CHAPTER III. 



SOIL, CLIMATE, AND CROPS. 

 Extent of THE total extent of the United Kingdom is 



the coun- 

 try and 76,300,000 acres, of which 26,300,000 are in 



propor- 

 tions of mountain pasture and waste, and 50,000,000 in 



various 



crops, crops, meadows, permanent pasture, and woods 

 and forests. Of the crops, one-fourth is in 

 various kinds of corn, one-eighth in green crops, 

 one-eighth in grass under rotation, and one- 

 half in meadows and permanent pasture. About 

 a thirtieth of the whole surface of the kingdom 

 is in woods and forests. These proportions 

 show the prevailing system of husbandry, and 

 reveal the cause of its increasing productiveness. 

 Three-fourths of the whole are green crops, 

 which feed and clean, or grass, which rests and 

 maintains the fertility of the remaining fourth 

 in corn. This preponderance of restorative over 

 exhaustive crops greatly exceeds that of any 



