El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-08-03
ENGLAND PLANS
FARMING REVIVAL
One Effect of War VIII Be
to Greatly Increase Acre
age of Food Stuffs.

London. Eng AUG %.-One Of the ef-
fects of the war viii he seen IN a great
revival Of agricultural life m England
and the United Kingdom. The outsreak
of the conflict caught the British Isles
dependent on foreign commerce Tor
four-fifths Of their food supply. barring
=, meat. of which between so and &c per
cent IS produced at home.
The motto of a few years ago. Back
to the Land thus has given way to
tile slogan. England must feed her
self" Lord SeIborue. the leader or she
crusade, declares that the attainment
OF this object Is the country's sacred
duty. and he emphasizes the point that
the farmer can do as much for the
country as the soldier in the trenches
RePopuIate Rural Districts
Plans for the great reform lncllne
q number OF important measures tnat
are TO he put into effect at the earliest
possible moment. They include the
following:
The repopuIation Of the rural dis
trfcts and afforesra-ion- The war Of
flee has lust consented 70 the exchange
Of many of the older men who in the
earlier DAYS OF the war left farm work
for the firing line for men between y
and 50 TO take their places 2 < the front.
This exchange will begin Immediately.
Land for Soldiers.
The setting aside Of thousands or
acres for the settlement on the cooper
. alive plan Of England's soldiers and
sailors after the war This expediency
is provided for by the SmallholdinE
Colonies act, now halfway through
parliament The scheme will provide
for model villages. better housing. with
\ garden TO every cottage reading
rooms libraries and good schools Con-
ceived BY lord Selborne, the idea has
aroused so much enthusiasm that
wide demand has been made for IN
,creasing the land 10 ne devoted 70 I
by almost as much again as is specified
in the bill.
Import Of Negroes Opposed.
The importation Of natives rom
South Africa for agricultural labor
during the remainder OF the war.
though so many objections have been
raised TO this that there is little likeli-
hood Of IT'S being adopted
II is believed that the plan for bring
Ing back soldiers from the front will
have the effect Of providing sufficient
farm labor practically Immediately In
Announcing the war Offices consent 10
The transfers. an expert told the ASrl-
cultural society that in England and
Scotland as well as in Ireland. the
farms in many districts had fallen far
below their minimum needs in the mat
ter Of labor.
Larger Crops Imperative
ne NE4Qtil1l 70 Ete-sll "A MOI 2 So TO U.s.
the country's capacity for growing
larger crops is illustrated by the fig
rres Of the wheat. barley and oats crops
n England and Wales Wheat and
oats were grown in larger quantities.
though the barley crops We're much
smaller There were :. $50 929 acres de
voted TO the three cereals in England
and Wales in 1915. an increase OF I
o4s.O44 acres as compared with 1914 .
The greatest increase in acreage was !
devoted 70 wheat OF 2.110.1T0 acres in .
all. the figure representing an increase i
OF S62.67c acres f2o PERCENT greater
than in 1913, and . percent greater
than during any OF the years between
1905 and 1915. Every country returned
increased areas. the total for Wales Of
1913 acres 81 percent being the
greatest
Barley Acreage Reduced.
The returns for 1915 give 2,0SS,04l
acres under oats an increase OF lbs. AZ
acres as compared with 1914. but only
"a S6e acres above the averaSe Tor the
past ten years The whole OF this in
crease was in England The reduction ]
Of the areas under barley amounted to 2
I5s4eI acres. the total acreage Of .
1881 20 being the lowest Vet recorded
Perhaps TO no individual as much as /
the earl of Selborne is due the credit .
of bringing home TO the people Of all 7
classes the importance OF taking
prompt means Of making the country (
more nearly self supporting in food ;
cent years ne has laid stress on the /!
point A practical farmer and enthu- 4
siast on his large and fertile tract in l
HAMPSHIRE. he has been able TO meet Z
The objections OF opponents Of expert I
knowledge TO the great advantage OF /
his crusade.
Lord Selborne viii have sometime {
10 DO with the revival OF agriculture. !
even now that he has resigned his /
place as president of the board Of I
agriculture, a. the prime minister has :
invited him to cooperate with him in /
The task OF reconstruction Of agricul- +
lure after the war.
Is National DUTY
Speaking before the Agricultural Or
Eanization society Lord SelbO-ne said
Increased food production during
the war IS q sacred national duty The
man on a Hampshire farm can strike
"a blow for England equally with his
son IN Flanders The manner in which
women have responded to the call OF
duty in this war should make il i'm
possible for any man to think them less
patriotic, less capable Of comprehend
. ing a great issue. less firm in purpose f
or less prone 10 sacrifice than men,
lie made a plea for better wages for
farm lahorers. better houses, and for
a multiplication of the occupying own
e-s of land drawn from the laborinE
classes :
pKTr0ncn nsaH To EIoTn