Agricultural Distress and Trade Competition. By D. Tallerman. (Commercial and
Agricultural Co-operative Society.)—Mr. Taller- man believes that we can produce in England as much food as we need, that "we wilfully waste as much as we import," and that "our farmers deprive themselves of thirty or forty millions of pounds per annum," all of it going into the pockets of the foreigner. This is the thesis which, with many corollaries of various kinds, he sets himself to substantiate in this volume. There is a great deal of truth in what he says. Unfortunately, there are unreasonable prejudices and reasonable tastes to be overcome. The theoretic argument for wholemeal bread, for instance, is irre- fragable. But people will not eat it It is very difficult to make well, and only the very best wheat can be used for it. As the inferior sorts must be employed one way or another, this is an im- portant consideration. Sometimes Mr. Tallerman is indisputably right, as when, for instance, he says that "the total home pro- duction of really good fresh butter for consumption forms but an infinitesimal portion of the actual quantity made." The butter- making of the United Kingdom is, on the whole, a disgrace to the enterprise and intelligence of the dairy-farmers,—we may even say, to their industry. Of course, the best butter cannot be made everywhere, any more than the best wine can be grown in all vine- yards. But it can always be made without rankness, sweet and clean. Our author does not allow sufficiently for differences of soil. He says of cheese :—" That farmers with the same material should so manipulate it as to turn out products of such a wide difference in quality and value, is beyond ordinary comprehension," but not, surely, beyond the comprehension of those who know the wonderful effect of differences of soil. The present writer knows of a large estate in which only one farm produces a good toasting cheese, and of a considerable district in which one field only can fatten cattle without any help. Now and then Mr. Tallerman lets a hobby fairly run away with him. "The selling of raw milk should be suppressed by law, and every vendor of milk should be compelled to boil it, or cause it to be boiled, prior to its delivery to a customer." "The thoughtless," says the author, in a lucid interval, "might receive the suggestion with ridicule." Ridicule, indeed ! The word is not a quarter strong enough.
Previous page
