:ldcjiij as regards the Production of 3Ieat. 



405 



to that produced by the pig, have lately regarded beef and 

 mutton as indispensable items in their daily food, the reason 

 of which I have already attempted to explain. 



Table II. shows the extent of land under each of the principal 

 cereal crops for the eight years ending with 1873. 



Table II. — Total Acreage under Coen Crops in Cumberland. 



The acreage under corn crops gradually increased from 

 the year 1867 to 1870 inclusive. Since then, however, there 

 has been a steady decrease in the breadth of land devoted to the 

 production of cereals. Agriculturists find that corn can be im- 

 ported, but that butchers' meat cannot ; they are, therefore, 

 gradually turning their fields into pasture, and ploughing out as 

 little as possible ; at the same time the majority are fully alive 

 to the fact that corn-growing and meat-producing must, to a 

 certain extent, go hand-in-hand. 



It is noteworthy that since 1866 the acreage devoted to wheat 

 has not been inaterially altered. The area undei this cereal in 

 1873, compared with that of 1872, certainly shows a decrease by 

 2481 acres ; but then it should be understood that the autumn of 

 1872, when the succeeding crop should have been sown, was one 

 of the wettest on record, and so a certain proportion of land, 

 originally intended for wheat, was undoubtedly sown with 

 barley in the following spring. 



With the exception of the year 1873, the Returns show that 

 the area occupied by barley has been gradually decreasing, but 

 at the present time, some farmers are quite sanguine that in 

 future years the breadth will be extended, owing to the great 

 demand for this description of grain for malting purposes. 



In the year 1870, the largest breadth of oats was grown, viz. 

 77,261 acres; since which there has been a steady decrease, the 

 Returns for 1873 showing a falling off of 11,788 acres, or at the 

 rate of 15.2 per cent. 



Rye, beans and peas are very little grown. The Returns for 

 1873 show little change in rye ; an advance of 50 per cent in 



