118 



Having given you what information I possess, as to 

 the published accounts of agricultural and live stock in 

 other countries, I shall just for one moment compare the 

 information we have in this country on such subjects, and 

 I may take, as a fair sample, that important item in our 

 agricultural stock, — sheep. 



The following is extracted from a note appended to a 

 recent paper in the Quarterlj Revietv, in reference to French 

 statistics. The reviewer says :— 



"We cannot state the progress of our own sheep-farming, with any 

 exactness. Mr. Porter, in his first edition of the "Progress of the 

 Nation," 18! S, quoted two conjectures: — that our sheep were 19,000,000 

 in 1800, and ih.it they were supposed to have increased in 1823 by a 

 third, and to amount to about 25,000,000 to 2fi,000,000 : but we believe 

 Mr. I'orter was wrong in the basis of his calculation. Mr. M'Culloch 

 gave an estimate for each count}', which affords a total for England and 

 Wales uf 115,000,01)0; but in bis Dictionary he states the probable 

 number in 1 330 as 32 ; 000,000— which, he says, is 10,000,000 less than 

 Dr. Colquho'uu's estimate in 1800. French writers, on what authority 

 is unknown, call it 45.000,000 to 55,000,000. A new Agricultural 

 Magazine called the " Plough" staled, in its May number, the sheep 

 at 32,030,000, while in its December number, it states them at 

 60,000,000." The Quarterly reviewer then adds : " These enormous 

 discrepancies, which we found, on enquiry, that the Agricultural 

 Society had no means of explaining or correcting, afford a striking proof 

 of the very unsatisfactory state of our Agricultural Statistics." 



This is a fair sample of the kind of information by which 

 our agricultural resources are regulated, and needs no com- 

 ment. It will be seen that I propose to combine, as a necessary 

 part of the scheme, the Commercial Statistics of Food. 

 These should comprise all the imports and exports of Grain 

 and Provisions of all kinds — and, if possible to be ascer- 

 tained with any degree of exactness, the produce of our 

 Home Fisheries also. 



This information, combined with our accounts of home 

 productions and stocks, would at all times enable us to 

 compare our total supplies with our wants and requirements. 



