A Self - sufficient Britain That most vital subject, "Can Britain feed
itself ? ", was discussed at the end of October by that Most sensible and suggestive group of reformers, the Rural Reconstruction "Association. The lecturer, Mr. Friend Sykes, is one of those who grow a great deal of food on downland, not long since left almost barren. Open-air and field farming doubtless matters most, and we need a great increase hi stock, in cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and perhaps goats ; but the use of glass, mobile and immobile, increases very rapidly ; and in theory, at least (as Prince ICropOtkin was one of the first to demonstrate), highly intensive cultivation, such as prevails in " The Valley of Glass ". in Guernsey or in the Lea Valley in England, could provide vegetable food fora much greater population than at present hampers Britain. , However, what doubtless matters most is the home production of corn, meat and milk, though. the need of self- sufficiency in cereals has been grossly exaggerated, to 'the considerable damage of the soil itself. Wheat, after all, travels more cheaply and - conveniently than almost any form of food. This was most generously recognised by the Americans in the First World War. A large number of communities foreswore wheat and fed on maize—a much less attractive grain—solely because the wheat was more easily transported by ship.
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