that these men are incompetent business men according to the prevailing banking criteria, but only that a man trained m the commercial business of a London head office or a large branch in a manufacturing town is, no matter how able, almost necessarily devoid of the special aptitudes and knowledge which would befit him for an agricultural centre. " What is true of these agents is also broadly true of the banks themselves. Their prepossession is in favour of trading business, or 'high finance,' and the farmers' concerns are in every^ respect secondary. I have even heard quoted the speech -of a prominent banker to the effect that the ' farmer was not wanted ' by the banks. In visiting many country towns one cannot fail to be struck with the numerous banking branches, often five or six or more, all with modern, well-equipped offices, and the question naturally arises, from what form of business do *hey draw the profits which justify their competitive expenditure? By universal consent it is not from the volume of lending. These branches exist primarily as deposit agencies, which collect the local deposits and export them to the manu- facturing towns or to London. This was very frankly put to me by one banker who, in answer to my question whether his bank was in the habit of lending to farmers, particularly for land purchase, said : ' Yes, we do, but we prefer to find a private lender. It pays us much better to send our money to the trade centres, where we can turn it oyer more rapidly and earn more commissions.' No one, of course, will be disposed to blame them for managing their own business to the best advantage, but the fact remains that the system fails to meet the needs of agriculture. It may be that it is not within the power of the banks to do both classes of business satisfactorily without an extension of their organisation which it is outside of their capacity to deal with satisfactorily. " The bankers' opinion of the farmer was on the whole very favourable. Repeatedly I heard it expressed that the farmer is the best class of person to whom a banker can lend from the point of view of safety, and that the percentage of loss incurred through them is extremely low. The bankers' knowledge of the farmer, however, is, I think, limited pretty closely to the larger man. No doubt they do in some cases deal with the smaller men, and lend to as low an amount as £5, but I do not judge that these oases are very common, although they may be on the increase. The smaller men are undoubtedly learning the use of banks, and many, who until recently in some districts made all their payments in cash and did not know how to make use of a bank and cheques, are now coming to do BO. This in itself is bound to have a certain educative effect on the more ignorant, and it opens a way to helping the farmer to a better knowledge of his financial position. A bank account is only a limited means of testing this, it is true, . but as there are many farmers who keep no books at all, this can serve to give them a better idea of their position than they would otherwise have. It is conceivable that a sympathetic banker who had once gained the confidence of these farmers might extend his assistance to the farmer in this matter of book-keeping still further. In any system which may be devised for dealing with credit to farmers, I think this is a matter which should he providee^ for, as it would not only strengthen the farmer himself by giving him a much better knowledge of the working of his business, but it would equally prove valuable to the credit organisation, as supplying it with intimate knowledge of the f armer s position, and affording it the means of wisely advising him. SUBTERRANEAN CREDIT. " But by the great mass of the agricultural population in this country, capital or credit are obtained — for they cannot do without it and do obtain it — not through the banks . , . but in ways less satisfactory, certainly often expensive, and too often positively harmful and even ruinous. The moneylender, the tradesman, the dealer, the auctioneer, the seedsman, the manure merchant — these are the bankers for the great bulk of agriculture. " Apart from the question of the unsound borrower and whether means can be found to redeem his position for him, and so to keep him from falling into the hands of the moneylender, there remains the question, how are the attractions of secrecy and simplicity in lending offered by the moneylender to be secured to the borrowers along with reasonable and fair terms? The point is of very great importance, for these two requirements almost more than any others are essential to gaining the confidence of the small borrower and therefore to making it possible to help him on sound lines. J have found that in the credit societies their comparative failure to assist any of the labourers is set down to the absence of these two essentials — particularly the former. " Long credit then, froin tradesmen, aufctioneers and seedsmen is the commonest of all the modes of capitalisation. There are even extreme cases of men who have carried the practice to such an extent that they are practically without capifffel of their own, and deliberately finance themselves by running up bills with all the firms with whom they deal. An inevitable accompaniment of this is the occurrence of bad debts with all the demoralising consequences which follow. From one point of view, however, these tradesmen may be looked upon as benefactors of the agricultural community, and where the terms of their credit have been reasonable this is undoubtedly the case, as they have supplemented the deficiencies of the joint stock banking systems, and have acted as intermedi^ies generally between the banks and the general population in the distribution of cred^;. Even where their terms of business have been exacting, or even harmful, they have performed a function which the banks have failed to assume. Necessarily this has arisen because, as one of the very conditions of their business, they acquire a knowledge of their customers far more intimate than is possible for the banks, and are thus able to deal with the granting of credit where the bailks have neither the information nor the means for doing so. Not that I regard the dispensing of credit, as it has been worked and is worked by these men, as in any sense satisfactory. It is far removed from that, but they have performed the function, and I believe that in their experience and in many of their methods we can find an invaluable guide to a sound solution of the problem. It must always be kept in mind that the fundamental objective and use of all credit is to facilitate the exchange of goods and services, and that its distribution can scarcely too closely coincide with that exchange, since its repayment depends on the results. " The failure of the joint stock banks to meet the needs of all classes is mainly due, then, to their too great dissociation from this practical business of exchange. They have left the regulation of this to merchants and traders, amongst whom quite naturally and necessarily systems of credit totally unregulated and often, undesirable, have grown up. " In the co-operative trading associations, however, we have already in existence the actual concrete business for which a regulated credit system may be devised and to which it can be fitted. " The principal objection to the tradesman's long credit is that it too often goes hand-in-hand with a claim upon the disposal of the borrower's produce. There do exist instances of reputable firms giving long credit who make no direct charge for this, merely fixing their prices on a basis to correspond, or a direct interest charge may be made, no attempt of any sort being made to obtain any further advantage from the concession of credit. Undesirable features of tradesmen's creditj however, which are to be found pretty widely, are: (a) high prices with poor quality of goods . . Where the farmer is already indebted he is helpless to protost against any of these practices, knowing 113 that his protest will be met with an instant demand for payment of what is owing. The worst feature of this kind of credit, however, is (c) where it is granted in consideration that the farmer shall sell his produce or his crop to the tradesman — seedsman or other. Such transactions are not necessarily undesirable, but open the way to abuse in their present unregulated condition. The price at which produce, &c., is taken in exchange is often fixed entirely by the tradesman in his own interest, and if the farmer dares to protest, which he is as a rule afraid to do, he is promptly called upon to pay his debt. In theory the interest on the advance is supposed to be included in the price charged for the seeds and fertilizers, but apart from interest the price is frequently in excess of market rate. The price given for the produce is lower than market rate, ostensibly on account of the supposed advantage to the farmer in finding him a market for his crop in advance. In reality he has no choice of market, and the reduction of price is actually a second interest charge for the original advance. He thus pays in three ways for the advance ..-. . . ! Men in his position are ' tied,' and it is difficult to say whether these conditions of business or the operations of the ordinary moneylender are more really harmful to pi-osperity amongst the agricviltural classes, Forms op Security, " One of the most difficult questions to be dealt with in devising any system of credft, as also one of the most vital, is the question of security. " The various ways in which this is dealt with in practice may be classed under three heads ; -^ 1. Documentary security assigning material assets. 2. Personal security backed by guarantees by third parties. 3. Character security. " " I have found all three methods in use with the joint stock banks, with, if anything, a preference for the second, although in some cases personal knowledge of the borrower and reliance on his general standing and character are accepted as sufficient. This, however, as I have already pointed out, is within the somewhat narrow limits of the larger and more prosperous, and so better-known, farmers, who from the very fact of their greater prominence in a district can be more easily supervised and known about. " One of the difficulties connected with advances to farmers is the landlord's lien for rent. The existence of this preferential right to distrain for rent is often spoken of as a great hindrance to the advance of money by bankers on farm stock. Without entering into the question of the possibility of the removal of this right from the landlord, I am disposed to believe that the difficulty can be largely got over if, in dealing with the farmer over such advances, attention is directed less to attaching specific security of the kind in question, and rather to his financial position as a whole, his standing, his methods and his character. This involves a close and sympathetic handling of his case which would be in marked contrast to the attitude now prevalent of basing security on a perfect legal claim rather than on the inherent soundness of the borrower and his business. Here again it is largely for the farmer to see to it that he presents the security he has to offer in a marketable form, as, for instance, by keeping proper books and accounts which will readily show how he stands. The process is analogous to that of the grading and standardising of his produce with a view to obtaining better prices, or the packing of it in a wsty which will take advantage of the most favourable railway rates. These are things which must be undertaken by himself and cannot be performed for him by his customers or the railway company. Similarly, he must organise his security and present it in such a form as to command the best terms the banks can offer, and he must not expect the banks to do this for him. " Coming next to the terms and security for credit given by trademen and others. I have already referred to the undesirable and often ruinous terms which are imposed, and which are often the more dangerous because their real effect is skillfully concealed, whilst the seeming benefits are emphasised. Withal, however, it cannot be overlooked that a system which is so widespread and which attracts and serves such a large proportion of the agricultural classes, must have in it some element of fitness, and that if the unsatisfactory characteristics can be eliminated there may be useful lessons to be learned and applied. " Now the principal features of tradesmen's credit are that it is granted by the advance, not of money, but of-goods of one kind or another for a longer or shorter period, and in the vast majority of cases without written seciirity or documentary formalities of any sort. The tradesman ' sells ' his goods to the purchaser on terms as to payment, or at such a price, as allows for interest up to the date of settlement. The extra risks which he runs through absence of formal security where this would be required in the case of a cash advance, and also the difficulties attendant on realisation in the event of legal proceedings becoming necessary, are also presumably taken account of in the price. " And thus we find at one end of the scale the rigid banker relying too strictly on legal and material security, and at the other the tradesman relying on a high or even extortionate insurance rate. The resulting selection of persons to whom credit may be given is thus determined at both extremes primarily by considerations which are entirely apart from those of the character of the individual borrower or the purpose and quality of his work. In both cases the dominating aim is profit, independent of any consideration as to the results of the credit given. It is difficult to say which of the two extremes in the handling of credit may prove to be the more socially hai-mful in the long run. " But alongside of the undesirable and harmful forms of tradesmen's credit, there is an immense amount of credit granted by tradesmen in the ordinary course of business which is charged for in quite a regular way. The vast bulk of this is granted without anything whatever in the nature of security such as a banker would require for an advance of cash to a similar amount. Wherein does, the difference lie? We may naturally ask, if the tradesman can do it, why not the banker? Whatever the cause, the fact of the absence of formality and that it can be dispensed with so largely is, it seems to me, the vital point of interest, and offers the clue to a more easily workable credit system, viz., that by making advances in tangible form, i.e., of the necessary requirements for which credit is asked, and through the co-operative trading societies, the real needs of borrowers of this type can be met with far more effectiveness and much more widely. My constant experience in all parts of the country was that men have no objection whatsoever to becoming borrowers of goods on credit, but have the most decided aversion to borrowing from banks, even if the charge for the banker's credit is less than the charge for the tradesman's credit. This feeling is not that of men who are undesirables and so think the one method of obtaining credit easier for them than the other, but of quite honest, responsible men." 19793 ^ lU APPENDIX IX. EXTRACT FEOM THE INTRODUCTION OF PART I. OF THE FINAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE ON THE SETTLE- MENT AND EMPLOYMENT ON THE LAND OF DISCHARGED SAILORS AND SOLDIERS. (See para. 229.) The following paragraphs are extracted from Part I. of the Final Report of the Depart- mental Committee on Land Settlement for Sailors and Soldiers [Cd. 8182], 1916: — Settlement by County Councils. ^ 103. We have recommended above that ex-Service men possessing the necessary experience and capital who want accommodation holdings to be worked in conjunction with some other business or who are not prepared to move to the State colonies should be provided for by the county councils, and it is necessary to consider whether the powers of county councils under the Small Holdings Act are, adequate for the purpose. 