182 



AN AGRICULTURAL FAGGOT. 



which British fanners somewhat pride themselves 

 seems to give almost equal results in both countries. 

 I cannot profess to give the reasons for this, but may 

 suggest one consideration, which perhaps provides a 

 partial explanation. In France, no doubt, large areas 

 of poor and unkindly soil must be under the plough, and 

 the comparatively limited amount of pasture probably 

 consists mainly of the land most suitable for it. In this 

 country, on the other hand, much of the poorest land 

 goes down to grass, and the arable land comprises 

 principally that which is best adapted for cultivation. 



As regards meat production, the total produced in 

 France in 1892, according to the decennial inquiry, was 

 1,300,000 tons (exclusive of about 12,000 tons of horse 

 flesh), which somewhat exceeds the total at which the 

 production of the United Kingdom was put in the report 

 which I recently presented on behalf of a special com- 

 mittee of the Royal Statistical Society. 1 The quantity 

 there arrived at, as representing the average annual 

 output of meat by the farmers of the United Kingdom, 

 was 1,245,920 tons. 



1 Journal Royal Statistical Society, Vol. LXVIL, pt. 3, 1904. 



