Food Production in Great Britain and in Western Europe

Abstract

INFORMATION about food production in Great Britain is readily obtainable from the excellent volumes of statistics issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and the corresponding body in Scotland. Hitherto it has been difficult to compare these results with those obtained in Western Europe; the data of course existed, but they were scattered through many volumes in a variety of languages, and as they were not necessarily comparable there were many pitfalls for the unwary student. Agricultural statistics are particularly troublesome things to handle. The difficulty is largely met by a recently published book by Mr. P. Lamartine Yates, which comes at a most opportune time*. The material was assembled and checked on an agricultural journey in 1938, and both the author, and Lord Astor and Mr. Seebohm Rowntree, who were the prime movers in the enterprise, are to be congratulated on its accomplishment.