AGRICULTURE IN WILTSHIRE IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR 



83 



response to the war time demands, especially the 

 ploughing up campaign. Five fields, almost half the 

 farm, remained in permanent pasture throughout 

 the period. It was used mainly for grazing sheep 

 although cattle and horses are mentioned - 

 Highland cows in 1915-16. The root crops and 

 cabbage were also used for grazing sheep in folds. 

 One field, 49, which had been used mainly for hay, 

 was ploughed up in 1917-18 and sown to oats and 

 then barley. There was also a change in field 50 

 when wheat was grown for the first time on the 

 farm. This field produced 90 quarters of wheat 

 which, at a yield of 30 bushels per acre, was very 

 close to the county average. 



OUTPUT 



The success of the government's policy and the 

 changes in agriculture must be measured by the 

 extent to which the country's need for food was 

 met." 3 The most important issue, especially as the 

 war progessed, was the production of grain, 

 especially wheat. The total output of wheat, oats 

 and barley in Wiltshire increased slowly between 

 1914 and 1917. It then increased very significantly 

 in 1918 with a total of 699,000 quarters compared 

 with 510,958 quarters the previous year. It then 

 dropped back in 1919 to 563,000 quarters but was 

 still 10% higher than in 1914. 



There was, however, considerable variation in 

 the proportions of wheat, oats and barley within 

 the total output of grain. In 1914, wheat represented 

 39% of the total, oats 41% and barley 20%. By 1917 

 the proportion of wheat had declined to 37% and 

 oats had increased to 46%. The ploughing campaign 

 of 1 9 1 7 was reflected in the huge increase in grain 

 in the 1918 harvest. The output of wheat, oats and 

 barley all increased but the most significant change 

 was in wheat when production increased from 

 191,000 quarters to 295,000 quarters, 42% of the 

 total grain harvest. 



The output of grain depended, of course, not 

 only on the acreage under cultivation but also the 

 yield. The first few years of the war saw reasonably 

 good harvests although the yields tended to be lower 

 than for the ten-year average before the war. In 1 9 1 7 

 the harvests were poor and this was an added 

 incentive to plough up more land. The following 

 year saw not only the effects of the increased amount 

 of land under cultivation but also good yields, even 

 from the newly ploughed grass land. 



Table 7 Wiltshire grain yields 1905-1919 



Yield in bushels per acre 

 Wheat Oats Barley 



Av.1905-14 



32.0 



42.8 



31.9 



1914 



29.8 



35.3 



29.8 



1915 



29.6 



35.9 



27.7 



1916 



29.6 



40.9 



32.7 



1917 



28.4 



36.0 



29.0 



1918 



32.5 



41.3 



30.9 



1919 



28.0 



26.4 



26.0 



Source: Agricultural Statistics 1914-1919 (Parliamentary 

 Papers Vols. XLTV to LTV) 



But, if more attention was being paid to arable 

 and the production of grain, then something else 

 had to suffer and that was some livestock. The 

 number of cattle actually remained almost the same 

 throughout the war and the proportion of these 

 being cows in milk stayed consistently at about half. 

 The demand for fresh milk remained constant and, 

 as this was not a product which could be imported, 

 the problem of shipping did not affect it. Milk was 

 also one of the most profitable of the agricultural 

 products and this again persuaded farmers to 

 maintain production at the pre-war level. 



The major impact, however, was in the decline 

 in the number of sheep and pigs. The number of 

 sheep in Wiltshire decreased steadily each year 

 throughout the war. Inl914fherehadbeen379,133 

 sheep in Wiltshire but by 1919 this was only 

 24 1,237. The change was largely attributable to the 

 decrease in pasture, the shortage of feed and, above 

 all, the shortage of skilled shepherds. The decline 

 in pigs was even more marked from 56,189 in 1914 



Table 8 Production of Grain ('000 quarters) 



1915 1916 1917 191S 



■ Wheal Oats Barley 



