17 JULY 1915, Page 12

[To TRH EDITOR OP TITO "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—On reading the very

interesting article entitled "The Grand Victualler to the Nation" in last week's Spectator, it struck me that the writer of it ignored one practical diffi- culty when he suggested that farmers should keep their stacks untouched after next harvest. Would not this be impossible P Farmers must have straw with which to thatch the stacks, to fodder the cattle, and also in large quantities for the cattle to tread down in the yards during the winter, without which there would be no manure to put on the land next year. No doubt the Government might buy all corn when thrashed, but it hardly seems possible to carry on farming without such a useful commodity as straw.—I am, Sir, &c., A CONSTANT READER. •