34 Our Corn Crops, Roots, and Fruits 



flourish in the plains and fertile lands, and in the 

 northern and higher regions they give place to the pine. 



A striking change came over the countryside when 

 the forests were cut down. Stone and brick took the 

 place of timber in building, and the half-timbered 

 houses in the Weald of Kent and elsewhere are an 

 interesting reminder of the period of change from one 

 material to the other. 



A passing reference may be made to the deer forests 

 of Scotland. Of these there are 198 with a total 

 acreage of 3,369,936, and when the Sutherland "clear- 

 ances" took place, about 15,000 people were com- 

 pulsorily emigrated. These wide areas are fit only for 

 grouse moors and deer forests, and one might walk 

 for miles over these so-called forests and never see 

 a tree. 



7. BRITISH CATTLE, SHEEP, HORSES, 

 AND PIGS 



In the last chapter we referred to the fact that in 

 recent years the area devoted to wheat has steadily 

 diminished. The same is true of other crops, the result 

 being that more and more arable land is being converted 

 into permanent pasture, for many farmers are finding 

 it more profitable to give increased attention to stock- 

 rearing and dairy-farming. For example in 1880 there 

 were in England 13,000,000 acres of arable land and 

 11,000,000 acres of permanent grass; whereas in 1914 

 there were 10,000,000 acres of arable land and over 

 14,000,000 acres of permanent grass. This is very 

 important to remember, and we must also bear in 



