Of course it must be admitted that not all the
new acreage will justify itself. Some of the land has been indifferently cultivated ; some of the old land has not been kept as clean as it should be owing to shortage of labour ; and in some cases very rich old pasture has been ploughed up when inferior grassland near by, where the plough ought certainly to have been used first., has been left alone. There are bound to be errors of judgment, however, when local Agricultural Committees are under an extreme incentive to publish a satisfactory list of freshly ploughed acreage. Making all allow- ances, however, for the fact that everything has been done with insufficient labour and under the control of improvised authorities. the result is truly wonderful. It is another instance of what the British people can do when they set to work to produce as much as they can. The Food Production Department deserves the hearty thanks not only of the nation but of all the Allies.
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