A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



1 1,000 acres since 1867, but the area cultivated had increased considerably, from 729,892 acres to 

 771,507 acres. This was cultivated as under : — 



Acres 



Acres 



Clover, sainfoin and grasses under rotation 75,027 acres, flax 10 acres, bare fallow or uncropped 

 arable land 3,297 acres. Total arable, 229,129 acres, while the number of acres under permanent 

 pasture, exclusive of mountain and heath land, was 542,378. Of orchards there were 2,169 

 acres, market gardens 1,176 acres, nursery grounds 409 acres, woods 34,516 acres. 

 The number of live stock was : — 



Horscj 

 38,763 



Cattle 

 220,012 



Sheep 

 329,420 



Pigs 

 42,973 



the census being taken on 4 June. The disinclination of farmers to supply information had con- 

 siderably abated, and those who failed to make returns were much less numerous in the north of 

 England than in the south and midlands. 



In 1880 the corn crops showed very little alteration from those of 1878, except that beans had 

 diminished by 1,436 acres, while in the green crops potatoes increased by 6,162 acres. Clover 

 and grasses under rotation were less by about 12,000 acres, but permanent pasture had increased by 

 more than 17,000 acres. There were substantially the same number of live stock in 1880 as in 

 1878, sheep showing a small decline, though in England as a whole they had declined by more 

 than a million and a half, owing to the excessive rainfall. 



The following table shows the number of holdings of various sizes in Lancashire for the years 

 1875 and 1880 : — 



These figures show a distinct tendency towards larger holdings, which was noticeable also all over 

 England. It should be mentioned that there was one holding of over 1,000 acres at both dates. 

 By 1905 holdings under 50 acres had further dimininished to 14,751, of which 3,022 were 

 between one and five acres : and those between 50 and 300 acres had increased from 4,629 in 

 1880 to 5,176. There is no doubt that the diminution of petty holdings is largely due to the 

 absorption for other than agricultural purposes of land lying immediately round large towns ; yet 

 at the same time the increase of farms between 50 and 300 acres must be chiefly from the 

 amalgamation of smaller holdings, while the decrease in the number of still larger farms above 

 300 acres, to 86 in 1905, accounts for a part of the increase. 



The tendencies proved by the above figures as occurring in Lancashire are the same as those 

 noticed in England as a whole." 



The average size of holdings in the county in 1905 was 40-8 acres, against 66- 1 acres for 

 England, but in these figures are included much land occupied for pleasure rather than for profit. 

 In the same year the acreage of land occupied by tenants was 756,370, and that occupied by owners 

 59,744- In spite of bad times the total acreage under crops and grass had increased in 1905 to 

 816,114 acres, cultivated as follows : — 



Acres. 



Total, 102,971 acres. 



** Rep. on. Agric. Returns (1905), xvi. 

 434 



