The labour question has, as in other years, attracted much attention. The number of Swedish and Finnish labourers is decreasing, and it is from Galicia that Denmark would now appear to recruit her farm hands. The number of Galician "season" labourers in 1908 reached 8,000, or about 1,000 more than in 1907. The co-operative organisations approached the Prime Minister with the proposal that free passes should be granted on the State railway system to any unemployed at Copenhagen having a knowledge of field work to help in farming. This attempt to organise a "back to the land" movement is not expected to be attended with success.

These figures show an increase of nearly double in eleven years, or an increase of eight millions, and an increase of two millions from 1906 to 1907.

It must be remembered that the bulk of Danish produce comes to the Manchester market, and is distributed from that centre. An analysis of the 1907 imports from Denmark gives the following details:—Butter £10,192,587, eggs £1,774,319, fish £91,031, lard £17,723, bacon £5,385,275, pork £200,000. The item of bacon for 1907 shows an increase of one million pounds over the year 1906.

The import of Danish produce began in the early sixties of last century, and the quality was so indifferent that we are told it was fortunate if two casks of butter were good out of every five. Even then the quality was superior to Irish butter in its taste and appearance. The population of Denmark is two and a half millions, and the cultivated area of land is seven million acres. The yield of crops to the acre is 28 bushels of wheat, while in England it is 33 bushels. In barley the yield is 30 bushels to our 35 bushels, and in oats it is 33 bushels to our 42. These figures show the comparative fruitfulness of the land to be in favour of England. The live stock per 1,000 population in Denmark is 711 cattle to our 267, and pigs 563 to our 82. The total imports for twenty years show that our dairy produce from abroad has doubled, and is increasing at a rapid rate.

Comparisons of Danish methods of farming to-day cannot be made with the present conditions existing in Lancashire or Yorkshire, but can only be made by the modern conditions now obtaining in Essex under Lord Rayleigh.

Crops Diminishing.

What has been the course of our agriculture for the past sixty years? Mr. Cobden maintained that Free Trade would do no injury to agriculture. The following is a comparison of prices in the years 1845 and 1907:—

1845.1907.
[E]4lbs. loaf of Bread6d.5½d.
[F]1lb. Butter7d.1/1.
[F]1lb. Cheese2d.9d.
[F]1lb. Bacon3d.9d.
[F]1lb. Beef4d.8d.

Sixty years ago home-grown wheat produced flour for twenty-four millions of our population.[G] To-day it produces flour for four and a half millions. The acreage under wheat has been reduced in the last thirty years to one-half in England, to one-third in Scotland, and to one-fifth in Ireland. The same is true of green crops. Nine hundred thousand acres less are under crops than were thirty years ago. The same may be said of the area under hop cultivation, which has been reduced every year. The only bright spot in the review of our agricultural position, extending over many years, is to be found in the growth of fruit, although this has not increased as rapidly as foreign importations.

The result of these changes during the last thirty years has been an increase of imports of agricultural produce of eighty millions. Our imports of wheat have increased by thirty-two millions, our imports of dairy produce have increased by twenty-one millions, and eggs alone have increased by four millions sterling a year; while fruit and vegetables have increased by ten and a half millions. The effect of this must be the increased dependence of our population on foreign supplies. Agriculture finds employment for a million less than it did sixty years ago. These are facts and not opinions, and we are compelled to use the figures of the general national imports, as the details of the counties are not available.