and of course, meat itself.

One German statistician told me he believed that the conquest of
Roumania would add between nine and ten months to Germany's
capacity to hold out, during which time, no doubt, one or other of
the Allies would succumb.

At the beginning of 1917 the actual number of cattle in Germany
does not seem to be so greatly depreciated as one would expect.
After a very thorough investigation I am convinced that there are
in Germany to-day from three-fourths to four-fifths as many head of
cattle as there were before the war.

In the spring and summer these cattle did very well, but with the
passing of the grazing season new difficulties are arising. Cattle
must be fed, and unless sufficient grain comes from Roumania to
supply the bread for the people and the fodder for the cattle it is
obvious that there must be a wholesale slaughtering, and consequent
reduction of milk, butter, and cheese.

All these details may seem tiresome, but they directly concern the
length of the war.

To add to the shortage, the present stock of cattle in Germany was,
when I left, being largely drawn upon for the supply of the German
armies in the occupied parts of Prance, Belgium, and Russia, and
the winter prospect for Germany, therefore, is one of obviously
increased privation, provided always that the blockade is drastic.

Cattle are, of course, not the only food supply. There is game.
Venison is a much commoner food in Germany than in England,
especially now there is much of it left. Hares, rabbits,
partridges are in some parts of Germany much more numerous even
than in England. A friend of mine recently arrived from Hungary
told me that he had been present at a shoot over driven partridges
at which, on three successive days, over 400 brace fell to the
guns. Wherever I went in Germany, however, game was being netted.

Before the war, pork, ham, and bacon were the most popular German
food, but owing to the mistake of killing pigs in what I heard
called the "pork panic" the Germans are to-day facing a remarkable
shortage of their favourite meat. I am convinced that they began
1917 with less than one-fourth as many pigs as they had before the
war.

The Berlin stockyards slaughtered over 25,000 pigs weekly before
August, 1914. During the first 10 months of the war the figure
actually rose to 50,000 pigs per week in that one city alone. In
one week in September last the figure had fallen to 350 pigs!

The gr