136 History of the English Landed Interest. 



tion to become at least quadrupled without the country ceasing 

 to be self-supporting. Setting aside 22,CK)0,000 acres of the 

 entire supposed cultivable surface for grasses and woods, 

 Young roughly^ apportioned the remaining 40,000,000 acres 

 as follows : — 



Quarters of 



Produce. 



13,300,000 acres of peas at 2 qrs.- 26,300,000 



13,300,000 ,, potatoes „ 12 „ =159,600,000 



13,300,000 „ wheat „ 2^ „ = 33,250,000 



Total ... 219,150,000 



Supposing that four quarters of these combined food pro- 

 ducts were sufficient for the sustenance of one person,^ 

 219,150,000 quarters would maintain 54,700,000 inhabitants 

 of the three kingdoms. He admits, however, that nothing has 

 been allowed for beer, and perhaps insufficient feed for sheep 

 (considering the large national demand for clothing) ; but he 

 points out that one quarter of wheat had been reckoned by 

 statistical authorities as the average consumption per head 

 of the population, and that therefore his allowance of four 

 quarters of the above mixture would fully cover any such 

 supposed deficiencies.^ 



"Without, however, attempting to verify the accuracy of this 

 calculation, which not only corroborates but probably almost 

 doubles Harte's estimate,^ we may admit that if there was any 

 approach to the possibility of the cultivable surface of Great 

 Britain and Ireland being sufficient to support m-any times the 

 number of inhabitants then existing, there was an amount of 

 latent elasticity about British husbandry which was practi- 

 cally unlimited. Any arguments, therefore, based on such a 



know ; for out of an actual area of 77,836,769 acres, only 48,000,000 acres 

 are at the present day in a state of cultivation. But for the purpose of 

 Young's contention we may ignore this fact and accept his estimate. 



* I say " roughly " because neither Young's spelling nor his arithmetic 

 can stand close scrutiny. 



^ Sir John Lawes' estimate at the present day is under six bushels per 

 head, of which scarcely two are available from the home soil. 

 ' Essays, sub voc. " Agriculture." 



* Harte's estimate, unlike that of Young, did not extend to Scotland 

 and Ireland 



