Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1941-02-20
More Farms Is
Needin Britain
Engineer Says Food Supply
Can Be Assured by Us
ing Modern Machinery.

ing Modern Machinery.
WASHINGTON.- THE impending
intensification of agricultural pro-
duction in the British Isles means
an increasing use of mechanical
equipment such as caterpillars and
tractors and the laying down pro-
gressively of vast new cultivated
acreage if the Germans drive
against British supplies is to be
combated successfully, in the opin-
ion of Sir Charles Ross, inventor Of
the Ross rifle and of many farm i'm
plements.
Sir Charles, who has been a resi-
dent of Washington since the last
war, saw the Importance of the
problem even before the outbreak
Of the present war and since then
has urged it in correspondence with
Lloyd George and British govern
ment leaders. He believes it is not
too late to beat the U-boat menace
on the farms of England.
Can Be Self-Supporting.
In letter to Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain year ago he
said:
"A study of the whole of the Ger
man naval ornaments shows that
they were designed and built on the
theory that England would continue
her misguided agricultural policy.
The very nature of the pocket battle
ships, their sphere Of operations, the
action Of the submarines and the
mine-laying in the Thames estuary
conclusively prove that German
economists and military designers
work hand in hand.
ut is only fair to conclude that
had England reversed her mis-
guided policy and gone into full
agricultural production a year ago,
Hitler would have Immediately
realized that the whole Of the naval
ornaments would have been COM
paratively Intellectual. Under these
circumstances it is doubtful whether
Germany would have undertaken a
major war in September, 1885,"
The gist Of the matter, he con-
tends, is that while Britain realizes
that foreign trade is her financial
lifeline, she does not see that do
nestle agriculture need not suffer,
that the island can probably be
made entirely self-supporting"
1t is a question which, according
to his letters and memorandum,
can be met by making the British
Isles self-supporting with reference
to meats and also vegetables. Then,
he contends, Britain can even see
shipping cease entering her ports,
half her merchant fleet lost and the
rest tied up in foreign ports, and
yet not be beaten on the food front.
Used on Scottish Farm.
This is much the same line Of
argument that has been used by
Lloyd George since the outbreak of
the war. Sir Charles has seen it
from the vantage point of his own
800, 000-acre farm in Rosshire
in the Scottish highlands, where he
has long employed the very methods
that he has since urged on the gov
eminent leaders in London; and he
says he has used them successfully.
Moreover, he has studied the farm
problem in France and Germany,
and has been in close touch with the
United States department of agricul-
ture. Now on vacation in Florida,
he is hopeful Of seeing his views put
into practice before his return.
Sir Charles established his resi-
dence here during the last war when
he was an adviser on ordnance for
the British, helping to speed Amer
lean arms production. Since then
he has established his own system
of agriculture in Scotland, based on
American practice, by introducing
silage of peas and beans as a COM
plete substitute for grass in winter.
and using caterpillar tractors and
other farm machinery, all in a pro-
gram designed to produce sheep and
cattle.
In Scotland sheep and other meat
animals could be concentrated on,
according to his views, and in Eng
land more land would be plowed
through modern machine methods;
even now it might not be too late
to solve the food problem.