4.
45
More Farm Workers.
The unstable international situation has led to a number of
reforms in the economic sphere in Great Britain. The possibility of
war has driven both Parliament and people to a greater realisation,
for instance, of the country's äepenuence upon imported food and the
need for encouraging British agriculture.
Measures taken by the Government to increase agricultural resources
have met with success in certain cirections. Official statistics
show that for years there was a steady decline in the area of arable
land. That decline has now been checked. The Ministry of Agriculture
reports that there was an increase this year of 48,000 acres, the
total arable acreage now being 8,926,000.
After several years of continuous decreases, the total number of
farm workers shows an increase of 13,200, or 2.2 per cent. The number
of cattle has increased. The annual increase in the number of sheep
has been steady since 1935, the net increase this year being 54,600.
On the other hand there was a fall in the total pig population,
though the number of breeding sows increased by 14,600, a hopeful
sign for the future.
The
In other branches of farming there have been fluctuations.
acreage under wheat has ceclined, while that under barley and oats
has increased, as has also that under beans. The country is yet a
long way from self-sufficiency in regard to the provision of foodstuffs,
but the nation is aware of the dangers in case of emergency, and
measures are being taken to meet them.
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