Ill 



AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 



AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 



150 



forwarded to the Comptroller of Corn Returns, in London, who added 

 up all the gross amounts from all the inspectors, and struck a six- 

 weeks' average for the whole kingdom which average regulated the 

 duties on the admission of foreign corn for home consumption. 

 When the ' sliding-scale ' came into operation, there were several 

 instances of the averages being tampered with, in London and some of 

 the outpprts, by false returns ; this was done by fraudulent persons, 

 with a view of lowering the rates of duties by fictitious sales of large 

 quantities of corn ; thus swelling the quantity returned, raising the 

 prices, and lowering the duty. In 1842 a motive of economy, whether 

 wise or not, led to the appointment of excisemen, without any increase 

 of salary, in place of inspectors, as the latter might die off, for taking 

 the corn averages ; and the returns are believed to have suffered in 

 accuracy from this change. When the com laws were repealed, 

 further changes were made ; the corn averages ceased to be as valuable 

 as before in respect to fiscal regulations ; but they remained important 

 in connection with the commutation of tithes ; and it is now considered 

 that they might render useful aid to agricultural statists. The list 

 of towns whence the returns are made has been largely increased ; 

 in all the towns thus added, excisemen have been appointed instead of 

 in*|<ectors. 



These returns, it is evident, showed nothing beyond the average prices. 

 In 1832 the attention of the government was directed to the attain- 

 ment of more satisfactory results. In the previous year, a statistical 

 inquiry had been made by a committee of the magistracy of Norfolk, 

 re*pectin"g the acreage and crops of that county. The committee 

 addressed circulars to 680 parishes ; but 254 of these declined to 

 aii-swer the questions submitted to them, and the committee had no 

 other resource than to infer from the 426 affirmative to the 254 

 negatives. Still, though imperfect, the result was useful as a begin- 

 ning ; and in 1832, when the Statistical Department of the Board of 

 Trade was established, Lord Auckland saw the importance and neces- 

 sity of obtaining correct agricultural statistics. Nothing was effected, 

 however, until 1836, when the Board of Trade resolved to make a 

 small experiment of its own. Circulars were sent to the clergymen of 

 126 parishes in Bedfordshire, enclosing schedules of the returns re- 

 <|iiiivd, ami asking for co-operation. This experiment was a most 

 signal failure ; for out of 126 parishes applied to, only 27 returned any 

 answer. It was a time when the clergy and the high tory party dis- 

 trusted the suspected radicalism of most new government projects, and 

 it was on that account an unfortunate period in which to make the 

 attempt. Eight years passed over; when, hi 1844, Mr. Gladstone, at 

 tliat time President of the Board of Trade, stated in the Hoxise of 

 Commons that the subject was under his consideration. The Board of 

 Trade, the Home Office, and the Poor Law Board, next had a long 

 correspondence in reference to the question, whether the last named of 

 these three might undertake the management of a system of national 

 agricultural statistics ; and it appears to have been decided that, as 

 constituted at the time, the Poor Law Board could not adequately 

 fulfil this duty. In 1845 the Board of Trade resolved to make another 

 .itti-mpt, or rather three small attempts in the three kingdoms 

 North Hants in England, Mid-Lothian in Scotland, and Bailieborough 

 Union in Ireland. The Irish inquiry was made by a private individual, 

 and was satisfactory ; the Scotch inquiry was managed by the school- 

 masters of the respective parishes, and was equally successful ; but the 

 English inquiry was an utter and disheartening failure. The Board of 

 Trade, in this last-mentioned case, addressed communications to the 

 Board of Guardians of the different Unions ; while the Poor Law 

 Commissioners backed the application, by requesting the Board to 

 employ their own paid officers to induce the occupiers of land to fill up 

 tin; schedules that were sent to them. The result was almost nil; 

 I y any returns were obtained; and a strong impression was left 

 that nothing less than compulsory ]iwers would be available for 

 obtaining the desired statistics. 



The next attempt was made in 1847, when Mr. Milner Gibson, 

 Vice-President of the Board of Trade, brought into Parliament a 

 ' Bill to make Provision for the Collection of Agricultural Statistics in 

 England and Wales." By the provisions of that Bill, the duty of 

 obtaining the statistical information was to devolve upon the Kegistrar- 

 d of Births, Deaths, and Marriages; the superintendent registrars 

 throughout the kingdom were to be charged with the appointment of 

 " agricultural enumerators " in their respective districts ; the enumera- 

 tors were to prepare lint* of all the occupiers of land exceeding three 

 acres, to send specified blank forms to those occupiers, and to collect 

 Mank forms after an interval of fourteen days filled up with the 

 1 entries of particulars. This being done, the enumerators were 

 to clawnfy the returns, and construct general tables from them. These 

 were to be transmitted to the superintendent registrars, by them 

 to the Registrar-General, and by him to the Board of Trade. These 

 returns and table* were to apply to the month of June in each year. 

 The Bill wan read a first time ; but as the public had not yet learned to 

 feel much interest hi the subject, and as various party questions were 

 then on the lajni, the Bill shared the fate of many others, and fell to 

 the ground. 