104. Much depends on the extent of the demand, which must be a matter of speculation, but in view of the numerous applications for smallholdings which remained unsatisfied in 1914, and seeing that the purchase of land under the Act has been suspended since the war began, it is certain that there will be considerable arrears to make up as soon as the War is over. Large numbers of the agricultural classes, including many farmers' sons, have joined the forces, and it is probable that many who were formerly agricultural labourers will swell the ranks of the applicants for county council small holdings when they return. In view of the higher standard of living to which their families have become accustomed owing to the scale of separation allowance^, and in view of their own experience in the Army, it is probable that they will be reluctant to return to the work of an agricultural labourer at the rate of wages and under the conditions which obtained prior to the War. It is true that wages have risen sub- stantially in the last two years, but in many parts of the country they are still below the amounts which are being paid as separation allowances to the wives and families of many labourers who have enlisted. 105. We think, therefore, that county councils must expect a largely increased demand for small holdings when the War is over, quite apart from the applicants who will be provided for in the State colonies. It has hitherto been the experience of councils that very few of their applicants will move from their own villages or districts, and that the majority of them are not in a position to take self-supporting holdings in the first instance. This experience is likely to be repeated in the case of many applicants who are ex-Service men. They will wish to settle in the neighbourhood from which they came and to which they are accustomed, and, if so, they will probably not be prepared to go to the State colonies. 106. Assuming, therefore that there will be an increased demand, we think that steps must be taken to see that it will be satisfied with reasonable expedition. The Small Holdings Act contains adequate powers for the acquisition of land, if they are exercised, but, though over 200,000 acres have been acquired under the Act, it has taken seven years to do it, and the progress made has varied very much in different counties. There are 50 county councils in England, and six of them are responsible for more than one-third of the total area acquired under the Act. There is now no hostility to the Act on the part of most councils, but mai^ of them do not administer it with much enthusiasm, and they have been too much disposed to consider only the particular demands of the applicants on their books and to acquire isolated holdings for them, rather than to take the bolder line of purchasing large estates as they come into the market and forming colonies to which tenants would be attracted. Where' councils have done this judiciously they have found plenty of good tenants among men who will not apply until they see land in sight. 107. If the views we have stated above prove correct, it becomes most important to remove any obstacles in the way of county councils providing small holdings for ex-Service men, as well as for other unsatisfied applicants not belonging to the Services, on a more liberal scale and with less delay than hitherto. It will be necessary for the Treasury to remove its veto on the Public Works Loans Commissioners making advances for this purpose, as until this is done no county council will agree to purchase land on a large scale, even with the consent of the Board of Agriculture. As soon as the Treasury has consented to the principle of once more issuing loans, we think that a circular letter should be addressed by the President of the Board of Agriculture to each county council, pressing the subject on their immediate attention, and urging them to make early preparations for the settling of local applicants in groups rather than individually, on the lines we have suggested for the State Colonies. We anticipate that most of the councils will take prompt action if appealed to on patriotic grounds to help those men who have voluntarily fought for their country, and we prefer to rely on their willingness to do this rather than on the provisions of the Small Holdings Act for dealing with councils in default. 108. The reluctance that many councils have hitherto shown to purchase land on a large scale is largely due to their ' apprehension that losses will be incurred which will fall on the ratepayers, and to their belief that they will not be able to obtain nny adeqviate contribution towards such losses from the Exchequer. 115 109. Uiyier section 6, sub-section (4), of the Small Holdings Act, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries may with the consent of the Treasury pay out of the Small Holdings Account the whole or any part of a loss incurred in carrying out a scheme under the Act, and an undertaking was given by the Government during the passage of the Bill that one-half of any irrecoverable losses incurred by county councils in carrying out schemes would be paid out of public funds. The councils complain, however, that the benefit of this provision has been largely minimised by the regulations under which it is administered. The effect of these regulations is that councils cannot obtain any contribution towards a loss on a particular scheme, unless there has been a loss on their whole small holdings undertaking. On the other hand, section 7, sub-section (3), of the Act makes it necessary for each scheme to be self -supporting and obliges them to keep' separate accounts for each scheme. 110. It would very much simplify and facilitate the working of the Act if the whole of the procedure of schemes were swept away and the Board and the county councils became partners in the whole business of small holdings administration. If this were done it would be necessary to enact that the acquisition and sub-division of lands by councils should be subject to the approval of the Board, that the accounts of the council should be kept as of one concern, and that at the end of each year the profit or loss on the year should be ascertained. If there was a loss one-half would be paid by the Board and the other half by the council. At present the Board can only pay half the loss on a scheme, whereas many of the charges which fall on the rates are caused by general administrative expenses not attributable to any particular scheme and towards which the Board cannot contribute. 111. If the procedure were altered in this way a fruitful cause of dissatisfaction would be removed, and we believe that it would act as a substantial inducement to county councils to acquire sufficient land to satisfy any genuine demand for small holdings. We recommend, therefore, that the Act should be amended accordingly. 112. We think, also, that it would be an additional inducement to county councils to establish small holdings colonies rather than isolated holdings if the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries were authorised to contribute towards the salary of a resident instructor, and towards the initial capital cost of providing a central depot, store, jam factory, creamery or other similar organisation, for any colony created by a county council, if the scheme for its sub- division and equipment was approved by the Board. There are precedents for assistance of the kind in the Farm Institute scheme of the Board under which the Board contribute towards the salaries and expenses of the agricultural organisers and instructors of the county councils and towards the building of the institutes. If the Government agree to our recommendations that military hutments should be handed over to the Board for the settlement of ex-Service men on the land, we suggest that the Board might place some of them at the disposal of any councils who may establish colonies for ex-Service men. 113. These hutments could be used not only for cottages and farm buildings, but also ■for a central depot, store, jam factory, &c. This would encourage councils to prepare a scheme of land settlement on the same lines as the State colonies which we have recommended, and which we hope may serve as models for county council settlements in the future. 114. There are certain other directions in which experience has shown that the Act might be strengthened with- advantage, and we recommend that the following amendments should be made: — (1) Councils should be given the same powers to improve and manage their property as are possessed by the trustees of a settled estate. The present powers contained in section 8 of the Act are very insufficient. They are taken from the Small Holdings Act, 1892, which contemplated prompt sale to the small holders, and they are quite inadequate for land most of which is let to tenants. For instance, councils cannot spend money in planting land with fruit trees or bushes or in supplying grass seed for laying down pasture, and they cannot erect any buildings or carry out improvements except on the occasion of a sale or letting. Nor can they spend any money for the common advantage of the tenants of their estates, e.^., by purchasing and hiring out farm implements. It is impossible for councils to provide one of their tenants with additional buildings or carry out any improvements on his holding without terminating his tenancy and entering into a fresh agreement. (2) The maximum term of 50 years for loans for buildings on small holdings should be extended to 60 years, which is the term granted under the Housing Acts. (3) Buildings erected under the Small Holdings Act with the approval of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries should be exempted from local byelaws. This will be particularly necessary if councils are able to obtain the use of military hutments for the equipment of small holdings. (4) Provision should be made to deal with the grievance of the tenants of small holdings that they have to pay in their rents for the purchase of the land. (5) Section 41 (3) of the Act should l)e repealed.* ' This section was intended to protect the existing small holdings from com- pulsory acquisition, but it has been found that it also esrempts holdings below 50 acres which are occupied by farmers holding other farms in addition, and it has enabled some landlords to let a large farm in separate holdings of less than 50 acres to a number of bogus tenants, while the whole remains in fact in one occupation. * We think that this restriction should be amended rather than repealed. Existing bond Me smallholding shonld certainly be protected from compulsory acquisition. 19793 ^ ^' 116 (6) THe powers of county councils to acquire land for tlie purpose of providing small holdings should be extended to the purchase or hiring of land for the purpose of leasing it to a parish council for sub-letting in allotments. This would facilitate the provision of allotments and would be advantageous to parish councils both financially and administratively. The borrowing powers of parish councils under the Act as it stands are less favourable than those of county councils, and county councils are in a better position to negotiate for the acquisition of land than most parish councils, who have no expert staff. APPENDIX X. EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF LORD HAVERSHAM'S COMMITTEE GIVING AN EXAMPLE, BY SIR H. TRUSTRAM EVE, K.B.E., OF A REDUCIBLE MORTGAGE, &c. {See para 235.) (Handed in by Sir H. Trustram Eve and referred to in the chapter of the Report entitled " Small Holdings.") " A Farm : Acreage, 100 acres. Present rent, £100. Annual value or market rent to-day, £120. Tithe, £10. Land tax, £2. Repairs, estimated to cost per annum, £8. " Calculation fou Purchase Price. " Annual value Less tithe ... ... ... ... ... ... "... ,, land tax ... ,, repairs Net annual value Years' purchase ... ... ... ... Market value ... ... ... " Calculation foe Loan on Annuitv System. "£2,500. Interest at 3J per cent Sinking fund spread'over 60 years, at ^ per ceiit. Annual payment on annuity system " Position of Tenant Purchaser. "Annual payment to State ... Outgoings and repairs Total payments per annum (same as market rent) " In this case I have assiimed that the present rent is 16f per cent, below the market rent of the day, and I have also assumed that the interest would be 3J per cent, instead of 3J per cent., as in Sir Edward Holden's scheme."* £ 10 2 8 s. d. £ s. d. 120 20 ... ... 100 25 ... ...£2,500 ... £ s. d. 87 10 12 10 ... ... £100 £ s. d. ... ■ 100 .:. 20 ... ... £120 * Position of the State as to Risk of Loss. The purchasing occupier is required to pay £12 10s. Od. per annum for 60 years, and, if the State regularly receives this £12 10s. Od. per annum, it will regain the full amount lent, namely £2,500 without loss. It matters not to the State whether the actual value of the farm is more than £2,500 or less than £2,500 during the continuance of the loan. What is of extreme importance is that the State should regularly receive £12 10s. Od. per annum. *It will be seen, therefore, that the total risk to the State is the capacity of a farm of 100 acres to produce out of profits £12 10s. Od. per annum. If we assxime the annual profits are at least £120 per annum, it seems clear that the required payment is a shade over 10 per cent, of the profits. The State also requires that the farm premises should be kept in repair, and the sum of £8 has already been q,llowed in respect of this liability. It is necessary also that the Tithe and Land Tax should be paid, and these have been allowed for in arriving at the purchase price of £2,500. If those three items had not been dealt with, the purchase price of the farm would have been £3,000 instead of £2,500, and the annual payment in respect of sinking * T he basis of this example remains constant, whatever the area, for property worth 25 years' purchase. If this farm had been worth 20 years' purchase instead of 25 years, the annual payment would be the same, but the loan would be repaid in 35 years instead of 60 years, as the Sinking Fund would then be' IJ per cent, per annum instead of i per cent. Il7 fund and interest would have been £120 instead of £100. It matters not to the purchaset whether he pays the £120 in one sum or in four sums. The State requires from the purchaser the annual payment of £87 10s. Od. by way of Interest. But, from the actuarial point of view, the exact date on which this interest is received does not matter, because it does not affect the question of regaining the amount of capital which hasbeeh lent, and interest, when received by the State, is not required for re-investment. In individual instances there may be ultimate loss of interest. If this occurs, it must be borne in mind that the scheme is based on 3 J per cent., which allows J per cent, or more on all money lent, to cover any loss of interest that may occur. From the above remarks I argue that an ordinary commercial mortgage, which is not reducible, cannot be really compared with a reducible mortgage such as is shown in this example. It f olloWs that the suggestion of 20 per cent, deposit in part payment is unnecessary. Power of Distraint. The position of the occupying purchaser will be in 'one respect different from his position when occupying under a landlord. He will not be liable to distraint for rent, and consequently his crops and chattels which were subject to this liability are now free from it. If it is thought that the State is running any risk (1) of not recovering the sinking fund of £12 10s. Od. per annum, or (2) of not recovering the interest of £87 10*. Od. per annum, I would suggest that the State should reserve the power in the mortgage deed to distrain on the premises for either or both during the first few years of the loan. With this added security it seems to me that the State would be secure beyond all reasonable question. This right of distraint might be limited to those cases where the purchaser cannot make a part payment of 20 per cent, or more without depleting his farm capital or borrpwing from his friends. Instalment System. There is an alternative method of repayment of the loan which might be used if it is thought that the annuity system of repayment which up to this point has been used together with the partial right of distraint, is not sufficiently safe. This alternative method is the Instalment System. Under this system the repayment of the loan is made by equal annual payments arrived at by dividing the number of years over which the loan is spread into the capital sum, and adding the interest on the amount of loan outstanding at the beginning of each year. The effect of the Instalment System is that the total payments of interest and sinking fund are very much higher in the earlier years and decrease annually, while under the Annuity System the annual payments remain constant throughout the period of the loan. From a study of the table referred to in the preceding paragraphs, it will be seen that if the interest on the loan is spread over 60 years, under the Annuity System, the State would receive, in the first year, the sum of £100 (the same as the net market rent), while, under the Instalment System, the State would receive £129 3^. id. It will also be seen that, after the twelfth year under the Instalment System, the State will have received £500 in respect of repayment of principal, which is equal to 20 per cent, referred to in Sir Edward Holden's scheme, and it follows that after six years the State would have received a sum equal to 10 per cent, of the purchase price. I suggest that, it would be fair to offer to a purchasing tenant the option of repaying, either under the Annuity System with no deposit, coupled with the liability to distraint for ten years', or under the Instalment System with no deposit, and no liability to distraint. Period— Years. 