53 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



The railway extension of the kingdom has been 

 another medium by which agriculture has been materi- 

 ally benefited. In 1850 there were but 6,733 miles of 

 railway open ; last year the extent of lines had increased 

 to nearly 10, 000 miles in operation. These have been 

 greatly instrumental in bringing remote districts into 



farm, are placed by the Census in the agricultural 

 class, as it is presumed they ai-e more or less engaged 

 in farming pursuits. There were 1,200,000 out-door 

 agricultural labourers returned in 1851. 



In Scotland, the number of farmers and of holdings 

 returned was 5G,650, and of pasture or moor-land 



more close communication, and in affording facilities | 1,662,491 acres, in the hands of 3,203 holders. The 



for the transport of agricultural produce, livestock, 

 machinery, &c., and for the receipt of manures, stone, 

 timber, and other supplies. Many districts are, how- 

 ever, yet remote from railway stations, and it is a ques- 

 tion whether light tramways might not be conve- 

 niently laid down in some localities where an expen- 

 sive railway would not pay; and whether it is not 

 possible for the farmer to employ the steam-power at 

 his command with greater economy and effect upon 

 the land, in preparing and in conveying his farm- 

 produce to market. 



It was stated in the last Census report, that one of 

 the obvious physical effects of tiie increase of popula- 

 tion in the kingdom is, that the proportion of land 

 to each person diminishes ; and the decrease has been 

 such, that, in the first half of the present century, the 

 number of acres to each person living has fallen from 

 5.4 to 2.7 acres in Great Britain ; from 4 to 2 acres in 

 England and Wales. As the population in the last ten 

 years is estimated to have increased 3,000,000, this 

 relative proportion of land to each hasconsequently been 

 further reduced. As a countervailing advantage, thepeo- 

 ple have been brought into each other's neighbourhood ; 

 their average distance from each other has been reduced 

 at the ratio of 3 to 2 j labour has been divided ; indus- 

 try has been organized in towns : and the quantity of 

 produce, either consisting of, or exchangeable for, the 

 commercial elegancies and necessaries of life, has, in 

 the mass, largely increased, and is increasing at a more 

 rapid rate than the population. 



The aggregate number estimated as employed in agri- 

 culture, in 1851, exceeded 2,000,000 — half a million 

 more than those engaged in manufactures, and only half 

 a million below those engaged in trade. In looking at 

 the figures, wo are necessarily struck by the great 

 number of farmers returned. Two considerations, 

 however, help to explain this. First, the numbers 

 returned include those who have retired, as well as 

 those engaged in agricultural pursuits at present; 

 secondly, a large proportion (about fifty thousand) are 

 merely occupiers of small plots of land, from less than 

 five up to twenty acres. The nearest relations of far- 

 mer, if aged fifteen years or more, and resident on the 



number of men employed as labourers was 33,512, 

 and of women 8,195. In the islands on the British 

 seas, the number of farms and farmers was 3,968, who 

 employed 2,886 men and 32 women as labourers. 



Next year we shall probably be able to institute a 

 comparison as to numbers between the present and the 

 past, and to note what effect emigration, and the im- 

 proved social condition of the masses, have had upon the 

 labour question. The increase of live stock in the ten 

 years will be another interesting investigation as bear- 

 ing upon the food supply ; and we shall be able tojudge 

 whether cattle-breeding and sheep-raising keep pace ' 

 with the larger wants of the community. 



We know that, in Ireland, in the ten years, the cat- 

 tle have increased by 1,000,000; the sheep and 

 pigs have doubled. The increase in horses there has 

 been much smaller, only amounting to about 10,000 

 increase. We have also some data for Scotland. 



In 1850, the number of horses in Great Britain, aa 

 far as can be ascertained, belonging to farmers, was, 

 308,573 used solely for husbandry ; 30,848 usually 

 employed for husbandry, although occasionally la 

 drawing burthens ; employed by market-gardeners 

 2,290; by bailiffs and herdsmen 1,486; horses never 

 having been used 19,136, and breeding mares 3,331. 

 These, with perhaps a few thousands under other 

 classes omitted, make a total of about 370,000 horses 

 employed in husbandry, and the total number of all 

 kinds, including young horses, ponies, and colts, was 

 considered to be about 700,000. What the present 

 number is it would be difficult to state. Ireland, how- 

 ever,hasabout560,000; Scotland 190,000. In 1851, Mr. 

 Pool estimated that there were 4,200,000 head of cattle, 

 28,500,000 sheep, and 1,500,000 pigs in Great Britain. 



It is needless to follow out these guess-work esti- 

 mates ; for is to be hoped that we may have, before 

 another year runs out, some reliable data as to the spe- 

 cial and aggregate value of our land under culture, 

 the extent of the crops raised, and the live stock main- 

 tained, which may afford an index of our present agri- 

 cultural wealth, and of the progress made by the en- 

 terprise, capital, and persevering industry of our far- 

 mers and graziers in the last ten years. 



THE SHROPSHIRE SHEEP AT BIRMINGHAM. 



Sir,— I cannot allow the few remarks, relative to Shrop- 

 shire sheep, in your late article on the BirmiDgham Show to 

 pass altogether unnoticed. 



[C," The trump card of all the sheep was of course again the 

 Shropshire. The class, indeed, was thonght to be too good 

 for the judgei, amongit whom there wm not one breeder 



of the Shropshire, and common opinion did not go altoge- 

 ther with the awards. The first prize for the younger 

 wethers they gave to some handsome sheep of Mr. Holland's, 

 and the second to a useful lot of Mr. Mausell's ; and had 

 they atopped here all might have been well enough. But 

 I thejr went out of their way to commend two peni of XiOrd 



