The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1878-03-02
INTERESTING TO FARMERS
The Food Supply of Great Britain.

Nv lin U - GAA IN zI3tios
The Food Supply of Great Britain.
A letter to the New York Sun, dated
London, February 8, says The gross
imports of the United Kingdom for 1877
exceeded those Of the previous year by the
sum Of over s94,0O0,OO0. OF this in
crease, s48,400,000 was for articles Of
food for human consumption. The total
import of such articles for the year amount
ed to more than s466, 100000. This
amount includes live animals intended for
food, meats of all kinds, wheat and -four,
Indian corn, rice, butter, lard, cheese, eggs,
fish, and potatoes; and does not include
tea, coffee, or sugar. In custom house
parlance these latter are not articles of
food.
Thirty years ago the import of food was
not seriously large. In 1916 foreign
breadstufs were imported to the amount
of only seventeen pounds per head of the
whole population Of the country; in 1855
it had increased to seventy pounds; in 1865
to ninety-three pounds; and in the past
five years the average annual import has
been over $50 pounds for each person iE
the kingdom. IL Is estimated that every
person consumes little more than FIVE
bushels, or 300 pounds, of wheat or other
grain yearly, and it will be seen that the
Britons are now obtaining nearly two-thirds
oftheir breadstufs from abroad. It should
be noted, however, that three seasons of
the last FIVE have been rather Indifferent
ones, and the average may be abnormally
high in some measure. Nevertheless the
increase is uniform and rapid, and Great
Britain is fast nearing the time when fully
two-thirds of her bread supply viii regu-
larry come from foreign countries.
1t is an important question connected
with the future prosperity Of this country,
how this comparatively new condition Of
things is to be borne. 1t is nothing less
than revolution. Less than fifty years
ago England may be said to have produced
the entire food supply of her whole people
AT all events, the import was then i1sig-
nifcant in comparison with the home pro-
duct. Now the former relations are fast
being reversed. Some economists insist
that the ability to supply its whole people
with food is one of the essential features
Of national strength, and that no country
can safely bring any large part of its food
from other countries. No civilized coun-
try except Great Britain is obliged to i'm
port any large amount Of the staple arti-
cles Of food. Even crowded Belgium and
Holland send considerable quantities Of
live animals, meat, butter, cheese, and eggs
to England. There is plenty of waste land
in England, and if it were utilized, no
doubt nearly the whole food supply might
be Of home production; but there is no
disposition to thus turn it to account, and
the English are more and more crowding
the cities and towns, and becoming still
more than ever before 'nation Of shop
keepers" Mr.. Brassy says that the in
habitants Of cities and towns in England
constitute four-ffths of the entire popula-
ton. If exports were increasing with the
population the outlook would not be so
bad; but, on the contrary, they are rapidly
diminishing, and the spectacle is that OF a
people fast increasing in numbers, while
their revenue is seriously diminishing.
The export Of British and Irish products
in 1877 was less than in 1870, yet the
population increased in the interval fully
100000, and the imports for home con-
sumption increased by the amount of over
s42O, 100000. The figures | give below
are mostly based on the returns for 1862
and 1877, both included, aud in that in
tsryal Of sixteen years the population Of
the United Kingdom increased IA per ct.
In 1877 cereals we're imported to the
amount of about 6,944, 900 tons; in 1862
the amount was 4,149,600 tons. The
amount for 1862, however, was abnormally
high, and the import Of the following year
was more nearly the average of that period.
In that year (1863) it was 3, 365, 900 tons
The amount in 1877 was more than double
that Of 1863. The value Of the import in
1877 was over $4,000, 900, as against
s1SS,S70, 900 in 1862, and s129, 78O, 900
in 1868. The value of wheat alone in
1877 was s169, 100000. In the last yeal
the quantity of wheat reached LOG, 100,.
600 bushels; Of barley, "a ,210, 600 bushels;
of oats, "a, 100, 900 bushels; of corn, &C..
$4,000 bushels Gin 1876 it was "a ,59T, :
600 bushels;) of -four, $4,000 tons, oil
over 4,234 900 barrels. OF the wheat
the United States sent about seven-eigh-
teenths Of the whole amount; Russia, one.
fifth; Germany, one-tenth; and British In
dia, one-ninth. In 1876 the United States
sent very nearly one-halfthe whole amount
of wheat.
The valae of the import Of animal food
Is about three times as great as ten year.
ago, and the focks and herds of Great
Britain are not now any more numerous
than then. The number Of live cattle and
sheep imported in 1862 was 397 900; in
1877 the number increased to l ,078, 257.
The value Of live animals imported in the
latter year was $4,000 900; of meat Of
all kinds, SCI ,760, 900; total value of ami.
NAL food for year, s91 100000 0fbacon
and hams the United States send about
IS per cent Of the whole amount. The
trade in fresh beef and mutton is still in
its infancy, and, in years to come, must
increase enormously. Years ago there
gas curious bit of fiction extant to the
effect that no other country could produce
beef and mutton equal to that of England.
A few people still believe it, but the intel.
ligent have learned better. The American
beef and mutton, when carefully handled
and not seriously delayed on the voyage
are pronounced prime and equal to the
best English and Scotch meats in every
respect On their first introduction, how
ever, they were met with an opposition
that would have crushed almost any ordi-
nary enterprise. English producers aud
butchers saw lower prices and smaller pro
fits among the certain results ofthe scheme;
so they used every means in their power
TO thwartit. Damaged English and Scotch
meats were often marked American, and
sold at lower prices than the home product.
Cases of this nature were taken into court,
aud parties convicted and fined for the
practice. American meat rapidly won its
way into public favor, however, in spite OF
this opposition. In the first half of 1877,
the import of fresh meat by the new pro-
Il