THE SACRIFICE OF AGRICULTURE 169 



being " under cultivation " is 47,673,000, which leaves 16,507,000 

 acres of " uncultivated " land. 



The following table explains the position : — 



United Kingdom— Total area 77,684,000 



„ „ Cultivable area 64,180,000 



„ „ Total area under " cultivation " . 47,673,000 



Wasteful Agriculture 



At first sight it M^ould appear that there are, at all events, 

 upwards of 47,000,000 odd acres under cultivation, but when 

 this statement is examined, it is found that it is wide of the 

 truth. This is the real position — 



Area under Crops 12,992,428 



„ „ Permanent Pasture, Clover, and Mature Grasses 34,393,063 



Total .... 47,-385,491 



But even this position, eminently unsatisfactory though it 

 is, does not plumb the depth of our agricultural hopelessness, 

 for we find that of the area of 12,992,428 acres given as " under 

 crops," only 8,3'66,881 are under " corn crops," while the 

 remainder is under " green crops " for sheep-feed. Further, 

 that of this latter area — 8,366,881 acres — but 1,892,740 acres 

 are under wheat and fruit, and the rest under oats, barley, 

 beans, and peas, including 1,182,028 acres under potatoes. 



Briefly dealt with, it may be said that of our so-called 

 " cultivated " area of 47,385,491 acres, 44,310,723 acres are 

 under grass and crops for sheep and cattle-feed, while there are 

 only 1,892,740 under wheat and fruit, and 1,182,028 under 

 potatoes, or an aggregate of 3,074,768 acres, out of the enormous 

 total area of nearly 48,000,000 acres under — Man-feed* 



Less than 7 per cent, cultivated for Man-Food 



Now, if the greatest enemy of the race devised means 

 whereby the British people would lay up for themselves a 

 never-failing store of trouble and suffering, he could not hit 

 upon a better plan than this. Imagine the folly of the entire 

 position ; nay, more, the tragic pathos of it — 48,000,000 acres 

 of the finest and most productive soil in the whole world, and 



♦ These figures are compilod from the " Statesman's Year Book, 1907," 

 pp. 71, 72. For later figures from Statistical Abstract for the United Kingdom, 

 1893-1907, see Chapter XXIV. 



