LOSS OF ARABLE LAND 



21 



The most marked change has been the steady 

 conversion of arable land into grass. In England 



670 



FIG. 3. 



1890 I9CO 





'-v. 



Returns per acre of arable land (average for five years) in tens of 



shillings. 



Area of arable land in million acres. 



Number of persons engaged in agriculture in hundred thousands. 



-^_._ Average weekly cash wages compared with wages in 1900, when the 



average wage was 15s., equivalent to about 18s. total earnings. 

 Each division of the scale above or below 10 Is. 6d. above or 

 below 15s. 



and Wales the area under the plough reached its 

 maximum, 13,839,369 acres, in 1872 ; by 1914 it had 



