OF AGRICULTURE. 101 



out of each 1,000 acres of the aggregate territory 

 of England, Wales and Scotland, 435 acres are 

 left under wood, coppice, heath, buildings, and 

 so on. We need not find fault with that division, 

 because it depends very much upon natural 

 causes. In France and Belgium one-third of the 

 territory is in like manner also treated as un- 

 cultivable, although portions of it are continually 



increased by 166,710 acres, thus reaching now 4,015,700 acres. 

 Since 1901, 942,000 acres were withdrawn from the plough, 

 661,000 acres in England, 158,000 in Wales, and 123,000 in 

 Scotland.) 



The distribution of the area which is actually under the 

 plough between the various crops varies considerably from 

 year to year. Taking 1910 (an average year) we have the 

 following : 



Acres. 



Corn crops 7,045,530 



Clover and mature grasses . . . 4,157,040 

 Green crops and orchards . . . 2,994,890 



Hops 32,890 



Small fruit 84,310 



Flax 230 



Bare fallow, etc 354,000 



Total under culture (including that 

 part of permanent pasture which 



gives hay) 14,668,890 



(In 1901 . 15,610,890) 

 (In 1895 . 16,166,950) 



Out of the 7,045,530 acres given to corn crops, 1,808,850 

 acres were under wheat (nearly 200,000 acres less than in 1 899 

 and 100,000 acres less than in 1911), 1,728,680 acres under 

 barley (only 1,597,930 in 1911), 3,020,970 acres under oats, 

 about 300,000 under beans, and about 52,000 acres under rye 

 and buckwheat. From 540,000 to 570,000 acres were given to 

 potatoes. The area under clover and sown grasses is steadily 

 declining since 1898, when it was 4,911,000 acres. 