5 30 12 14 18 20 Instalment System. Amoant. Percentage. Annuity System. Amount. £ 208 41(3 500 583 750 833 8-33 16-66 20-00 23-33 30-00 33-33 £ 125 250 300 350 450 500 Percentage. » 6-00 10-00 12-00 14-00 18-00 20-00 I lay great stress on the point, that the risk of the State depends upon one question only, and that is this : can the purchasing tenant, over an average of years, . make sufficient profit, as in the case that has been taken, to enable him to pay the State £100 a year in respect of 100 acres of land, which are worth, apart from the outgoings, £30 per acre? After long experience it appears to me that the risk is absolutely nil. It will be admitted that, if the occupying purchaser failed to farm the land properly, and, in fact, let the whole place go to rack and ruin, the State would have to realise the farm and would suffer some capital loss, especially if the realisation occurred in the first few years of the transaction. But, in making this admission, my experience teaches me that these cases will be extremely rare, and the risk would be covered many times over by the margin of ^ per cent, or more between the 3^ per cent, upon which the scheme is based and the interest which the State would have made on the money, if it had not been lent to the purchaser, which is either 3i per cent, if the sum were borrowed, or 3 per cent, under the Insurance Act. 19792 h: 3 118 Scheme of Occupying Ownehship by means of Reducible Moetgage arranged by The State Objects. — To facilitate the purchase of land on a voluntary basis by the sitting tenant, whether the size of the occupation be large or small. Conditions. (1) The Scheme to be confined to : — (a) Sitting tenants. (b) The son of a sitting tenant on nomination of the latter. (2) The amount of the purchase money to be voluntarily agreed upon between the owner and sitting tenant. (3) The State to advance the whole of the purchase money, which will be paid to the owner. (4) The State may receive part payment of any amount, at 1:he discretion of the tenant. (5) The mortgage to be repaid over a period of years, and the interest to be 3J per cent. (6) The annual sinking fund to repay the capital to be based on the 3^ per cent, tables, and shall vary in direct proportion to the number of years' purchase which fairly applies to the net annual value of the holding. (7) No advance to be made by the State in respect of any proposed sale and purchase unless the Board of Agriculture certifies that the proposed purchase money is not in excess of the market value of the holding. Table showing relation between Years' Purchase of Property and Number of Years for Repayment of Loan based on 3i per cent.* Annuity Tables. Purchase Price. Approximate Annual Value. Years' Purchase. Interest at 3i per cent. Sinking Fund. Total Annual Payments. • Per cent. Years of Repayment. £ £ £ £ • £ 1,000 50 20 35 15 50 5-00 35 1,000 ... 48 21 35 13 48 4-80 38 1,000 ... 46 22 35 11 46 4-60 42 1,000 ... 44 23 35 9 44 4-40 46 1,000 ... 42 24 35 7 42 4-20 52 1,000 ... 40 25 35 5 40 4 00 60 ■ 1,000 ... 38 26 33 3 38 3-80 74 1,000 ... 37 27 35 2 37 3-70 84 From the above table it will be seen that unless the land is purchased at about 25 years' purchase on the modern annual value, the period of repayment is over 60 years. APPENDIX XI. VILLAGE RECONSTRUCTION, VILLAGE INDUSTRIES, AND SOCIAL LIFE. (See para. 245.) 1. It was suggested to us by Mr. R. E. Prothero, M.P., Sir H. Trustram Eve and by Lord Milner that the time had come for a re-arrangement of some of our villages to meet present needs, a form of re-enelosure in fact, which would have as its primary object an amelioration of the circumstances of the cottager and labourer. The following is an outline of the plan submitted to us : — If a wish for reconstruction exists in any village, application should be made to the Board of Agriculture, either by the Parish Council on the instruction of a Parish Meeting, or by the Agricultural Committee of the Cou5ty on the requisition of a certain proportion of the inhabitants of the parish. The Board of Agriculture should appoint a Valuer to make a thorough report on the parish, showing how it might be improved on business lines in respect of small occupying ownerships, gardens, allot- ments, smallholdings, cottages, cow commons, horse commons and recreation grounds. The instruc- tions to the Valuer should be such as to leave him complete latitude in making proposals with regard to the land in the vicinity of the village or its dependent hamlets, but should make it clear that it was no part of his duty to deal with farms in the distant parts of the parish. The Valuer's Report should be sent to the Board of Agriculture, who should communicate it to the Parish Council or Agricultural Committee, and it should be open to the inspection of all inhabitants and other persons interested. The Board of Agriculture should, through an Inspector, hold a local enquiry to deal with objections to the Valuer's Report, and the Inspector should then draw up a final scheme for the approval of the Board, setting forth in detail the changes to be effected, and scheduling the land to be acquired, the value of which would, in case of dispute, have to be determined by the usual method, where land is oompulsorily taken for public purposes. The Agricultural Committee of the County should be responsible for carrying out the scheme, and the Parish Council for its subsequent adminis- tration, subject to the supervision of the Committee. An alternative plan would be to a,llow the creation of a Public Utility Society to carry out the scheme. The money required for the acquisition of the necessary land, and its adaptation to its new purposes, should be advanced out of public funds, and repaid in instalments by the Parish Council, which in its turn should be recouped by the parties directly benefited in proportion to their several interests. On the other hand, the expenses of the valuation, the local enquiry and other preliminaries might reasonably be defrayed by the Board of Agriculture out of a Parliamentary grant such as was made under the Small Holdings Act, 1907. 119 ■». We are of opinion tkat these proposals which, are applicable chiefly to England and Wales, are well worthy of careful consideration, with a view to action on the lines recommended. We approve the objects of the proposed improvement, the suggestion that the Parish Council, or the Agricultural Committee of the County on the requisition of a certain number of house- holders, should have the power of initiation, that the enquiry should be held and the scheme be framed by the Board of Agriculture, that the responsibility for carrying out the scheme should rest with the Agricultural Committee, and that the responsibility for administering it when completed should be placed upon the Parish Council. We recommend, however, that the approval of the Agricultural Committee to the details of the scheme should be a condition of its final adoption. The possibility of such action would do much to stimulate a feeling of cor- porate existence and responsibility, and it might, we believe, be found to possess a further advantage. Combination for the purpose of conducting the business of reconstruction would appear likely to give rise to a community of interest, and a study of the requirements of others, which should facilitate co-operative effort and the organisation of credit. We recognise, how- ever, that in many instances difficulty may be experienced in combating the inertia which has been produced under present conditions, and that some stimulus may be needed. This, we are of opinion, might be effected through the co-operation of the persons responsible for carrying out the survey recommended in Part I. of our Eeport. In the course of their survey they would have opportunities of seeing where improvement was most needed, and should be instructed to report such cases to the Board of Agriculture which should refer their reports to the Parish Councils and to the Agricultural Committees concerned. 3. As suggested in the outline of the scheme public funds should be made . available for providing the money necessary for the acquisition of the necessary land and for its equip- ment, repayment being made by annual instalments of principal and interest, covering a period of 80 years in respect of land, and 50 years in respect of equipment. As the cost of the scheme must fall upon the Parish, it would probably be advisable to limit the annual cost of it to an expenditure representing the return of a rate of 6d. in the £; but, except as regards public improvements suoh as the erection of village clubs or social institutes, schemes should become self-supporting as the lands or houses- included therein were let or re-sold to occupiers. In this respect the precedent of the Small Holdings and Allotment Act, 1908, should be strictly followed. This measure lays down that Connty Councils must not acquire land for smallholdings except at such a price as, in the opinion of the Council, will enable all expenses incurred in relation to the land to be recouped out of the proceeds of sales or from rent, which must be fixed at such reasonable amount as will guard the Council against loss. The same principle should be followed in passing a scheme for the reconstruction of a village. As suggested, however, the preliminary expenses might be borne by the public Exchequer. 4. An important object being to improve the status of the agricultural labourer, we think that he should be given the option of either tenancy or purchase. Lord Milner pointed out in his evidence that experience abroad has shown that, although small owners often have a hard economic struggle, the fact of ownership has produced among them a corporate life which has developed their intelligence and taught them to manage their own affairs to a much greater degree than, is usual with a similar class in this country. In some cases doubtless tenancy would be preferred, but we are of opinion that provision should also be made for those who prefer the independence of ownership. When the latter is chosen repayment on the instalment system, as described in the paragraphs of this Report about Ownership and Tenancy, but within rather shorter periods, say, sixty years for land and forty in other cases, should be permitted, and in cases of tenancy the provision, so often criticised under the Small Holdings Act, by which capital payments were included in the tenants' rents, should be avoided. 5. We are of opinion that if occupying ownership is to have a fair . prospect of success those who decide in its favour should not be required to tie up working capital by being called upon to pay down a capital sum in respect of the purchase money. It may be argued that without such payment there would be no safeguard against loss, but it must be remembered that the character and circumstances of the purchaser would be well known to those responsible for the management of the scheme. Each application would be carefully scrutinised and would not be accepted, unless those responsible were satisfied that the applicant was a person likely to be able to" fulfil his obligations. The risk of failure in the early days of his occupation would therefore seem to be small, while with each year that passed the reserve fund provided by his repayments of principal would be mounting up as a protection against loss. 6. A further question to be considered in the case of sales is whether any restriction as to resale or sub-division should be imposed on purchasers. It has been urged that there should be no restriction, except that, in case of land, it should only be used -for agricultural purposes. We cannot, however, accept this view. Public funds will have been employed for a special purpose, viz., to enable an individual to become aii occupying owner and, until his payments have been completed and he has become actual owner, we are of opinion that he should be prohibited from sub-dividing his holding without the consent of the Council, and that in the event of his becoming non-resident the authority responsible for the scheme should have the option of repurchase on repayment of the paid-up portiou of the loan, less such sum as may be necessary to put the premises in a proper state of repair, but plus compensation for any improve- ments which may have been effected. In this connection it is interesting to note that the rules of the Westdale Freehold Land Co-operative Society and of the Guiseley Allotments Association, both affiliated to the Agricultural Organisation Society, impose restrictions on building — e.g., "each complete house must have attached not less than 360 yards of land," and forbid the 19792 H 4 120 use of the buildings for other than agricultural purposes, and t^at these restrictions continue after the payments are completed, and that the obligation to observe them is imposed in the deed of conveyance. We think that analogous conditions should be inserted in any deed of conveyance issued as the result of a scheme for the reconstruction of a village. 7. The Agricultural Committee should be given power to agree with the paj'ties con- cerned as to the purchase money to be paid in respect of their ^several interests in the land included in the scheme, subject to the approval of the Board of Agriculture that the prices were reasonable and such as would be likely to permit the land or cottages to be let or resold at rents or annual instalments which would prevent loss from being incurred. It would be necessary, however, to prevent the interests of individual owners from stopping reconstruction schemes, and compulsory powers on the lines of those contained in the Small Holdings and Allotment Act, 1908, or such as may presently be enacted by Parliament for acquiring land needed for public purposes should be taken. The Public Authority should also be enabled to withdraw in the event of the price appearing likely to be such as would militate against the success of the Bcheme. 8. In the event of Glebe, Charity, or University or College lands being acquired, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the Charity Commissioners, and the Board of Agriculture, respec- tively, should be empowered to sanction purchase by the payment of principal and interest direct to these bodies, instead of payment by a capital sum obtained from public funds. Similar arrangements should be permitted with private owners should they so agree. 9. In the paragraphs of this Eeport and Appendix XII. on Tithe Eedemption we indicate a method by which we think land may be made available for village reconstruction. To exchange corners of land and fields in and near a village for the tithe on other land may become an acceptable business proposition to a landowner. But for this particular purpose the land exchanged for tithe must be in or quite close to a village. Public Authorities and. Public Utility Societies are likely to play a very important part in providing the new cottages which will be required after the war, and usually such cottages will be built in the villages. The cottages existing on the farms should bei reserved in the -first instance for the men who must live near the farm buildings, the carters, cowmen and stockmen. The other labourers can quite easily go to and fro between the farm and village on their bicycles. 