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SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



This decline was due to the great reduction in the area devoted to 

 wheat and barley, although the fall in the area under root crops has also 

 been relatively large. 



Area under Wheat, Barley and Oats in the British Isles 

 between 1871 and 1926. 



During this fifty-five year period the area under wheat, oats and barley 

 in the British Isles has thus fallen by nearly four million acres. Meanwhile, 

 the importation of wheat and wheat flour (expressed by equivalent weight 

 of grain) into these islands increased from 2,218,111 tons in 1871 to 

 6,638,099 tons in 1924 — -an increase of nearly 200 per cent. During the 

 same period imports of barley increased from 428,450 tons to 1,082,817 

 tons, an increase of practically 150 per cent. 



Hopes have recently been held out that some improvement in the 

 price for cereals may be experienced in the future. . The increasing con- 

 sumption of wheat in Eastern countries has been pointed to as 

 foreshadowing a considerable increase in future demand, while the rapid 

 growth of the population in the United States and in other countries of 

 the New World suggests that the exportable surplus of these countries 

 will be reduced. This may lead to higher prices with increased production 

 at home. On the other hand, the ability of the plant breeder to propagate 

 varieties of wheat, which will open up areas of the world's surface at 

 present incapable of growing this cereal, has to be considered. The recent 

 experience with ' Marquis ' wheat in Canada indicates the potentiality of 

 development in this direction. 



Live Stock Population. 



The number of live stock in Great Britain and Ireland shows, by the 

 following table, a small increase from 1873 to 1926 : — • 



* These units are cattle units — 7 sheep and 5 pigs being taken as equivalent each 

 to one cattle unit. 



It will be seen from the above table that between 1873 and 1926 the 

 number of cattle increased by almost 2,000,000. On the other hand the 



