AMERICAN WHEAT.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'BPI/CT/TOR']
Sfn,—In the Spectator of July 3rd you called attention to the demand made by American farmers for a bounty on wheat grown for export, and for the reasons stated you think the boon will be granted, in which case you believe it possible that wheat in Europe may again sink in price to 15s. per quarter. You warn the landlords of England that if the American farmers succeed in obtaining a bounty English farmers could no longer continue to pay rent. Live-stock is now, and has for many years past been, the sheet-anchor of British and Irish farming. Nearly 70 per cent, of the agricultural income is derived from live-stock, whereas out of a total of about £180,000,000 only about 5 per cent. has in recent years been contributed by home-grown wheat. No doubt in the counties where wheat is most largely grown the effect of a bounty on wheat grown for export from America would press heavily, but the widespread ruin predicted would assuredly not follow so long as the bounty were confined to
Previous page