10. We wish also to express our hope that, when public money is used to facilitate cottage building, care will be taken to see that the countryside is not disfigured by hideous erections. There is no reason why, because a cottage is well and economically built and com- fortably planned, it should also be ugly. Village Industries and Social Life. 11. It would be an utter misrepresentation of the truth if the impression prevailed in the industrial population, which has no personal experience of country life, that nobody in the country parishes of Great Britain has any social sense and that there is no corporate life there. On the contrary, there are great numbers of persons of all classes in a multitude of country parishes who devote themselves in great happiness to the social service of their neigh- bours in one form or another, and there is a corporate life in every village. The proper per- spective in which to put the matter is that there is an unnecessary inequality of the development of this social sense and of this corporate life in different parishes, and that to raise the standard of the parish where it is weakest to the standard of the parish where it is strongest will be a powerful influence in rendering country life more attractive to young persons, and so in counter- acting their tendency to migrate to the towns. 12. Mr. J. H. Duncan, Honorary Secretary of the Scottish Farm Servants' Union, laid great stress in his evidence on the social results of the system, by which the working staff of the Scottish farms are usually engaged for six months in the case of single and for twelve months in the case of married men, whose contracts all expire at one time in each area. He pointed out that emigration has in recent years made the most serious drain upon the supply of farm servants, and that not from the lowest paid districts only. It is interesting to note that the wages are much higher and the hours of work are much longer in Scotland than in the South of England, and that Mr. Duncan was definitely of opinion that the Scottish problem was rather one of shorter hours and increased leisure and of social conditions generally than of wages. He stated that at the present time the Scottish farm servants are becoming more and more migratory in their habits, with the result that they have practically no place at all in the community, the -periodical hiring fairs creating a feeling of unrest and unsettlement amounting to a disintegration of rural society, and Mr. Dtmcan wishes to see these tendencies counteracted by a great development of the 'social life of the farm servants. He regards this as the biggest social question which has to be faced in Scotland, b\it hopes that the joint Committees of Farmers and. Farm Servants recently set up (and which will become general under the provisions of the Corn Production Act), will provide the necessary agencies for initiating a movement to deal with the engagement aspect of the problem on sufficiently broad lines. There is clearly a social problem to be solved in the country parishes of Scotland as well as in those of England and Wales. 13. Intermixed with the social problem are the problems of prospects and of continuous employment. Sriuillholdings have been justly described as rungs of the ladder, by which the.. 12.1 agricultural labourer can rise, but tliey are not the only ones. The wider spread is agricultural education and the more intensive becomes agriculture and forestry, the more openings there will be for the most capable men to become foremen, grieves, bailiffs and stewards, and such posts are very useful rungs indeed of the ladder of advancement. Copartnership may provide another set of rungs. Mr. E. G.'Strutt told us in his evidence that on the farms in Essex, which he manages, the practice has been for some years past to give an annual bonus to each man employed, varying according to the annual profits and ranging from £2 for an ordinary labourer to £20 for a bailiff. An employee can either draw his bonus in cash or leave the whole or part of it in the business, and he can invest any of his savings in the business. The men are guaranteed 4 per cent, per annum on all money so invested, and if the farm makes a profit, they are given the additional dividend represented by that profit whatever it may be. They, can withdraw the money whenever they wish to do so. Mr. Strutt said ^ihat the scheme is very popular with the men, and that it makes the working of the farms more easy and the men more contented. We think that this experience should become widely known. 14. Formerly subsidiary industries, such as straw plaiting in Hertfordshire and Bedford- shire and lace making in the Midlands, were common in the country districts, and in all the well-wooded counties the utilisation of the underwood gave constant and interesting employment in the winter months. In the stress of competition these old industries have largely disappeared, but some of them can be revived and with better organisation hold their own, and new industries may be introduced. This engrafting of industries into the country districts is most important from the point of view of agriculture. Every farm must employ more labour in the summer than in the winter months. Therefore, industries, which will give good winter employment to men and women, who in summer can be employed upon the farms, are very useful adjuncts to a healthy rural system. This has been thoroughly realised and successfully organised in Germany and elsewhere on the continent. It remains for us to do the same. If much grass land is reconverted to arable there will be much more straw produced. What should be done with the surplus straw? There, possibly, may be one opening for a. village industry. A great increase of potato farming may provide another in the preparation of dried potatoes for foodstuffs or in the distillation of spirit to be used in the creation of power. The increase of fruit farming will give increased opportunities for the preservation of fruit or the manufacture of jam, and fresh fruit requires baskets, and basketmaking means osier growing. Moreover, a State policy of afforestation should bring with it a great revival of woodland industries. What wisely devised organisation does in these matters is to make them possible for the many instead of only for the enterprising few. 15. We had interesting evidence on this subject from Mr. J. L. Green, Secretary of the Rural League, who spoke about village industries from personal experience but who also desired to encourage the decentralisation of urban industries, as has been done in Germany, by the location by urban manufacturers of branches of their business in rural areas. That this would be a good thing for agriculture as bringing a new market to its door and an increased population for summer work, and for the industrial population as carrying them into more healthy surroundings, and that it would enable both communities better to understand the conditions of each other's livelihood, is obvious. Whether it will be possible from the point of view of the urban industry as a business proposition must depend on the relative costs of production. 16. Since the beginning of the war the Eural League has been engaged in developing village industries with great success. Mr. Green told us that industries suitable to the conditions of village life were the mr.nufacture of fancy leather goods (similar to those formerly received from abroad, and particularly from enemy countries), baskets, and toys, and that a central body with County branches and a secretary in each village was necessary to organise the purchase of raw materials and tools, the provision of designs and models, the solicitation of orders, the despatch of goods, the collection and payment of accounts, and the dissemination of information, and generally to superintend the movement. 17. On behalf of the Eural League, he suggested that the movement projected and started by the League for the encouragement and establishment of village industries, successful as it had been so far, needed for its adequate extension a backing of a financial and organising kind from the State, as in other countries, and that it might very well work in with any future scheme for increasing the population of our rural districts, whilst it could also be linked up with the small- holdings movement as a Small Holdings and Village Industries System. 18 We have also had some valuable information from Mrs. Eoland Wilkins in respect of the Women's Institutes recently established by the Agricultural Organisation Society. These Institutes are simply groups of women organised and banded together for purposes of mutual, help the usual unit^being the village. As a rule they possess no local habitation in the shape of a building used for their own purposes alone ; they may have a rest room m the local market town but usually their meetings are held in each other's houses, m a room hired for the occasion or in. the village schoolroom. Their functions touch, but are not limited to, agri- culture ' Theif value lies in the fact that by organising village women of every class they - - " ■ ■■ " ■-' They are, to-day. or the County Councils in connection with itinerant instruction. In England Women s Insti- tutes were only started in 1915, in Ireland they were started about seven years ago under the title of the United Irishwomen, but in Canada they have flourished for 25 years. m 19. The experience of Canada is very suggestive. There, as we were informed, the Women's Institutes have made the whole difference to agricultural and domestic education. When the instructor comes to a village, where there is a Women's Institute, he is no longer met with coolness or indifference, he finds a receptive audience and an organisation which carries on his work after he has gone away. The Women's Instittites are regarded as an essential link between the instruments and the objects of rural economic instruction and between the different departments of government and the country folk. 20. The movement was started in England and Wales by the Agricultural Organisation Society in 1915. There are now 110 Institutes, with an approximate membership of 5,500, and the movement is rapidly growing. Its initiation was coincident with the outbreak of war; for this reason the popular interest aroused in the increase of food production led to the early activities of the Institutes being mainly directed to the better cultivation of gardens and allot- ments, the collection of vegetables for* cajnps, and the best methods for the utilisation and conservation of food products. The general results so far show that quite a new interest has been aroused amongst all classes of rural women in matters both of local and of national concern. Si. Those who have tried them in England and Wales believe that we shall have the same experience here as in Canada, an,d that if, as is anticipated, there is a large increase of smallholdings and settlement schemes after the war. Women's Institutes will play a great piart in making the settlers contented and the schemes successful. They are found to be a most effective agency for gradually familiarising people with the idea of co-operation and so for the formation of Co-operative Societies, and they furnish the exact medium through which a new industry can be successfully introduced into a village. 22. We are of opinion that the work started during the war by the Rural League and by the Agricultural Organisation Society should not be allowed to drop but that it should be encouraged and developed. We do not think that it is work which can be best done directly by the State, but, rather thab it should be done by some body, wholly divorced from politics, recognised and supported by the State. Such a body is the Agricultural Organisation Society, which we have already recommended for an increased subsidy in connection with its main work of agricultural organisation. The work we are now considering is different from but auxiliary to that work. We recommend that either the Agricultural Organisation Society in the three countries or some analogous body should receive distinct grants for these separate purposes, that the fostering of village industries and the formation of Women's Institutes should be entrusted to them under the supervision and control of the respective Departments of Agricul- ture, but that the expenditure' for this purpose should be kept wholly distinct from that on agricultural organisation. - APPENDIX XII. TITHE UEDEMPTlON. {See para. 249.) 1. The method of procedure would be on the following lines. The landowner would receive an application for land for small holdings or village reconstruction from some authorised public authority, or he might take the initiative himself and offer the land. In either case his power to exchange his land for his liability to pay tithe rent charge would depend on his success in coming to a friendly arrangement with the. tithe owner. There is no suggestion of compixlsion in the scheme. Each transaction would be in the nature of a separate bargain between tithe payer and tithe owner. If the landowner were successful in coming to an arrange- ment and the public authority w ere prepared to accept the land proposed to it as suitable for its purpose at the value put upon it, t[ien certain land would be handed over by the tithe payer to the County Council or other pubfic authority for the purpose of its scheme, while other land belonging to the same owner would be freed from tithe of a capital value equal to that of the land handed over to the County Council. If the tithe owner in question were an incumbent, then the County Council would become responsible for the payment to the Governors of Queeji Anne's Bounty on behalf of the living of an annual sum representing the return of the principal and interest in an agreed number of years representing a fixed and definite period. The instal- ments of interest would be paid by the County Council out of the rent received from the land purchased, and the land itself would become vested in the County Council, which would make provision for the sinking fund out of its General Fund.* * If the smallholder had decided to become owner of the land purchased by the County Council, the charge for sinMng fund would fall upon him and not upon the Greneral Fund of the County Council; 123 . 2. Mr. S. E. Downing, the Secretary to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, saw no objection to the proposed arrangement, and agreed that, for the reasons already stated, the present was rather a favourable moment for such a scheme to be launched. He pointed out, however, that the details of the transaction 'would vary in different cases owing to the difference in value of the tithe to the lay impropriator, the incumbent, and the landowner. For example, the present (1918) value of tithe rent charge commuted at £100 is £109 3s. lid. ; and allowing 5 per cent, for collection, and rates at 5s. in the £ on an assessable value of, say, £75, equal to £18 15s. full rates and £9 7s. Qd. half rates, the value to the lay impropriator (who does not benefit by the Tithe Eent Charge (Rates) Act, 1899) would be : — £ s. d. Present value of tithe rent charge 109 3 11 £ s. d. Less Cost of Collection 5,92^ „ Full Rates 18 15 24 4 2i Value to the Impropriator . . . £84 19 8| On the other hand the value to the incumbent, who pays half rates only, would be £9 7s. 6d. more, viz., £94 7s. 2f(?. The value to the landowner would again be different in that ie would be relieved of the full amount of the charge, £109 3s. lid. 3. The effect of this variation might be to vary the arrangement between the parties in- different cases, but we see no reason to think that the solution of the problem should present any insuperable diificulty in the case of reasonable persons. It is, however, clear to u^ that the present basis of redemption laid down by the Tithe Act, 1860, i.e., twenty-five years' ! purchase of the commuted value, cannot be retained, if it is desired to induce landowners in any considerable number to redeem iheir tithe rent charge. At its present value tithe rent charge could only be redeemed on the statutory basis to pay the landowner about 3§ per cent., which compares unfavourably with a return of slightly over 5 per cent, from public funds. About twenty years' purchase in our opinion would in most cases be a fair basis . for both parties^ but probably the circumstances, in different cases will be found to vary too greatly to make any flat rate, laying down a fixed. number of years' purchase of either the commuted or the annual value, prove satisfactory, and accordingly we recommend that the consideration in each instance should be the subject of negotiation between the parties, when the tithe owner is an incumbent and not an impropriator, subject to approval by the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty^ We further recommend that when both parties are willing to come within the scheme, but cannot agree upon the value, the settlement should be left to a valuer agreed upon by them, or, in default of agreement, appointed by the Board of Agriculture. 