ABSTRACT
The fact that western Europe possessed valuable agricultural and mineral resources was a significant factor in the industrial development of the region. When the farmlands of western Europe were exploited by modern scientific methods they were able to provide a steadily growing population with increased supplies of potatoes, cereals, fruit, meat and dairy produce. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that the industrial districts of western Europe drew large quantities of foodstuffs from eastern Europe and it was not until the 1870s and 1880s that the Americas, Australia and New Zealand became really important suppliers of food to western Europe.
