The Times MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1944. Britain Did it

Manawatu Times, Volume 69, Issue 59, 13 March 1944, Page 4

The Times MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1944. Britain Did it

The estimated increase in the food output from the soil of 1 Britain is 70 per cent, above that of 1939. Then she had 50,000 tractors at work whereas in 1942 there were 150,000 at work. "Wheat has increased by 35 per cent., oats by 72 per cent., other cereals by 65 per cent., potatoes by SO per cent., and vegetables by 55 per cent. Despite a reduction of about 80 per cent, in imported feeding stuffs, which caused a heavy fall in pigs, poultry and sheep (down by 50, 25 and 20 per cent, respectively), Britain has more cows and more milk than ever before. That brief survey of Britain’s mighty effort on the food front is of current interest, in view of the cull now made upon New Zealand. Whereas New Zealand may bo estimated to have, at the most, slightly increased its overall food production from the pro war level, Britain increased hers by 70 per cent. Admittedly this | was largely a result obtained by the changeover from livestock to i grains and roots which does enable more production to be obtained j per acre. On the other hand there is involved a tremendous labotar j effort in a policy such as Britain followed. j Having regard to the intense call upon Britain’s available j manpower and womenpower, the feat on the food front stands I foi'th as an epic of national endeavour. Unlike Germany, Britain | was unable to employ hundreds of thousands, it" not millions, of j war prisoners on her farms. Britain had to call Up almost every j available fit man to the armed forces, undertake producing I munitions and war equipment and ships on a great scale, also to employ manpower in repairing damage from enemy bombing during a vital year. Later she had great constructional tasks to undertake of aerodromes and camps so as to organise as a base for her own and the American forces in preparation for the attack on the Continent. New Zealand has had no greater demands, relative to size, than those Britain faced, yet our primary production has shown a falling tendency in several of its most important branches. There must be causes for that undesirable trend. One surely most obvious is the comparative discouragement given to farmers in New Zealand in striking contrast to the vigorous encouragement given their fellows at Home.