4. Some amendment in existing procedure will be required if a sufficient inducement is to be held out to an incumbent to become a willing party to the bargain proposed. Under the present system the money received for tithe redemption in such a case has to be paid to Queen Anne's Bounty and the incumbent receives from its Governors a fixed income based on the capital sum received on redemption. The amount of income allowed depends, at the discretion of the Governors,- on the rate of interest they are able to command and was for many years fixed at 3 per cent., though this has recently been raised to 5 per cent, in view of the rise in the general rate of interest. ■ We are of opinion that the income allowed to the incumbent should be the full return obtained from the investment of the redemption money, less a fixed sum, say J per cent., for expenses of collection, &c. 5. We will test the proposed operation by a hypothetical case where money can be invested at 5 per cent. A is a County Council, which in l9l8 informs B, a landowner and tithe payer, that it wants 100 acre's of land for small holdings in a certain parish X, in which he has property. B, who pays £109 3s. lid., the present value of £100 commuted tithe rent charge, to C, the rector and tithe owner of an adjoining parish, Y, in which B also has property, thereupon offers C to redeem this payment for 22 years' purchase at par, ie., for £2,200. C accepts .the proposal, and B offers A a farm of 100 acres, let at 22s. an acre, for £2,200 in X parish. A is satisfied with the land and agrees to take it for the sum named. 6. Henceforward A holds the 100 acres in X parish, lets them oiit to smallholders and out of the rent paid by them pays to Queen Anne's. Bounty £110 a year (5 per cent, interest on £2,200), and out of its general fund £11 (| per cent, sinking fund on £2,200) until the debt is extinguished. Queen Anne's bounty pays £104 10s. (i.e., 4| per cent, on £2,200, keeping the other f per cent, for expenses and sinking fund) a year to C and his successors in perpetuity. B has parted with 100 acres of land in X parish, but he is henceforth freed from any liability to pay tit;he rent charge in Y parish. m 7. A lias clearly got wliat it wanted, but how do B and C come financially out of tne transaction ? £ s. d. £ s. d. B's gain consists in the fact that he has no longer to pay tithe ... 109 3 11 B's loss consists in the fact that he has parted with gross rent ... 110 but as the annual outgoings (tithe, land tax, repairs, &c.) in respect of ' it averaged ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 . the net rent which he received was ... ... ... .•• -.■ 88 and that the rates hitherto paid by the tithe owner will automatically become charged on the land in respect of which the tithe rent charge has been redeemed 9 76 97 7 6 B's immediate gain on the whole transaction is therefore 11 16 5 and with a rapidly rising tithe he may consider the bargain a prudent one to make. C will have gained a fixed income of ... ... ... 104 10 and will have lost a gross tithe rent charge ... ... ' ... ... 109 3 11 from' which there were deducted for cost of collection and rates ... 14 16 8 J 94 7 2f C's immediate gain on the whole transaction is therefore £10 2 9^ It is true that C. will get no further advantage from the rise of tithe, but he will henceforth be unaffected either by any fall of tithe or by any rise of rates, and his income will come to him automatically and without any possibility of worry or trouble on his part. The bargain is therefore quite a prudent and satisfactory one for C. It is worth pointing out that, as the lay impropriator at present only receives £84 19s. S^d. out of £109 Ss. lid. of the tithe rent charge, he would be more anxious than the clerical titheowner to come to terms with the tithe- payer and that therefore in such a case the tithepayer might reasonably expect to make a better bargain for himself. 8. We strongly recommend that legislation should be passed sanctioning a transaction of this kind. In this way we believe that much land might be made available for public purposes without raising a loan or the issxie of stock. It is obvious also that the amendments we propose in the Tithe Act, 1860, would facilitate the process of tithe redemption by the ordinary methods of a cash transaction. APPENDIX XIII. THE SUPPLY OF ARTIFICEAL MANURES. {Hee para. 346.) 1. Potash. — Before the war practically the whole of the mineral potash used in this rsountry for manurial purposes, amounting to about 23,000 tons per annum, was imported from Germany, and besides the German deposits there were only two other extensive deposits of potash salts known, the Spanish deposits in Catalonia and deposit." in Abyssinia, the control over both of which Germans were endeavouring to secure. 2. We were, however, informed by Mr. Kenneth Chance, Managing Director of the British Cyanides Company, Ltd., that, as the result of experiments carried out under the direction of the Ministry of Munitions, he was satisfied that a sufficient supply of potash can henceforth be obtained, from the ores now dealt with in the United Kingdom, to provide all the requirements of this country for all kinds of use and at a reasonable price, provided that means were afforded for the perfection^of the process and sufficient plant was made available. 3. We have since learnt with great satisfaction from the Controller of Pfitash Production at the Ministry of Munitions that a scheme for the production of potassium compounds has been approved by the Minister and that immediate steps are being taken under his instructions to develop this industry upon \ national scale as quickly as possible. It would not be easy to exaggerate the importance to British and Irish agriculture of this discovery or of its consequent emancipation from German control in the supply of this manure. 4. Basic Slag. — This is a waste product containing the phosphorus, which is removed in the smelting of iron by the Thomas Gilchrist process, the raw slag being ground down to a very fine powder. Before the war the production of basic slag in the United Kingdom amounted to about 400,000 tons per annum, but the total internal consumption after deducting exports was only about 280,000 tons. 5. A large number of steel companies are extending their works and some are laying down extra plant to grind the slag produced. In other cases makers, who have the open hearth acid plant, are converting it to the open hearth basic process. It would appear, therefore, that the production of ground basic slag will be increased after the war, if the production of steel does not fall below the pre-war level. 6. Nitrate of Soda. — This fertiliser comes from Chili and its annual consumption in the United Kingdom for agricultural purposes was before the war about 80,000 tons. We are 125 ZZZ^^ that greater stocks have been accumulated in Chili during the war than at any Kdnl^^r?^ ^""^ *^/\*^' T^'^^-'- ^^''^^^ ^y *^^ ^i^i^t^y of Munitions in the United Jimgdom for the manufacture of munitions should after the war become available for agriculture. 7 ^iutphate of Ammonia.— Tliu is a by-product obtained in connection with the distilla- tion ol coal tar which is obtained principally from gas works and coke ovens. The pre-war production of sulphate of ammonia in the United Kingdom was about 360,000 tons a year, of which however, a large proportion was exported, and its use for agricultural purposes was much more limited here than m Germany and other countries. It has, however, been more extensivelv used during the war owing to the scarcity of nitrate of soda, and it is probable that in the future It will be more and more sought after by British agriculturists. 8. Nitrogen Products.— With, the largely increased area under cultivation which the adoption of our recomlnendation would bring about, the demand for nitrogenous manures in the future will be greater than anything we have experienced'hitherto, and much larger quantities will have to be used if we are to secure from the soil the yield in producathat we look for. All sources of nitrogen supply must be tapped to the fullest extent, and we hope that the resources at our command in the matter of nitrogenous fertilisers may be so developed as to render this country, in the event of a future war, independent of foreign supplies. It is only in recent years that means have been discovered for combining atmospheric nitrogen in a form suitable for application as manure, but experience in other countries has amply demonstrated the possibilities that lie in this direction. We are gratified to learn that a special Committee appointed by the Government has already been dealing exhaustively with the question of nitrogen products, and is likely to make such recommendations as will, if adopted, go far to solve the problem of the supply of nitrogen in this country. 9. Superphosphate — The average annual production of superphosphate during the years 1910-1913 was estimated to amount to 900,000 tons, of which 230,000 tons were exported and the rest consumed in the United Kingdom. The principal materials required for its manu- facture are phosphate rock, which comes from Algeria, Tunis and the United States, and sulphuric acid, made from pyrites, which comes from Spain. There is a prospect of a good supply of superphosphate after the war. The supply of sulphuric acid has been largely developed for the manufacture of Munitions arid should be plentiful, while the quantity of phosphate rock and pyrites will be limited only by the amount of freight available. APPENDIX XIV. TEANSPORT. (See para. 354.) 1. Ordinary Railways. — Concurrently with the growth of the import trade in competition with home-grown produce, there has long been a certain amount of frictioji between the farmer and the railway companies, the former alleging that undue advantage is given to foreign over home-grown produce; while the latter complain, with some justice, that the growers' lack of organisation make it impracticable for them to give the same facilities which are possible in respect of goods sent in bulk, carefully packed and graded, easily handled, and sent long dis- tances. The Departmental Committee, set up in 1906 by the late Lord Onslow, when President of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, referred to the small amount of success which had attended efforts made by the companies themselves to induce home producers to co-operate with the object of sending their produce in larger quantities, and packed so as to give good, loading in trucks, and reported that the evidence failed to show that the railway companies were giving undue preferential treatment to foreign and colonial produce. Most companies have now instituted schemes under which small packages can be dispatched cheaply and expeditiously directly to consumers, but the solution of the larger question would still seem to depend upon more effective combination among the growers themselves. So far as the ordinary railway companies are concerned, the grievances of farmers would seem to be directed against the 'rates charged rather than the services rendered, a branch of the subject which will be dealt witli later under cost of transport. 2. Canals. — Where speed of delivery is not essential, canals would appear to afford an obvious and inexpensive means of transport in respect of goods, of which the bulk is high in proportion to the value, and which are not readily liable to damage. The Royal Commission on. Canals and Waterways, 1906, dealt exhaustively with the general aspect of inland water transport, and compared the conditions obtaining in Great Britain with those found in certain continental countries, which have resulted in waterways being used for the carriage of goods to a much greater extent there than has been the case in this country. This has been particularly noticeable in the case of agricultural produce. Figures quoted in the Report of the Commission (Cd. 4979) for the year 1905 show that in France agricultural produce and manures dispatched by inland waterways amounted to 5,914,646 tons, or 17"4 per cent, of the total tralRc carried by this agency, while in Belgium the amount of agricultural produce carried alone amounted to 17'5 per cent., manures being included under the head of Unclassified Goods. If the proportion between the agricultural produce and manures may be taken as approximately the same in the two countries, the total of manures and produce carried in Belgium would amount to about 23 per cent, of the total traffic. In England, on the other hand, the amount of agricultural produce, apart from foreign grain, carried by inland waterways is insignificant.. The Report of the Commission points out that the Grand Junction Canal passes through nearly 100 miles of agricultural country. Yet, in 1905, out of a total tonnage of 1,794,233 tons carried over it 126 only 5,812 tons consisted of Englisli agricultural produce. During the same year 167,693 tons of town manure were carried by this canal to country districts. The development, of the motor has since resulted in a diminution in the trade in town manure, but it will be seen that even in 1905 agricultural produce and manure 'together amounted to under 10 per cent, of the total traffic carried on this important canal. 3. The reasons given for the small use made of canals in Great Britain for the transport of farm produce were that farmers both buy and seU in small quantities, for which purpose it is more convenient to use railway rolling stock than barges; that farm roads lead to the main roads and railway stations and not to canal banks; that canal companies do not, generally speaking, like the railway companies, provide sheds where artificial food stuffs or manures can be protected from the weather." It was also pointed out that the grea;ter part of England, especially the Midlands, have ceased to be arable and have been converted into perrnanent pasture, that the waterways provide too slow a form of transport for live stock, milk and butter, and that the amount of produce which might be sent by them has greatly diminished; further, that the eastern counties, in which much of the land is arable, and where formerly waterways were to some extent made use of by farmers for local purposes, are practically cut off from the Midland and Southern system of inland waterways. 4. The above reasons still operate against any immediate extension of the use made of canals for the carriage of agricultural produce, but if, as we anticipate, the proposals we have made result in a large additional area coming under the plough, this form of transit would seem to possess greater possibilities in the future. The substitution of motors for-horses would accelerate delivery but would doubtless necessitate capital expenditure on the recon- struction of the canals, while further capital expenditure might be required for the construction of roads and the erection of receiving sheds. Unless the traffic seemed likely to make such expenditure a paying proposition, it is unlikely that the necessary capital wQuM be provided, and an effort would, therefore, in the first place have, to be m^de to induce fariners to act in eo-operation to obtain or send larger quantities of goods by w;ater. 5. Short Distance Transport. — It is, however, in connection with the facilities for short distance transport that we look for the greatest iniprovement in the future. These facilities should be provided as feeders for the ordinary railways with the object of both expediting and cheapening delivery to distant markets. Whether development will best proceed in the direction of an extension of the Light Railway Systems or by the organisation of motor transport services, or by a combination of both remains to he seen. 6. In view of the large areas of land in good agricultural districts which are still four or five miles from the nearest railway, it is disappointing that the Light Railway movement has not proceeded with greater rapidity in this country. Doubtless this has been due in part to the comparatively close network of ordinary railways which exist and in part to .the initial cost of promoting light railway schemes, but mainly, perhaps, to the, difficulty in finding capital for an object from which the direct financiar return is uncertain. This latter view is. borne out by figures showing the number of schemes which have come under the consideration of the Light Railway Commissioners. In 52 cases Class A lines (i.e., lines on lands acquired, mostly steam motive power and such as would usually be employed for the carriage of agricultural produce), covering in all 532fths miles have been constructed ; in 137 they have been authorised and the projects are still in being, though construction has not been commenced ; in 100 they have been approved, but not yet authorised; while in 662 they have been authorised, but have since been abandoned owing to the necessary capital not having been subscribed. 