GREAT BRITAIN" AND IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM OF. 





compared with 2'68 pounds; of cheese, 5'14 

 pounds, as compared with 3'52 pounds. The 

 import of wheat in 1887 was 11,156,930 quar- 

 jainst 14,192,000 quarters in 1885, 7,131,- 

 100 in 1870, and 5,343,800 in 1866. Of the 

 import of 1887, 6,100,000 quarters came from 

 the United States, 1,418,000 quarters from In- 

 dia, 660,800 quarters from Canada, 224,500 

 quarters from Australasia, 922,130 quarters 

 from Russia, 367,710 quarters from Chili, and 

 258, 620 quarters from Germany. 



The chief articles of import and their values 

 in 1887 were as follow : Grain and flour, 47.- 

 819,927; raw cotton. 39,897,316; wool, 24,- 

 280,593 ; metals, 16,618,148; sugar, 16,412.- 

 734; wood and timber, 11,989,159; butter 

 and oleomargarine, 11,886,717; silk manu- 

 factures, 10,373,166; tea, 9,858,083 ; bacon 

 and hams, 8,629,941; flax, hemp, and jute, 

 8,554.322 ; chemicals. f7.7iS.884; seeds, 6,- 

 961,940; animals. 0.149,066. The following 

 were the largest exports : Cotton manufactures, 

 70.956,769; iron and steel manufactures, 

 2.3.000,356; woolen and worsted manufact- 

 ures. 24,138,407; machinery. 11.145.745; 

 linen, jute manufactures, and apparel, 10,- 

 2-27.990; coal, 10,176.402. 



The area under cultivation in England in 

 1887 was 32,597,398 acres, or 80 per cent, of 

 the total area; 4,721.823 acres, or 60 per cent. 

 in Wales ; 20,819,947 acres, or 74 per cent., in 

 Ireland; and 19,466.978 acres, or 28'8 per 

 cent., in Scotland. The wheat-crop of Great 

 Britain in 1887 was 74.32-2.747 bushels, as 

 compared with 61.467.898 bushels in 1886. 

 The yield per acre was 32-07 bushels, against 

 26'89 bushels in the preceding year, and against 

 a normal average of 28'80 bushels. The acre- 

 aze under wheat was T37 per cent, greater 

 than in 1888. The barley-crop was 65,300,994 

 bushels in 1887, as compared with 72,090^269 

 bushels in 1886 ; the agcrrecate yield of oats 

 was 107,283,392 bushels." against 116,596.481 

 bushels ; the produce of potatoes was 3.564.- 

 894 tons, against 0.167.763 tons ; the crop of 

 turnips was 10.747.726 tons, against 29,982.940 

 tons. In Ireland there was likewise an in- 

 crease in the wheat and potato crops, and a 

 falling off in barley, oats, and turnips, owing, 

 as in England, to the dry spring and summer. 



The live stock in 1887 comprised 1,936,925 

 horses, 10,639,960 cattle, 29,401,750 sheep, and 

 3.72(1.957 swine. 



The product of the fisheries in 1887 was val- 

 ued at 4,104,445 in England, 1,396,963 in 

 Scotland, and 643.000 in Ireland. The total 

 number of men employed was 125,764, with 

 32,189 boats. 



The total value of the mineral products of 

 the United Kingdom in 1886 was 55,010,241. 

 There were mined durinar the year 157.518.482 

 tons of coal, valued at 38,145,930 : and 4,967.- 

 574 tonsof iron-ore, valued at 11.259,834. The 

 number of persons engaged in mining in 1886 

 was 561,092, of whom 448.657 worked under- 

 ground. The export of coal was 23,283,389 

 VOL. xxviii. 25 A 



tons. France received of this 4.081,343 tons, 

 valued atl, 635,581: Germany, 2,857,819 tons, 

 valued at 1,009,560; Italy, 2,862,804 tuns, 

 valued at 1,101.09*. The total consumption 

 of iron-ore in the United Kingdom during 1886 

 was 17,336,000 tons. There were 399 blast- 

 furnaces in operation, and 6,566.451 tons of 

 pig-iron and 2,541,928 tons of steel were 

 manufactured. 



In 1886, 1,715,044,800 pounds of cotton were 

 imported, of which 1,517,186,720 pounds were 

 retained for home consumption. "Wool was im- 

 ported to the extent of 596,470,995 poi 

 and 312,006,380 pounds were exported. There 

 were 7,465 factories in the United Kingdom in 

 1885, employing 1,034,911 hands, 406,320 males 

 and 629,248 females. The children employed 

 in the factories numbered 43,308 males and 48,- 

 S03 females. 



Navigation. In 1886 the mercantile marine 

 of Great Britain was composed of 17,917 ves- 

 sels of all kinds, of 7,134.269 tons, employing 

 204,584 men. They were divided as follows: 

 Engaged in foreign trade 3.018 steam-vessels, 

 of 3.491, 330 tons, employing 97. 602 men; 2.923 

 sailing-vessels, of 2.526.117 tons, with crews of 

 50,590 men; engaged in home trade, 1,667 

 steam - vessels, of 300,598, tons, with 1 - 

 men and 9,626 sailing-vessels, of 046.697 tun-. 

 with 32,696 men; engaged in both home and 

 foreign traffic, 235 steam-vessels, of 110,091 

 tons, and 3,485 men ; and 448 sailing-vessels, 

 of 59,436 tons, and 2.129 men. During 1886 

 there were built and registered in the United 

 Kingdom, 308 steamers, of 154,638 tons, and 

 363 sailing-vessels, of 138,362 tons. At the 

 end of 1886, the total number of vessels of all 

 kinds registered as belonging to the United 

 Kingdom was 22,815, with a tonnage of 

 7,927,818, a decrease of 68,227 tons from the 

 preceding year. The total tonnage of vessels 

 of all kinds which entered and cleared tht 

 ports of the United Kingdom during 1886 was 

 62,841,077. of which 46,078.299 tons were un- 

 der the British flag, and 16.762,778 nnder for- 

 eign flags. The main part of the foreign ton- 

 nage was divided among the chief trading coun- 

 tries as follows; Norway. 3,848.860; Germany, 

 3.535.926: France, 1,782,752: Denmark, 1,463".- 

 675; Sweden, 1,386,076; Holland, 1,486,970; 

 Spain. 952.066 ; Italy. 537.845 ; Beleinm, 620,- 

 726; Russia, 429,616; United States, 392,268 ; 

 Austria. 112,492. 



The Post-Office and Telegraphs. The number of 

 post-offices in the United Kingdom on March 

 31, 1887, was 17,191. The permanent staff of 

 the post-office was composed of 50,033 males 

 and 3,767 females. The total number of letters 

 sent in 18S7 was 1.460,000.000; post-cards, ' 

 180,000,000; newspapers, 151.000,000; par- 

 cels and book-packets, 402,000.000. Foreign 

 monev orders were issued to the number of 

 10,813,034, valued at 25.354.001. The inland 

 money orders numbered 9. 762. 562. valued at 

 22,262,708. There were 31,605,984 postal 

 orders sent, valued at 12,958,940. During 



