REPORT OF THE STATISTICIAN. 183 



increase, rather more tlian two-tliirds, or 1,134,000 acres, was in England, 

 228,000 in Wales, and 275,000 in Scotland. 



In Ireland the cultivated area shows a decrease of 9,000 acres since a 

 year. The decrease in 1878 was 82,000 acres, and in 1877 nearly 300,000 

 acres. This decrease is mainly due to much land being classed as barren 

 mountain-land which was formerly classed as pasture. 



Looting at the details of the various crops, it is seen that the area 

 under wheat in Great Britain in 1879 was 2,890,000 acres, being a de- 

 crease of 328,000 acres from the previous year. In Ireland there was a 

 fractional increase. The wheat crop of the United Kingdom has de- 

 creased by nearly a million of acres, or a fourth of its area, since 1869, 

 when there was 3,982,000 acres under wheat. 



Barley has partly taken the place of wheat, being this year sown on 

 2,932,000 acres, an increase of 209,000, or nearly 8 per cent., over 1878. 

 Oats were sown on 3,998,000 acres in the United Kingdom, being a de- 

 crease of 126,000 acres since 1878. This crop has steadily declined since 

 ten years. The large imxDortations of Indian corn have doubtless com- 

 peted largely with the oat crop, and, therefore, tended to diminish the 

 breadth sown. In the green crop there is not much variation. The 

 area x)lanted in potatoes shows an increase of 33,000 acres in Great 

 Britain and a slight decrease in Ireland ; the total area planted was 

 541,344 acres in Great Britain and 842,021 in Ireland. 



In live stock there has been an increase of horses and cattle and a 

 decrease in sheep and swine. The total numbers for the United King- 

 dom are, horses, 1,955,394 ; cattle, 9,961,536 ; sheep, 32,237,958 ; swine, 

 3,178,106. Swine have decreased in number in Great Britain nearly 16 

 per cent, since 1878. In Ireland the same proportionate reduction has 

 taken place j the competition of American bacon is the main cause. 



AUSTRALIA. 



From the returns of Australia it appears that rather more than 

 2,500,000 acres of land are sown in wheat, being twice the area sown 

 eight years ago. The average yield was about ten bushels per acre ; the 

 largest wheat growing district (South Australia) has an average of little 

 more than seven bushels per acre, while New Zealand averaged nearly 

 23 bushels, and New South Wales 14f bushels per acre. Oats were 

 grown on 467,000 acres and averaged 25 bushels per acre. Indian corn 

 is only gTown to any extent in New South Wales, and was 186,000 acres 

 in area and yielded 32 bushels per acre. Potatoes were planted on 

 88,000 acres and averaged a yield per acre of 112 bushels ; in New Zeal- 

 and the yield averaged 170 bushels per acre. In live stock there are in 

 Australia rather more than a million of horses, 7,250,000 cattle, and 

 61,000,000 sheep. 



FRANCE. 



In France the acreage sown in wheat was, within a small fraction, the 

 same as in 1878, viz, 17,200,000 acres. The yield per acre was less than 

 the poor yield of last year, and is estimated at a fraction above 13 bushels 

 per acre. The total crop is estimated at 229,000,000 bushels for 1879; 

 the crop in an average year is 289,500,000 bushels, consequently the crop 

 of 1879 falls short of an average 60,500,000 bushels, or nearly 21 per cent. 



From the Bulletin Statistique it appears that the area planted in vine- 

 yards in France was greatest in 1874, when it amounted to 6,046,820 

 acres, a surface equal to one-fourth of the State of Ohio. There was a 

 gradual decline in the area, caused by disease, till in 1878 it was 