7. The promotion of schemes received an impetus through the passing of the Light Railways Act, 1896, which empowers local authorities to construct and work light railways or to advance, by loan or otherwise, money to companies formed for that purpose. It also permits the Treasury to advance public money for the construction of light railways up to half the cost, if satisfied that local authorities, land owners, and other persons interested, have given all reasonable support to the project by the free grant of land or by other means. It is notice- able that between December, 1896, and the end of 1899, 122 applications in respect of railways Class A were received, involving 1,625 miles of line, estimated to cost nearly nine and a half, millions sterling. Since then ihe numbers have dwindled appreciably, the total applications between the date last mentioned and the middle of 1,917 being only an additional 135, for 1,150 miles of line at an estimated cost of about ten millions sterling. In view of these figures, the mileage of Class A lines constructed (532|ths miles) cannot be looked upon as other than disappointing, especially in view of the large amount of good agricultural land still without railway facilities. The comparative failure of the light railway movement in this country has been attributed to the large cost of the Class A lines, which we understand averages about £7,000 per mile, and the difficulties which are experienced in obtaining the n©ces,sary capital. How this should be remedied would seem to be outside the scope of our reference, but we are of opinion that the matter is one deserving of careful enquiry by a com- petent authority. 8. The development of the meohanical road car during recent years would seem to have opened out new possibilities. iSuch a form of transport has the undoubted advantage that it is not restricted to any particular line of route, but can be organised to touch any points at which its services may be needed, and indeed, by callingt at individual farms, may enable horses and men, which would otherwise be engaged in the delivery or collection of goods, to be more profitably employed in the cultivation of the land or other farm work. As an example of the existing uneconomic method of delivery, an instance has been quoted to us of half a dozen farmers sending half n dozen carts twice a dny along the same road to deliver a few 127 churns of milk at a railway station, each as a rule bringing back merely an empty churn or two on the homeward journey. Where such a system prevails it is obvious that a motor service having for its object the collection of milk or other produce from farmers and smallholders m a given area for conveyance to the nearest market or railway- station would be of great advantage Eequirements for the farms could be delivered at the next time of collection, and under such a system where the motor can be utilised in both directions, the cost of running per ton per mile would be considerably reduced. In this connection it should be remembered tHat It costs practically the same to run a motor lorry empty as it does to run it loaded. . „ ^- ,r^^ Agricultural Organisation Society, to which we are indebted for much useful mtorrnation on the subject, state that they have long recognised the need for improvement in rural transport, if producers in country districts are to be linked up more closely with consumers m the towns. In the autumn of 1912 they placed before the Development Commissioners a number of concrete instances in which, in their opinion, motor transport services were desirable m the interests of agriculture, with the object of ascertaining the extent to which assistance from the Development Fund might be anticipated. At the request of the Commissioners the Society set themselves to obtain further particulars with regard to the cost of running, the best system of collection and distribution, the effect of local byelaws, and other matters, more detailed information upon all of which seemed necessary before any definite policy could be approved. As a result a considerable amount of information was collected and motor services were recommended in a number of districts. _ The matter, however, was allowed to stand over for the time being as the Development Commission had in the meantime appointed an expert to report on the whole question of motor and light railway transport. It was subsequently decided that consideration of the question in the abstract, with a view to a definite pronouncement applicable to all cases that might arise, would necessarily be accompanied by so many qualifications as to be practically valueless. It was, therefore, decided to take a number of concrete cases and to examine in some detail the conditions affecting the problem in each. Up to the present only one of these enquiries has been completed, that by Mr. G. A. Burls, M.Inst. C.E., upon the Relative Costs and Advantages as between a Light Railway and a Road Motor Service from Headcorn (Kent) to Roberts bridge (East Sussex). As a result of an exhaustive enquiry this gentlemen arrived at the conclusion " that the existing light railway (the Kent and East Sussex Light Railway) deals with the goods and passenger traffic of the district at roundly 60 per cent, of the cost that would be incurred by a Road Motor Vehicle Undertaking doing the same work, thought it is, probable that the convenience both to the travelling and trading members of the community would on the whole be greater with the more expensive system." 10. Any attempt to define with exact precision the different spheres of activity between light railways and motor services would be impracticable. In determining which would best suit the needs of a particular district all the circumstances of the district would have to be considered, such as the class of trade and the configuration of the line of route and of the roads along which the motors would travel, if that form of transit were adopted. Mr. Bui:ls, for instance, in his "Report pointed out that the farm buildings in the district under consideration were not as a rule accessible to motor vehicles, that the tracks from the roads to the farm buildings being usually unmade, often steeply inclined and generally in bad condition, it would be impossible to take heavy motor vehicles over them. In such circumstances it is obvious that one of the great advantages of a motor service, that of relieving farmers from having to employ horses and carts in delivering produce to the carrying undertaking, would to a great extent be lost; but propei accommodation roads could be made, and in any case such conditions would not necessarily preclude individual farmers from co-operating to provide lighter motors for collecting the produce from the farms and delivering it to the undertaking. . 11. Cases may doubtless occur where the amount of merchandise to be carried in a district would not justify the cost of constructing a light railway, although sufficient to warrant the establishment of a motor service ; but as a rule it would seem likely that when the_ markets, to which the produce is dispatched, are distant, motor services would best act in combination with ordinary or light railways rather than in substitution for them. In this connection the following extract from the Report of the Light Railway Commissioners for 1911 is of interest : — " With regard to the great development in recent years of motor traction upon public roads, it is of great interest to note that in our experience, confirmed by the two cases of proposed light railways which we have most recently had under consideration, the estab- lishment of a service of motors (in each case combined with the organised co-operation of the agricultural and other local industries), had tended to stimulate the desire, and to emphasise the need, for better railway facilities, rather than (as it is sometimes supposed would be the case) to supersede them, or to take their place. In these cases evidence was brought to show the considerable extent of saving to the road authorities in the annual cost of maintenance, which would follow from a transference to a railway of the traffic otherwise carried on the public roads; this point was also in accord with our previous experience as bearing on the economy of transport by railway. . _ . . " In making these observations, we appreciate that, in districts where it is not practicable to construct a railway and where the traffic is not sufficient to support one, a motor service (especially when combined with some " co-operative'' system) may be of much use and in many cases would develop the traffic to a point at which railway facilities would become requisite, and feasible, for the further progress of the district." 12 It has been stated that the cost of constructing light railways in this_ country, which averages about £7,000 per mile, is too heavy and has militated against their more genera adoDtion, and that this might be remedied were lighter railways of narrower gauge laid down in place of those of the standard gauge now usually authorised. If, however, the view is 128 accepted that motors should as a rule act as carriers from the farms to the light railways, whic in their turn should act as feeders to the ordinary railways, there is much to be said in 1^^°^^ of a uniform gauge in order that transhipment may be avoided and the same rolling stock be used throughout the journey. 13. Such a combination would have the further advantage that the roads would be relieved from the heavier forms of transport. We are informed by the Agricultural Organisation Society that local authorities have already shown a disposition to place restriction on the use of motor vehicles owing to the heavy wear and tear imposed on the roads, and that m the case of the Agricultural Co-operative Trading Society at Brandsby they were only restrained from claiming against the Society by a relaxation of the Board of Trade restrictions brought about by the intervention of the A.O.S ; further, that a scheme for introducing a system of motor transport in Anglesey was brought to a standstill by a report of the C.ounty Surveyor that the roads and bridges in the district were incapable of bearing the strain of such a system as that proposed. Some adjustment will ultimately have to be arrived at by the general improvement of the roads and by the strengthening of the bridges and culverts, but the cost in this respect will be lessened if the systems of transport adopted permit the use of lighter forms of motors calculated to cause the minimum of wear and tear. It should not be forgotten that in comparing the cost of running a motor service with that of a light railway the additional expense thrown upon local authorities in the necessary upkeep of roads is a material factor. 14. It has been pointed out to us that after the war large numbers of motors no longer needed by the Army will be placed upon the market, and that many of these will be suitable, when repaired and adapted, for various classes of Co-operative Societies according to their capacity ; thus large lorries capable of carrying three tons would be suitable for trading societies and milk depots covering a large area where no railway facilities exist; small lorries, with a capacity of 1| to 2 tons, might be usefully employed by smaller trading societies or depots and by the larger small-holding societies with a quantity of fruit or market garden produce for sale ; while ambulances carrying J to J ton might be adapted for still lighter requirements, such as egg collecting, &c. We are of opinion that the opportunity of assisting agriculture thus offered should not be allowed to pass, but that a scheme should at once be prepared by a competent authority to enable a proportion at least of these discarded motors to be made use of in the organisation of transport services and for other farm purposes. We are informed by the Agri- cultural Organisation Society that the French Government has already taken steps in this direction. 15. The establishment of any co-operative system of motor transport must depend in the first instance upon a guarantee of adequate support from the farmers in the district which it is proposed to cover, and for whose benefit the service will be organised. This support should not only guarantee consignments sufficient to produce revenue large enough to cover running ex- penses, but should be permanent in character. Such cx)nditions could best be fulfilled by the producers combining to form a Co-operative Trading Society, which would have the effect of making them jointly and severally interested in the success of the undertaking. Unfortunately such a method of procedure niight give rise to difficulty were the Development Commissioners asked to co-operate in establishing the service. That this difficulty is recognised by the Commis- sioners is shown by the following extract from their Report of 1911-1912 (page 5) dealing with a somewhat analogous application froin the Devon Sea Fisheries Committee for a grant of £10,000 to assist fishermen in their district in installing motors in their boats : — " The Act itself gives no authority to make grants or loans either to individuals or to companies or associations of persons trading for profit. But the effect of this restriction 'is that sometimes the most direct way and simple method of giving effect to the purposes named in the Act is closed to the Commissioners The extension of light railways would in all probability be facilitated if loans could be made to existing companies, or to companies formed for the purpose of constructing and working lines, and possessing the right to receive for their shareholders a proportion of the net profits. ' The existing law, however, prohibits the direct support of this kind of scheme from the Develop- ment Fund ; and the Commissioners recognise the difficulties and dangers which Parlia- ment had in mind when laying down this prohibition." They go on to say, however that they "think that the intentions of Parliament are not contravened if in these cases advances made by the authorities to individuals are either fair payments for experimental or other work, or are loans which are touched with no suspicion of charity The real question is whether the details of the scheme are based on the fundamental distinction between placing individuals in a better position to help themselves, and helping or probably hinderingthem by simply putting public money into their pockets." 