1920.] 



Farming in Peace and in War. 



1201 



was before the depression, and the area under potatoes was 

 I per cent, greater. If we take the crops chiefly grown for 

 human food — wheat and potatoes — we find 12 acres on the 

 average loo-acre farm of 1918, as compared with 8 acres 

 before the War and 14 acres in the period 1871-75. 



In the early part of 1918, however, no criticism of the work 

 of the Food Production Department was more familiar than 

 that " acres " were being sought after at the expense of 

 " bushels," and quite a number of our critics prophesied that 

 when, after harvest, the gains and losses were reckoned up, 

 the net result would be trifling. 



Let us, therefore, compare the harvest figures of 191 8 with 

 those of the pre-war period of 1905-14. Figures, based upon 

 the Agricultural Returns, are given in Table III. 



Table III. — England and Wales. 



Production of Grain and Potatoes, 1905-14 and 191 8 ; Figures 

 in thousands of tons. 



Crop. 



Total Yield. 

 1905-14. 1918. 



Increase or 

 Decrease ( — ) in 191 8, 









Weight. 



Per Cent. 



Wheat 



1,534 



2,339 



805 



52 



♦Barley 



1,190 



1,228 



38 



3 



*Oats 



1,457 



2,056 



599 



41 



Rye 



25 



63 



38 



150 



Beans 



243 



206 



-37 



-15 



Peas 



115 



100 



-15 



-13 



Total Grain 

 Potatoes 



4,565 

 2,678 



5,993 

 4,209 



1,428 

 1,531 



31 

 57 



From the figures in this Table it will be seen that in the last 

 year of the War (favoured, it should be remarked, by a season 

 better than average) England and Wales produced 52 per cent, 

 more wheat, 41 per cent, more oats, 31 per cent, more grain of 

 all kinds, and 57 per cent, more potatoes than on the average 

 of the period 1905-14. Reckoning potatoes as equal to one- 

 fifth of the weight of grain, the increase in grain crops and 

 potatoes equalled some 1,733,000 tons. 



The root and hay crops of 191 8 occupied a smaller area and 

 were lower in yield than the average, and, assuming the reduc- 

 tion to have been borne by beef and mutton (not by milk and 



* In 1 91 8 mixed corn " was " returned " for the first time. The esti- 

 mated yield was 620,000 qr. As " mixed corn " consists chiefly of barley and 

 oats the produce has been added to the barley and oat crops of 191 8 in equal 

 amounts. 



4 L 



