1920.] 



Farming in Peace and in War. 



1203 



Table IV. — Area necessary to grow all the Corn used 

 in the United Kingdom. 



Maize replaced by other Cereals. Rice and Millets omitted. Land 

 assumed to produce an average crop of the period 1909-13. 





Wheat. 



Barley. 



Oats. 



Rye. 



Total. 



Grain or Flour, etc., as 

 Grain Imported, 1909-13 

 Maize equivalent . . 

 Addition for Seed 



Tons. 



000 



5,805 

 292 

 677 



Tons. 



000 



1,070 

 1,240 

 192 



T 



Tons. 



000 



948 

 1,056 



143 



Tons. 



000 



49 

 4 



Tons. 



000 



7,872 

 2,588 

 i,oi6 



Total extra Grain required 



6,774 



2,502 



2,147 



53 



11,476 



Area wanted for extra Grain 

 Area in United Kingdom, 

 1909-13 . • 



Acres. 

 000 

 7,527 



1,887 



Acres. 



000 

 3,127 



1,845 



Acres. 



000 

 3,006 



4,040 



Acres. 

 000 

 67 



62 



Acres. 



000 

 13,727 



7,834 



Total Area necessary 



9,414 



4.972 



7,046 



129 



21,561 



In the Table I give the weight of wheat, barley, oats and rye 

 imported in the average year of the period 1909-13. As maize 

 cannot be grown here, it has been replaced by other cereals. 

 I have assumed that one-eighth would be replaced by wheat, 

 half by barley, and three-eighths by oats. I have next added 

 the quantity of seed that would be required to produce the 

 imported grain, and I arrive at a figure of 11,476,000 tons 

 as representing the total extra requirements of cereals. It 

 would take 13,727,000 acres to grow this weight of grain, and 

 adding the 7,837,000 acres already under white crops we 

 arrive at a figure of 21,564,000 acres, as the total area that 

 would be wanted if the United Kingdom were required to 

 grow its own corn. The present average yield could not be 

 maintained on so large an area, if we had to depend on the 

 \'arieties of wheat, etc., now available ; but assuming that the 

 difficulty of maintaining the average yield were overcome, we 

 should still have to hunt for suitable land. Continuous corn 

 growing we may put out of consideration, except in certain 

 parts of the Eastern and South- Eastern Counties, and if I were 

 ordered to grow 21 1 million acres of corn in the United Kingdom 

 I would demand for the purpose some 43 to 45 million acres of 

 arable land ; otherwise it would be impossible, however great 

 were my resources in labour and capital, to maintain the land 

 itself in a reasonably good state of cultivation. But there 



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