16. Possibly some modus vivendi might be formulated in the direction indicated in the above extract. County Councils already have power through their organizers to promote agri- cultural co-operation, and it is probable that in some cases they would consider that the opening out of an isolated district, or the needs of a considerable section of the ratepayers, would justify them in helping to establish motor services. On the other hand, where such services might be expected to compete, instead of combining, with other carrying agencies, such as railway companies which contribute largely tothe local rates, or with another class of the ratepaying community, such as tradesmen, opposition might be experienced which would make it impractic- able for the County Councils to give such schemes their support. • 17. In our opinion the need for better facilities of transport of every description in rural districts is urgent and immediate, if agriculturists are to be placed in a position to take full advantages of the recommendations we have made for the development of their industry, and are to be enabled to devote themselves to the cultivation of their holdings in the fullest 129 degree. But the matter is not one for the agriculturist alone; the industrial penetration of the countryside, which m some parts has been a feature of recent years, and which, with the im- proYement of telephonic and other means of communication and the growth of local rates in urban districts seems likely to develop further in the future, makes it of a far wider national importance The necessity for, a prompt and ready delivery of milk, vegetables, and other agricultural produce, m such districts, as well as for the transport of goods manufactured or required by such communities, adds to the importance of the subject, and we recommend that tue whole question should be made the subject of detailed enquiry and report by a Special Sub- L/Ommittee o± the Eeconstruction Committee set up for that purpose 18. Turning now to cost of transport, we have already stated that Mr. Burls, in the report on a special case made by him to the Development Commissioners, found that the cost of a motor service would be about 40 per cent, in excess of similar facilities provided by a light railway; but we are of opinion that any attempt to make a general comparison between ^Tl. °^ ^-^^ *^° systems, or to arrive at any general estimate as to the cost of motor transport, would be misleading. In. the first place a motor service would not usually be organised in sub- stitution for similar facilities provided by a light railway, but as complementary thereto, and in the second, the cost would depend so largely on the class of service required and the descrip- tion of motors used, that a generalisation as to the expenses would be of little value. At the same time we are of opinion that an enquiry ad hoc, such as we have recommended, would result in the collection of a mass of detailed information on this head which could not but be of assistance to persons contemplating the establishment of such services. 19. On the subject of the cost of existing railway carriage, comparisons have not un- commonly been made by agriculturists to the detriment of our railway companies, and we have therefore endeavoured to obtain some information on this head. We are informed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries that while detailed information as to continental rates is limited, some information was collected by the investigators appointed by the Board of Trade Eailway Conference, 1908, as to Germany (Cd. 4677) and Italy (Cd. 5106). It is stated that a com- parison of the English rates with those of the Continental railways is rendered difficult by the fact that the rate in one case generally includes some service or condition the value of which cannot be estimated. For example, the supply of waggons on the English railways is generally liberal. The supply on the German railways, on the other hand, is extremely short. There is no doubt that a liberal supply of waggons is a great convenience to the farmer, and some allowance should be made for this convenience in comparing the English rates with the German. Grain, potatoes and plums have been taken as representing agricultural produce, because, with the information available, a comparison of the rates for these goods presents the fewest difficulties. The figures given as the English rates for these articles are not actual rates but averages of a number of rates to London from distances of 31 miles ( = 50 kilometres) and 124'2 miles ( = 200 kilometres). These distances appear to afford fair examples of long and short distance rates for traffic of the above classes. The Continental rates are the local rates. The Import, Export and Through rates are often much lower than these rates. 20. The following Table shows the rates (estimated as shown in the preceding paragraph) for grain, potatoes, and plums in pence per ton (English) for distance of 31 miles ( = 50 kilometres) and 124-2 miles ( = 200 kilometres) : — English Railways. 31 miles = 50 kilometres. 12-t"2 miles =: 200 kilometres. Less than Truck Loads. Truck Loads. Less than Truck Loads. Truck Loads. G-rain ... Potatoes Plums ... Grain — Fast goods . • Slow goods . Potatoes — Fast goods . Slow goods . Plums- Fast goods . Slow goods . Grain — Fast goods . Slow goods . Potatoes — Fast goods . Slow goods . Plums — Fast goods . Slow goods, Pence per ton. 80-3 70-5 146-4 Pence per ton. 64-9 69-4 95-9 German Railways. I 164 7 i 113-2 63-5 56-6 164-? i 113-2 63-5 j 56-6 82-4 34-0 Italian Railways. 220-5 46-0 220-5 46-0 220-5 68-5 Pence per ton. 168-3 172-9 356-5 525-2 214 -9 525-2 214-9 262-6 Pence per ton. 145-4 156-5 296-7 267-4 133-7 267-4 133-7 121-8 881- 148- 881- 148- 881- 385- 19793 130 31. Apparently the English rates must be compared with the slow goods rates, as these are the. rates generally used for agricultural traffic. 22. In considering the nature of the services for which the above charges ar« made, it is necessary to have special regard to the following circumstances. Rapidity of Transport. 23. The time required by the German railways under their regulations for transport by slow goods is three days for 50 kilometres and four days for 200 kilometres. These periods com- mence at 12 midnight following the receipt of the goods and waybills, and they do not include time lost through any extraordinary disturbance of traffic for which the administration is not responsible. The period for delivery by slow train on the Italian railways appears to be also about three days for 50 kilometres and four days for 200 kilometres, exclusive of time during which goods are not accepted on account of congestion. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries cannot say whether the railway authorities in Germany and Italy usually take full advantage of the time allowed, but having regard to the advantages from the traffic point of view of holding up small lots to make full truck loads, and holding up trucks to make full train loads, it seems probable that there is a tendency in that direction. 24. There is no time allowance'on English railways. The only requirement is -that delay must not be unreasonable. In practice rapidity of transit varies greatly between various points according to the amount of transhipping or shunting to be done. The time occupied by goods train London to Edinburgh, 399 miles, is 11 hours 38 minutes, and London to Liverpool, 199 miles, 7 hours 33 minutes, but these are, of course, exceptionally good transits. On the average, however, judging from the Board's experience of complaints as to delay, the time occupied in transit of goods on an English railway would appear to be very much less than on the German or Italian railways by slow goods, assuming that they take anything like the regulation period. Rapidity of transit is of great importance to traders in this country. It enables them to avoid the keeping of stocks with consequent expenditure on storage accommodation, and locking up of capital. Many traders would put rapidity and regularity of transport first, and consider the amount of the rate as of secondary importance. Supply of Waggons. 25. The supply of waggons for agricultural produce on the English railways is appar- ently sufficient in normal times. Prior to the war no complaint was received by the Board of any difficulty in obtaining waggons. They were, as a rule, provided at very short notice, or (when a crop was known by the local railway officials to be coming forward) without notice. The time allowed for unloading waggons of grain and potatoes is 48 hours. 26. On the German railways the supply seems to have been extremely short. It was evidently a matter of great difficulty to obtain a waggon, and in order to make the supply go as far as possible the time allowed for clearing waggons was very limited. A farmer would generally get about 12 day hours, an arrangement which in this country would inflict great hardship. There is some doubt as to the sufficiency of the supply of trucks on the Italian railways. It is certain, however, that the regulations as to obtaining waggons are stringent. An application for a waggon must be accompanied by a deposit of about 4«. Waggons must be cleared within 36 hours. 27. A sufficient supply of waggons is of great importance to farmers. The expense of sending teams to the station on fruitless journeys, or having them kept waiting for tbe arrival of a truck, is a serious matter, and a higher rate with a good supply of trucks woiild probably suit most farmers better than a lower rate with a short supply. Liability of Railway Companies. 28. In the matter of compensation for loss or damage to goods in transit, the position of the producer in this country seems to be better than that of the German farm^er. Both in Germany and here there is a certain amount of traffic which the railway companies refuse to carry except at owner's risk unless packed to the satisfaction of the railway authoritieB. But in England this practice applies only to certain specified classes of goods, while in Germany the railway officials can refuse to accept traffic of any class unless packed to their satisfaction. As regards other traffic the position in England is that goods, are carried either at company's risk rates, in which case the company are liable .to make good the loss of or any damage to goods " in the receiving, forwarding, or delivery thereof occasioned by the neglect or default of such Company or their servant," or at reduced owner's risk rates ofEered as an alternative to the company's risk rates on certain conditions, one of which is that the company shall be relieved of their liability as carriers except in the case of wilful misconduct of their servants. 29. The German railways do not offer any reduced owner's risk rates, and it appears that at the ordinary rate the carriage of goods is practically at owner's risk. The railways are technically liable for loss or damage, but the regulations relating to their liability are so stringent that the prospect of obtaining any compensation must be very remote. For example, under these regulations liability is repudiated if the loss is due to defective packing or loading or to the nature of the goods, and a proviso to the effect that if injury could have arisen from Ihese causes it will be presumed that it has so nrisen, seems to reduce the possibility of obtaining compensation to a minimum. 131 30. There is also probably a difference in the extent to which the railway authorities take advantage of their legal position in regard to liability. The officials of the German State itailways probably feel bound to adhere to the letter of the law. It is difficult to suggest any reason why they should not do so. And it is stated that claims are so seldom paid that German traders do not apply for compensation as it is not worth the stamp. Our railway companies do not always stand on their strict legal rights either in the case of goods carried at company's risk rates or in the case of goods carried under the owner's risk contract. Claims are usually considered on their merits, and in cases, of total loss, proved pilferage and mis-delivery are not uncommonly allowed, even though the goods were carried at owner's risk rates It is stated that 24,000 claims were received by one company in a single month. If this is correct it shows that it is at least worth while to apply to our railway companies for compensation. 31. _ It would, therefore, appear that the rates and services provided by our railway companies in respect of internal traffic do not compare unfavourably with those given .to i)j"o- ducers on the Continent for similar traffic. Whether there are grounds for the complaint that the English companies favour the foreign through traffic at the expense of home traffic was, as has already been stated, the subject of a Eeport by a 'Departmental Committee set up by the Presi- dent of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 1906. The Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888, lays down that "no railway company shall make, nor shall any Court or Commissioners sanction any difference in the tolls, rates or charges made for, or any difference in the treatment of home and foreign merchandise, in respect of the same or similar services," and the Committee in question found that no deviation on the part of the railway companies from this rule had been substantiated, and drew attention to the need for better combination on the part of English growers, if they were to be in a position to claim similar facilities to those accorded to their foreign competitors. Clearly, however, even the most careful organisation would not as a rule enable local traffic to be offered to the companies in the same bulk as that arriving in shiploads from the Continent, and we, therefore, strongly endorse the suggestion made by Mr. Haygarth Brown in his Minority Eeport that to charge rates for foreign produce lower in proportion to the cost of the services rendered than the corresponding rates for home produce should be looked upon as preferential treatment, and that H.M. Government should take the steps necessary to enforce the law as to undue preference. APPENDIX XV. 4-5 persons per 100 acres 20 ) J J J 49 ft 3 J 67 J J n 104 >3 J) ESTIMATE OF THE AMOUNT OF FOOD (EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF ENERGY) PRODUCED BY PLOUGHED LAND AND BY GRASS LAND IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. (See para. 362.) (Memorandum handed in by Mr. T. H. Middleton, C.B.). 1. In a paper on Systems of Farming and Food Production in the Journal for September, 1915, I attempted to estimate the quantity of human food produced by different methods of managing land. I chose certain types and got the following results : — Poorest grass land supports ... Medium grass land, as meat, supports Rich ,, ,, Good dairy grass (54 + 13) Good arable land producing meat . . . These figures give some idea of the different quantities of food that may be expected in particular cases, but it is not possible to apply them to the country as a whole. For example I cannot say whether my medium grass land represents the average quality of the country. I think it likely that it is above average; and that the dairy land is much above average. In the case of the arable farm the crops assumed were much above the average for the United Kingdom. 2. What we have now to attempt is some method of estimating which will give us figures that respresent as nearly as possible the average production of the United Kingdom. This attempt I propose to make. If we take each crop, note the total area and estimate the total yield, and the amount con- sumed, we should be able to approximate to the respective quantities of food raised on grass and ploughed land. Let us by this method endeavour to ascertain the respective number of persons fed on the ploughed land and the grass land of the United Kingdom at the present time. 3. In the first place it is necessary to get a figure for the total population fed by the land of the United Kingdom. From figures published by Professor Thompson, of Dublin, I calculated that 38 per cent, of the food materials (reckoned as energy) consumed in Great Britain were produced at home. This estimate included imported feeding stuffs; deducting these, from 30 to 36 per cent, of the total food of Great Britain may be estimated to be grown on British land. 19792 I 2 132 Recently the Eoyal Society have made an estimate for the United Kingdom from which I find that about 38 per cent, of the food consumed by our people is home-grown. This means that of a total population of 46' 5 millions we could feed 17' 6 millions or that we grow supplies for 19" 7 weeks per annum. 