EFFECTS OF MACHINERY 15 



8,244,392 acres, though the area of permanent 

 grassland also increased by some 350,000 

 acres. The great reduction of arable land 

 did not begin until the next decade. 



Imports, Prices, and Machinery. 



Certain changes, however, did coincide 

 with the migration of 1861-70, and the ex- 

 planation of its exceptional character may, 

 perhaps, be found in them. Imports of 

 agricultural produce were then rising rapidly. 

 The average annual amount of wheat im- 

 ported rose in millions of cwt. from 18 in 

 1856-60 to 28 in 1S61-65, 32 in 1866-70, and 

 44 in 1871-75 ; imports of barley rose at the 

 same time from 5.7 to 11 million cwt., and of 

 oats from 4.8 to 11. 6 million cwt. Also the 

 price of wheat fell heavily, and was relatively 

 very low in 1863-4-5, though it rose again and 

 stood high in 1S67-8. Mr. Prothero says that 

 after 1862 the tide of agricultural prosperity 

 ceased to flow. And it was just at this time 

 that machiney began to come in on a large 

 scale. Its use was not yet general, but 

 enterprising farmers took it up actively and 

 were stimulated, no doubt, by the conditions 

 just mentioned. They got rid of as many men 

 as they could and only retained the perma- 

 nent hands. In the official inquiry into the 

 Decline of the Agricultural Population carried 

 out by the Board of Agriculture in 1906 ma- 