In 1854, an attempt was made to obtain complete statistical details 

 igh the machinery of the Poor Law Board. The selection was 

 Innate, for the impression was instantly received that the returns 

 I to additional assessment, and no explanation availed to 



remove that belief. In addition it was generally feared that such 

 returns would be used against the farmers by their landlords in order 

 to raise their rents, they, in very few cases, holding their farms upon 

 lease. The West Riding of Yorkshire was the only division from 

 which a complete return was procured. In all the other counties the 

 returns were so incomplete as to be useless. Many Unions refused 

 altogether, alleging that their officers had sufficient other duties to per- 

 form, and in some Unions up to a proportion of one half, where the 

 guardians had consented, many parishes made no returns. In 1855, a 

 Committee of the House of Lords was appointed on the subject, 

 before which numerous witnesses were examined, and among them 

 most of the Poor Law Inspectors. Notwithstanding their ill-success, 

 and the many admissions they were compelled to make of the continued 

 opposition that would be offered to the investigation of a farmer's 

 affairs by Poor Law officials, the most of them represented that all 

 that was required was a compulsory Act ; and accordingly the Lords' 

 Committee embodied a series of resolutions in their report, recom- 

 mending the government to introduce a Bill into parliament for two 

 returns a year, in July and November, to be carried out by the same 

 machinery. The government however have not yet adopted the 

 recommendation. 



Under these disadvantages we will endeavour to give a few of such 

 statistics relating to agriculture as rest upon sure bases. It is quite 

 certain that a rapidly increasing population must have been fed, and 

 that the means of feeding them can only arise from land not previously 

 cultivated, from importation, or from unproved cultivation. The 

 following figures will give some notion of what has been effected in 

 each division ; unfortunately however, though the inclosures and 

 population apply only to England and Wales, there is no separating the 

 application of the imported wheat from that consumed in Scotland. 

 The amount is no doubt very small, for wheaten bread was not gene- 

 rally used in that part of the kingdom in the early periods recorded ; 

 and from the vast improvement in cultivation during the latter portions 

 of them, there is probably more than sufficient com produced in 

 Scotland to supply the population. 



1800 to 1810 

 1810 to 1820 

 1820 to 1830 

 1830 to 1840 

 1840 to 1850 



The increase of population is taken from between each of the 

 decennial censuses commencing with 1801. The iuclosures of course 

 must necessarily decrease, and the best lands will have probably been 

 among the earliest inclosed. Since 1846 the inclosures of commons 

 have been conducted by commissioners, and are passed in Acts in 

 groups, in which the acreage is only occasionally stated. The amount, 

 on the whole since 1850 does not average more than a few thousand 

 annually, while the population has increased in about the same pro- 

 portion as in the previous decennaries. The result is that somewhat 

 above four million of acres have been acquired for the support of 

 upwards of eight millions and a-half of additional mouths. In 1851 

 there were imported 3,833,636 qrs. of foreign wheat, and 5,363,478 cwt. 

 of wheat flour ; in 1852, 3,068,892 qrs. of wheat and 3,889,583 cwt. of 

 flour; in 1853, 4,949,314 qrs. of wheat and 4,646,400 cwt. of flour ; in 

 1854, 3,431,227 qrs. of wheat and 3,646,505 cwt. of flour; in 1855, 

 2,667,702 qrs. of wheat, and 1,904,224 cwt. of flour; and in 1856, 

 4,072,833 qrs. of wheat, and 3,970,100 cwt. of flour. During the whole 

 of this period the price of wheat has on the whole decreased. During 

 the long war with France, from 1800 to 1815 inclusive, the average 

 price per quarter was 84s. 9d. from 1816 to 1820, it was 78*. 4rf. ; 

 from 1821 to 1830, it was 58s. 3d; from 1831 to 1840, it was 57*. ; 

 from 1841 to 1850, it was 56. ; in 1851, it was 38s. 6</. ; in 1852, 

 40. 5d. ; in 1853, 52s. lie/. ; in 1854, 73s. ; in 1855, 74s. 9d. ; in 1856, 

 69s. ; and in 1857, the highest point reached was 63s. in July, and the 

 lowest in December 45s. 3d. In 1858, the price varied only between 

 49s. and 43s. during the year. 



All the statistical returns obtained by government have a fiscal basis. 

 The only real agricultural statistics we possess are those for hops, of 

 which we know every cultivated acre and every pound of produce ; and 

 barley, of every bushel of as much as is made into malt. These we 

 owe to the duty ; but when, as in the case of live stock, the duty is 

 discontinued, no account is taken by it even of importations, though 

 the Board of Trade in their monthly returns give the number imported 

 as obtained from other sources. The following is the return so given 

 for the month ending November 30th, 1857, and for the whole of the 

 year 1857. 



Month. Year. 



Oxen and bulls, and cows . . number 9892 65,048 



Calves 2738 27,315 



Sheep and lambs ... .' 25,270 177,207 



Swine and ho^a 1459 10,677 



Bark cwts. 28,686 381,243 



Wheat qrs. 456,804 3,437,957 



Barley , 100,597 1,701,470 



Oats 197,296 1,710,299 



Peas . . . . . 14,831 159,899 



Beans 36,368 305,775 



