992 



Acreage and Live Stock Returns. 



[Feb. 



Station might be made with advantage by the actual sowers 

 of seed. 



The general quality of the seeds examined during the period 

 under consideration was good. It is satisfactory to note a 

 gradual improvement in the quality of grass and clover seeds 

 submitted for test, and that the proportion of English grown 

 clover seed samples received at the station shows an increase 

 over previous years. 



Note. — It is hoped that the Seed Testing Station will have 

 been moved to the National Institute of Agricultural Botany at 

 Cambridge before the beginning of the 1921-22 season. The 

 present address is 18, Leigham Court Eoad, Streatham Hill. 

 London, S.W.16, to which all samples and communications 

 relating to seed testing should be addressed. 



Particulars as to size of sample required and fees payable are 

 set forth in : — 



(a) Food Production Leaflet No. 47 (issued for the use of 

 farmers). This leaflet also contains the text of the Testing 

 of Seeds Order. Copies may be obtained on application to 

 the Secretary. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. 10. 

 Whitehall Place, London. S.W.I. 



(b) Xotice to Seedsmen (184/C.S.), obtainable from the Seed 

 Testing Station. 



* * * * * * 



The Report on the Acreage and Live Stock Returns for 



1920, w T hich has just been issued by the Ministry, refers to 



, , _. . the large reduction in the acreage of crops 



Acreage and Live , s , , , . 8 lflnn J 



and grass, which amounted m 1920 to 

 Stock Returns. , A , . . . 



240,000 acres, following a similar loss m 



the preceding year. This represents a great acceleration in the 

 reduction in the area of land used for agricultural purposes, 

 which has been taking place for many years, and is attributed 

 partly to the extension of building schemes in the last two 

 years, but mainly to the fact that during the war a considerable 

 area of agricultural land was taken for camps, aerodromes, 

 munition works, &c. These deductions did not show them- 

 selves at the time, as concurrently additional areas of land were 

 brought into cultivation. Following the cessation of hostilrH 

 some of this additional land, which had been used for food 

 production merely as a war measure, was withdrawn, with 

 the result that the loss of land for camps, munition works, &c, 

 has now T become manifest. Another cause of loss is the 



