sum equivalent to more than three times the total value of our home grown corn, a commodity we grow at a loss.

It is clear that the execution of this gigantic order by our own farmers would result in the putting under market-garden and dairy-farm cultivation of a vast number of acres of land, the profitable use of further capital in agriculture, and the employment of a small army of cultivative artisans. I speak of them advisedly as "artisans," rather than as "labourers," because the day must soon arrive-ought, indeed, to have arrived-when the cultivator of the soil shall be a skilled artisan a status to which he has already attained elsewhere. It would, perhaps, be as well to refrain from any calculation of the actual acreage that would be entailed, because, unhappily, the acreage necessary for the British agriculturalist is greater than that required by his foreign competitors, who have exercised, and now reap the reward of their prescience in regard to the value of the application of science to the land. We have no need of calculations to prove that many thousands of acres of land are to-day tilled and profitably utilised abroad in fulfilment of our requirements, which acreage would be transferred to the face of our own islands were we to supply for ourselves a greater proportion of our vegetable and dairy produce needs.

So much, therefore, for points (a) and (6)—our inability to provide for the whole of our wants and the cost to ourselves of partial fulfilment. As to (c), the fact that our acreage is restricted serves only to emphasize the necessity for the more profitable employment of such as we are possessed of. As to (d), excess of rainfall and absence of sunshine, these, albeit they are matters of vital importance in regard to cereal crops of which the past year has proved a cruel reminder-they are, to a far greater degree, negligible in connection with vegetable growing and dairy-farming; whilst in respect to the last - uncertainty of our climate-this should but direct our attention more earnestly to intensive culture, a form of agriculture to be found, unfortunately, in a far more advanced state elsewhere than in Great Britain, and upon which I venture very briefly to touch.

Such a readjustment of agricultural production, looked at from the purely business standpoint, would be redolent of financial ad vantages; but from the point of view of national security it presents a disadvantage. If, however, we reflect upon this point, we shall find

it to be of far smaller moment than at first sight it would appear. We have to ask ourselves "how long in case of war could we supply ourselves with corn under normal conditions?" The reply is sufficiently unsatisfactory, for our annual yield of wheat would but support us for the short space of three months. A good deal has been said lately about the necessity for providing national granaries; indeed, at the present time a Royal Commission is sitting to consider such matters. Now, it is obvious, in this respect, that the disadvantage would not go beyond the necessity of increasing the size of such granaries to the extent of storing an additional amount equal to that of one year's crop or three months supply.

But the fact appears to have been largely overlooked that the provision of such granaries would not obviate the necessity of keeping up a navy of appropriate magnitude for the safe convoy of corn from one part of the Empire farm to another, more especially our own little islands. Our navy we must keep up! its raison d'être lying quite outside the subject we are now considering. On a priori grounds, therefore, rather than entering upon enormous expenditure in respect of national granaries, it would be far more prudent to spend money in additions to the navy, instead of having to face a huge annual outlay in this regard-represented by the interest of money so expended, and that upon the corn stored-to which disadvantages would probably be added dislocation of trade consequent upon periodic discharge upon the market. Such charges should in equity be debited to the cost of wheat, thus increasing the price of bread. Clearly we should obtain better value for our money in expending it upon the upkeep of a navy of increased strength, the expense of which could justly be otherwise debited. Better to do business with our own “branch houses," whose fighting material would be at our disposal in time of need, than with competitors whose armaments would be directed against us.

Continuing to view our subject as affecting the interests of a great business house, a glance at the figures brings out another most unsatis factory point, for we observe that whilst we send orders to our own branches amounting in the aggregate to only £8,750,000, we purchase wheat from foreigners to the enormous figure of £28,000,000-nearly three times what we ourselves grow. What, we surely should ask, would the directors of a business concern do upon

profit for our home-farmers coupled with an adjustment, such as that I indicate, ensuring, at once, the preservation of the present price of bread with facilities for the supply of our wants by our own branch establishments.

It is with intense satisfaction I observe the suggestion put forward, during the last few days, by one of our leading politicians-Mr. J. L. Wanklyn, M.P.-that, to cope with the difficulty, a bounty should be accorded to wheat. This laudable proposal, without shadow of doubt, is a step in the right direction. But, unfortunately, it does not go far enough, because it is not sufficient to put British farming upon a firm commercial footing, such as we all wish to see it enter upon. If, however, the bounty be transferred to flour, in the way I suggest, then we immediately obtain the cheap loaf," and at the same time flourishing agriculture and well paid farm labour.

At first sight it night appear that the fore going is a circuituous route to an end, but it is difficult to see there is any more direct means for the complete solution of the problem in all its bearings. It may also be urged that, from the point of view of national economies, it is imperfect by reason of wastage in collection; but the expenditure thereby entailed would, in itself-in a two-fold measurebe beneficial, firstly because income derived from a foreign source would be employed, and secondly-a vast amount of "dumping" would be put a stop to. For it must be remembered the benefit to the purchaser of obtaining "dumped" manufactured goods at slightly lower price means, either a reduced rate of wage to the workers or the extinction of our industries, a process which has been going on hitherto unnoticed by the general public to an alarming degree. Moreover, such advantage is nationally far more than coun er-balanced by the also alarming cost of upkeep of our pauper population.

From the administrative point of view, the payment of a bounty upon flour would be a very simple matter; nothing more than the inverse operation-working with perfect smoothness-in regard to the collection of revenue from alcohol. The short-lived "regis tration duty" upon corn demonstrated bene. ficial effects upon our milling industries principally from the offals obtainable; capitalists came forward for the building and equipment of up-to-date steel corn mills. Were the proposal I make acted upon, in a couple of years our country could be doing all its own milling