THE POSITION AT HOME 55 



estimated at £125,000,000, whereas the total value of those 

 sold, and representing the " output," is given as £46,600,000. 

 Nor do the figures in the Report include either the produce 

 of land occupied in smaller lots than one acre or the consider- 

 able but unknown amount of produce grown under glass. 



Not only is this figure of £150,800,000 admittedly incom- 

 plete in itself, but there is difficulty in comparing it with the 

 ' output " of other industries reported on under the Census 

 of Production Act, (1) because " estimated value of the 

 materials used " is not deducted in the case of the agri- 

 cultural output, though it is in that of the other industries, 

 and (2) because the figures given for the agricultural output 

 are for Great Britain only, whereas those for the other indus- 

 tries are for the United Kingdom. 



Subject to these reservations, I give the following table, 

 showing the gross output (in 1908) of agriculture in Great 

 Britain as compared with the net output (in 1907) in Great 

 Britain and Ireland of a few other typical industries : — 



Agriculture 



Mining and quarrying 



Textile trades 



Engineering, etc. 



Building and contracting trades 



Clothing trades 



Iron and steel trades 



Chemical and allied trades 



Metal trades other than engineering 



Shipbuilding 



i 

 150,800,000 



118,759,000 



96,063,000 



84,214,000 



42,954,000 



39,710,000 



39,578,000 



20,879,000 



20,287,000 



20,167,000 



From the point of view, therefore, both of persons 

 employed and value of output, and even without including 

 subsidiary or dependent enterprises and occupations, agri- 

 culture must still be regarded as our leading industry. 



Foreign Imports. 



This fact is the more remarkable when we take into 

 account the enormous extent of our importations of food 

 supplies. These included in the year 1911 the following 

 items": — 



