STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN EUROPE. 31 



The surface of England is estimated at 37,265,853 

 acres, which are distributed as follows : 



In pasturage 18,796458 



In tillage 11,350,501 



In cities, towns, villages, &c., and roads and canals 3,454,740 

 Lands fit for pasturage or tillage not cultivated 3,515,238 

 Lands unfit for cultivation .... 2,148,921 



Of the arable land, the following annual disposi- 

 tion is made : 



In wheat and rye 2,000,000 



In pease, beans, and buckwheat . . . 2,000,000 



In barley and oats 4,000,000 



In fallow, or in turnips or cabbages . . 3,400,000 



The lands in wheat and rye yield, on an average 

 of ten years, three quarters* per acre, or 6,000,000 

 quarters ; yet is there an annual deficit in England 

 of 1,820,000 quarters, which must be drawn from 

 foreign markets.f 



There is certainly nothing very flattering in this 

 view of English agriculture ; but it may be said to 

 be one of statists and politicians, and probably un- 

 derrated. Let us see, then, what their most eminent 

 agriculturists, as Young, and St. Clair, and Dick- 

 son, and Marshal, say on this subject : " A very 

 small portion of the cultivated parts of Great Britain 

 is, to this day, submitted to a judicious and well-con- 

 ducted system of husbandry, not, in fact, more than 

 four counties (Norfolk, Sussex, Essex, and Kent) ; 

 while many large tracts of excellent soil are managed 

 in a way the most imperfect and disadvantageous."^. 



* Twenty-four bushels. J. B. 



t The sufficiency of the harvests in England to supply the 

 wants of her population depends on the character of the seasons. 

 When these are favourable, she imports very little foreign grain ; 

 and, in proportion as they are unfavourable, she is obliged to 

 resort to supplies from abroad. For the last twenty years her 

 average annual importation of breadstuff's has been much less 

 than the deficit here given. 



J See the Introduction to Dickson's Practical Agriculture, 

 2d vol., quarto. 



