256 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AiCiRICULTDRE. 



Hesse-Darmstadt, each of which has over half her territory under plow- 

 culture; France and Wilrtemberg showing nearly the same proportion. 

 At the other extreme, Xorway and Finland shovr hut 2 per cent., and 

 Sweden 5^ per cent., under tillage. 



The pre"ceding table enables the reader to make comparisons with the 

 total productive area of each state. The French statisticians have also 

 compared the difleeeut classes of actually-productive lands with the 

 total agricultural area, much of which in every country is unutilized. 

 This area is the residue after deducting all the space occupied by lakes, 

 rivers, roads, buildings, &g. The data from which this deduction is 

 made are not given, but the following table gives the estimated propor- 

 tion which the different branctics of culture beai»to the residue of lands 

 that remain aljter the deduction. It will be noticed thtut cereals and 

 farinaceous crops are placed under one general head. English commer- 

 cial authorities include pease and beans among the cereals by a very wide 

 construction of the meaning of that term. Industrial crops are those 

 which constitute the basis of some specific manufacture, such as sugar- 

 beets, colza, flaxseed, «&c. The "market and kitchen garden crops" 

 are the French cultures potageres et maraichcres. 



Distribution of the agri/mltural teiritonj. 



A still further general comparison is made of the different classes of 

 culture, with the total area actually productive, including the two general 

 classes of lands under tillage and other productive lands. The following 

 table indicates the percentage of the whole productive area in each kind 

 of culture. It will be seen thai Belgium, France, Great Britain, Saxony, 

 and Denmark have more than half their productive area under the 

 plow, while Finland, Norway, and Sweden only range from 3.3 percent, 

 to 11.4 per cent. In these latter, the proportion of woods and forests 

 ranges from eight- tenths to nine-tenths of -the whole, while in Ireland they 



