His suggested figures of essential bankruptcy in the industry are
too grimly exaggerated. A good deal of money has been made this year by intensive cultivation in South Lincolnshire, which is the eye of England, by the growers of potatoes and fruit growers in many parts. More than this, dairying is now a bigger thing than corn growing, and most of the dairymen have at the worst kept their farms solvent. Everywhere owners of sheep flourished ; and poultry gave very fair returns. The Eastern farmer is apt to disregard the West, or at least underrate its importance. But some good may be done even by such excessive emphasis. As another speaker said : " Farmers enjoyed the best harvest within memory and still lost money." What will happen when the harvest is indifferent or bad ? The answer is quite plain. It is a losing businesi to grow wheat for sale ; and it is likely to be a losing business. If farmers are to grow wheat, they must either consume it on the premises and try to make money out of their stock which consume it, or a minimum price must be artificially fixed on some plan resembling Mr. Montague Fordham's. How much greater is the value of wheat as a fodder than a food is emphasized by the strange fact that the offal is as dear as the full grain. It would be interesting to hear whether any growers of wheat in England confess to selling wheat at a profit. Is there one ?
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