4. Taking 100 acres of ploughed land in the United Kingdom with the crops as at present distributed, and assuming the average crops to be those of the past 10 years I estimate that each 100 acres under the plough would supply a year's food for 84 persons. There are 12,808,000 acres of ploughed land in the United Kingdom so that if my estimate is approximately correct 10'8 million persons would be fed. This would leave 6'8 million to be fed by the produce of grass land or 20 persons per acre. 5. The assumption that grass supports only 20 persons per 100 acres (since it is got by difference) must be tested. I propose to test it by two methods : — (a) Let us consider the quantity of meat a;id milk to be produced by grass and the probable yield from grass. In the case of the ploughed land above referred to, I have assumed two-thirds of the fodders to be converted into meat and one-third to be converted into milk. The total yield of meat would then.be 226,000 tons, leaving 866,000 tons to come from grass land. The total yield of milk would be 211 million gallons leaving 805 millions to come from grass land,. (Meat and milk produced from imported feeding stuffs have been deducted). There are 34 million acres of grass available; of this total 1,800,000 horses will want 5,400,000 acres (in addition to roiigh grazing). This leaves 28,600,000 acr«s for cattle and sheep. In my paper on "System of Farming " I estimated that medium grass land would produce 105 lbs. meat per acre; that is, would supply " energy " for 20 persons per 100 acres. I further estimated that grass land of good quality would produce on the average 2,000 lbs. milk for sale per acre or " energy " for 54 persons per 100 acres. It is not possible to say how far these may be " average " figures for the whole of the United Kingdom ; the meat figure is probably somewhat above the average and the milk much above the average. If, however, we assume that one of the two estimates is an average, we can test the extent to which the second departs from the average. Assume my figure of 105 lbs. per acre to be an average for the United Kingdom for meat production, then in order to produce 866,000 tons of meat it would be necessary to provide 18,470,000 acres of grass land; this would mean that 10,150,000 remained for the production of 805 million gallons of milk, and this would represent a supply of " energy " for 22 persons per 100 acres. Our first estimate was that grass land supported about 20 persons for 100 acres; testing it in this way by the above method we reach the conclusion that grass land on the average supports rather less than 21 persons. (b) A third estimate of the productiveness of the grass land of the United Kingdom may be made by assuming that on the average the productiveness of pastures is equal to the productive- ness of meadows. This is of course a very speculative method of approaching the question ; but it is worth while following it up. It may be observed that while meadows occupy much the best land, pastures have a longer season of growth and have the aftermath of meadows thrown in. We have in the United Kingdom : — Permanent Grass. Rotation Grass. Acres. Acres. Total area 27,300,000 6,600,000 Deduct for Horses ..'. ... 3,800,000 1,600,000 23,500,000 5,000,000 There are 4^ million cows and heifers in calf in the United Kingdom. Assuming one-fifth to be supported on the products of ploughed land, we get 3,600,000 left to be kept on grass, and, at 3 acres per head, 10,800,000 acres grass would be required. This is a full . estimate, since many cows are kept for calf -rearing. We may apportion the different kinds of grass land as follows : — Permanent Grass. Rotation Grass. Acres. Acres.. For milk production 9,000,000 1,800,000 For meat „ 14,500,000 3,200,000 •If now we assume that this grass.land yields as much fodder per acre as the average hay crops of the past ten years, then there should be enough food produced by each type of grass land to support the following population : — 23,500,000 permanent grass 4,683,000 persons. 5,000,000 rotation grass 1.104,000 133 On the actual area assumed to be under cattle and sheep this would give 20'5 persons per 100 acres; but our estimate must be on the total grass area of 33" 9 million acres, and, if we calculate the number fed on this area we find that we should support 17 persons per 100 acres as compared with 20 and 21 in the two previous estimates. These methods of estimating are admittedly speculative, but each approaches the subject differently and the agreement is close. The conclusion I draw is that per unit of area the ploughed land of this country supports about four times the population maintained by its grass land. It should be carefully noted, however, that food value is estimated in terms of " energy " and that if we considered also the supplies of protein and fat, grass land would appear in a somewhat better light. 134 REPORT BT SIR MATTHEW WALLACE. To the Et. nou. D. Lloyd Geoege, M.P., Prime Minister. SiH, 1. I liad hoped to add my name to those of my colleagues to Part II. of the Sub-Committee's Report which claims to deal with that portion of the remit relating to the methods of effecting '" an increase in the home grown food supplies." I regret, however, that I am unable to do so since the Report declares that the constructive proposals of Part II. are contingent upon the policy indicated in Part I.; that the two parts are "strictly interdependent and mutually essential parts of one policy " and that " without the armour of Part I. the measures of recon- struction recommended in Part II. are foredoomed to impotence." 2. I cannot accept this view. On the contrary, further consideration and the experiences of the past year, confirm me in the belief that the arbitrary fixation 6i prices of agricultural produce is the most unstable of all foundations upon which to build a great constructive policy of agricultural development in view of the attendant confusion and the constant change of values consequent upon the mutually conflicting claims of producer and consumer. However neces- sary and justifiable the control of such prices may be in time of war, I am persuaded that such a policy cannot endure when normal times return. 3. Still more emphatically do I dissent from the rejection of the principle of security of tenure for the tenant farmer. In my dissentient memorandum to Part I. (paragraph 15), I said : " In formulating an agricultural policy the first thing to be considered is, in my opinion, security and stability to the farmer. Security that is, in his tenure and in the fruits of his enterprise. No man can be expected to put forth his utmost efforts in creating national wealth, and prosperity for himself which another may take. In my opinion the time has arrived when in the interests of the State, this question must be resolutely faced. Only in such an event can compulsion of the farmer be justified." I adhere to that statement. Reconsideration of this question was forced upon the Sub-Committee by the representations of public bodies such as the National Farmers' Unions of England and Scotland and the Welsh Agricultural Council, never- theless their considered reply in paragraph 365 is a definite rejection of the principle of security of tenure to the tenant farmer. No better alternative is suggested than the reassertion of what is described as the " ancient principle," summed up in the last sentence of that paragraph, viz. : " That principle is that an owner or occupier of land must hold it with a full sense of his responsibility and duty to use it for the security and welfare of the nation arid that in case of flagrant abuse the intervention of the King's officers is justified." 4. I cannot regard that as a sufficient guarantee to a tenant farmer to improve and increase his tillage, his capital, his risk and his activities. Increase of tillage enormously enhances and extends the tenant's interest in the land, and if the revival of tillage prognosticated in the report (in the need for which I entirely concur) is to be achieved it is plain that the farmer must assume responsibilities and risks increased in manifold degree. Operations must be engaged in, the success of which can only come as the result of efforts extending over a number of years. In order to add 2,000,000 acres to tillage, farmers must provide at least £20,000,000 extra capital, and I have difficulty in regarding as serious the suggestion that farmers should make all .these efforts with no other security against the termination of their tenancy than the "sense of responsibility and duty " of the landlords who may or may not be in a position of full authority and who may at any moment sell their land. 5. In the report (paragraph 365) the principle of security of tenure is rejected on the ground that the landowner and tenant farmer are partners in the cultivation of the land and that the inevitable result of the establishment of a Land Court to fix rents would be that the landlord would decline to spend another penny for the industrial equipment of the land, while the farmer could not find the capital. I cannot agree with this view. The landlord of a farm is not the partner of the tenant either in form or substance. Their relationship differs essentially from that of partnership, and as to the rent which is the main consideration between them their interests are in direct conflict. 6. As to refusal by the landlord to expend further capital I do not believe that the expendi- ture of capital is made by landlords as a contribution to an imaginary partnership, but mainly and quite properly from the point of view of enabling them to get a better and more stable return by way of rent. 7. Nor is there any justification for the assumption that " the inevitable result of the establishment of a land court to fix rents would be that the landlords would decline (as every one else would in their place) to spend another penny for the purpose " of industrial equipment of their land. On the contrary I believe it would have the opposite effect, for the landlord who failed to maintain the equipment would be liable to have his' rent reduced in consequence. 135 (1, t' ij^^ I^eport of the Sub-Committee puts the responsibility for the proper use of land on me snoulders of both owner and occupier as a national duty; but if this principle be accepted, in my opinion it would inevitably follow that an impartial tribunal would have to be established ten-ant ^ ^^°^^^ *^^* ^^^^ responsibility is equitably distributed as between landlord and 9. Such a tribunal is necessary apart from any question of special subsidies by way of increased prices or otherwise, but the expenditure of public money in order to promote better cultivation would undoubtedly add another and unanswerable reason for its establishment. It IS inoonceivable that public money should be provided for encouraging the tenant to improve and extend his cultivation without clear and effective provision to ensure that it would not to any extent be diverted to the landlord by way of increased rent or increased price of his land. 10. There is one part of the constructive portion of Part II. of the Report from which I feel obliged to dissent, viz., that relating to the Scottish Board of Agriculture and Agricultural Education. 11. I cordially approve of the recommendations of the Committee that agricultural educa- tion in Ireland should continue under the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland, and that agricultural education in England should be controlled by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. I can see no reason, however, why this system of education, which is considered suitable for England and Ireland, should not be applied also to Scotland. The Committee recommend that the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries should be free to use the existing provincial councils, and the county agricultural committees (which it is proposed to set up on a statutory basis), as its agents for agricultural education, and for live stock schemes. They also suggest that the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries should be responsible for the provision and control of farm institutes, demonstration plots and farms, while specifically exclud- ing Scotland from this recommendation. I strongly dissent from such exclusion. 12. The County Committees should be the authorities for development schemes and for the educational extension work of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. To these Committees should be entrusted, subject to the control of the Board of Agriculture, such work of agricultural dervelopment, including the administration of the live stock schemes and of schemes of practical and technical agricultural education — as can be conveniently decentralised. 13. Each committee, or combination of 'two or more of them, would require the whole time services of an organising secretary, and its own staff of experts for carrying out the new and enlarged programme. A well trained local staff working under the supervision and direction of a committee having an intimate knowledge of local needs could not fail to be more effective in arousing local interest and sympathy than a system under which short periodic visits are made by an official from the central authority or, as is the case at present, from a distant collegiate centre. 14. The position of the agricultural colleges requires reconsideration. They have an important part to play in the new work of agricultural reconstruction. In recent years they have been called upon to undertake administrative duties which should now be done by the Board of Agriculture or delegated by that Board to the proposed new county committees. If this change is not made, two separate staffs will be in existence, one from the colleges and one from the Board working in the same area and controlled by different authorities. This cannot fail to result in waste and overlapping. 15. The agricultural colleges should not be allowed to dissipate their energies in adminis- trative duties. Their primary function should be higher education, research and advisory work. From them the technical staffs of the County Committees would be recruited and to them they would look for inspiration and scientific direction. For these purposes the proper centre isin the Universities. It is only by the inclusion of agriculture as a faculty of the Universities, with the . • status and environment associated therewith that the highest class of education and research can be maintained. But the practical technical instruction of the farmer in the business of farming must be undertaken by institutions other than Universities. 16. The great mass of the rising generation of farmers in Scotland cannot be affected by the type of agricultural college at present in existence, but must be reached by less ambitious, more practical and more numerous institutions within easy reach of the students for whom they are intended The type of institution which produces the widest and best effect upon the improved practice of agriculture is well illustrated by the Kilmarnock Dairy School This school has combined most efficiently theoretical with practical instruction. It has obtained the confidence of farmers and has revolutionised the dairy industry m Scotland. 17 Similar institutions should be set up for other branches of agriculture, as for example grain and potato growing, cattle management and cattle feeding stock raising and pastoral farming, intensive" cultivation with pig and poultry rearing,, and fruit farming and market gardening. Schools of this description will draw large numbers of young men and women who would never attend an agricultural college. 18 For those, however, who cannot give up a definite number of weeks or months for suijh special'instruction, the continuation classes of the Scotch Education Department which we may expect to see developed, and the winter school, offer the best solution. 19 It is obvious that the Board of Agriculture for Scotland and the Scottish Education Department come into touch in the primary phases of agricultural education, and to ensure co-ordination, a statutory committee composed of representatives of both departments should be set up to harmonise the work. 136 20. It is clear tliat the adjustments suggested above imply a reconsideration of the finances of the Board. I agree with the Sub-Committee that the schemes of development should not be dependent upon short term grants frpm the Development Commission and would point out that much of the success of the Irish Department is due to the unhampered expenditure of its endow- ment fund subject to the supervision of the Agricultural Board which represents the industry. - (Signed) MATTW. G. WALLACE. 18th April, 1918. Printed under the authority of His Majesty's Stationery Ofiice By DARLING and SON, Limited, Bacon Street, E.2. '.< «ryv,, y^< ...-^. .,^_^.> .^^ ,^, '■^^•-/ : -^ ^J -'>: >0,, H^ •^*>A :^,;^.^ ;>^.-*^