Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Article
  • Published:

State Intervention in Agriculture

Abstract

IN his presidential address to Section M (Agriculture), Mr. J. M. Caie first shows the position occupied by agriculture in the State, by giving statistics of areas, holdings and populations, the output of food from our farms, and the contribution they make to the food consumption of the people. Corresponding figures for Denmark and Norway are given for purposes of comparison. Specially notable facts are that the number of persons per acre of cultivated land in Great Britain, 1·5, is relatively high, while the proportion of the population engaged in British agriculture, about 6 per cent, is very low, as compared with 29 and 30 per cent in the other two countries ; that the products of animal husbandry represent about 72 per cent of the output of our land ; that the value of the output per acre of land is about £8 in Great Britain and Norway, and £11 in Denmark, while the annual output per person in British agriculture is £200 and in Danish £150 ; that in respect of most products, except liquid milk, oats and potatoes, we require to import very considerable quantities ; and that agriculture buys from other industries goods valued, roughly, at twenty to thirty million pounds a year.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Purchase on Springer Link

Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

State Intervention in Agriculture. Nature 140, 416–417 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140416a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140416a0

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing