Dear Sir,

I have just read the piece in this week’s Scottish Farmer, on page four, titled ‘NFU food self-sufficiency concern’.

I thought you may be interested to see the following comment contained in an article in the ‘North British Agriculturalist’, penned by farmer James Purves of Lochend, Dunnet, Caithness –

“It is certainly one of the first duties of the Government of a country to promote its agricultural prosperity by every possible means, and by removing all restrictions on its application of capital to the development of the resources of the soil to foster home produce and increase the home trade of the country”.

The date of the publication? – 25th August 1875!

Yours faithfully,

Alexander R Dunnett, Lyth, Caithness