PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 315 



other crops, and it is very likely that the growing of wheat will 

 be one of the great permanent industries of Canada, especially 

 as the population is so largely agricultural. 1 



Wheat in the United Kingdom. The imports of wheat by 

 Great Britain are far greater than those of any other country 

 and approximate two-fifths of those of the world. It is this 

 fact which gives the United Kingdom its position of unusual 

 importance in the wheat industry. About the time of Christ 

 the Normans made England so productive of "corn" (wheat) 

 that a large amount of grain was exported, and England was 

 known as "The Granary of the North. " 2 At the close of the 

 eighteenth century the average crop of Great Britain was over 

 60,000,000 bushels. In 1852 the wheat acreage was over 3,500,- 

 000 acres. With the development of wheat production in the 

 United States and other countries having great natural advan- 

 tages over the United Kingdom, the price of wheat declined to 

 such a degree that it became more profitable for the latter 

 country to grow other crops and to import the bulk of its 

 wheat. By 1868, less than 2,500,000 acres of wheat were grown 

 in Great Britain, and the acreage continued to decline for over 

 a quarter of a century. Less than 2,000,000 acres of wheat are 

 now annually grown, but the yield is over 30 bushels per 

 acre. During the decline in wheat acreage the price fell in 

 still greater proportion. Wheat imports to England began 

 about 1846. 



Australian Wheat Production. Wheat growing has not al- 

 ways been a profitable industry in Australia. It has been 

 claimed that there is less return there for the farmer's labor 

 than in any other civilized country. Wheat thrives best on the 

 cooler and drier lands of the southern part of Australia. 

 Many farmers, however, have abandoned wheat raising for the 

 cultivation of the grape vine, which is a more profitable crop 

 in good seasons. Victoria, New South Wales and South Aus- 

 tralia are the chief wheat growing states. The yield per acre 

 is never large, and short crops often result from severe 

 droughts. For this reason Australia is not a reliable exporter. 

 The production of wheat has been increasing, however, and 



1 Saunders, Wheat Growing in Canada, 1904. 



2 Warner, Landmarks Eng. Indus. Hist., pp. 8-11. 



