1907.] 



British Crops of 1907. 



529 



the yield shows an excess of 2f bushels per acre, a result to 

 which each of the three divisions of the country contributed. 

 Scotland, although having a yield slightly above the ten-year 

 mean, nevertheless had nearly a bushel per acre less than in 

 1906, as had Wales. The average yield in Great Britain as 

 a whole has only been exceeded, since official statistics of pro- 

 duction have been collected, in 1898, when an average of 34-74 

 bushels per acre was recorded. 



The production of barley very nearly equalled that of last 

 year, the decrease being only 24,000 quarters, in spite of the 

 decline of the area under this crop. This result is due to the 

 large yield in England of 35-66 bushels to the acre, exceeding 

 the average of the previous decade by 2f- bushels, and being the 

 highest figure on record for this country. Both Wales and 

 Scotland were below the ten-years' average, the deficit in 

 Scotland reaching nearly i£ bushels ; but the average for Great 

 Britain as a whole was just over 2 bushels in excess of the 

 ten-year mean. It is just half a bushel below the highest noted, 

 viz., 3575 in 1898. 



The total production of oats is nearly a million and a-half 

 quarters more than in 1906, and the crop now harvested is, 

 with one exception, in 1894, the largest ever recorded. As 

 in barley, this result is mainly due to the large yield in England, 

 although both Wales and Scotland had more than the average. 

 The yield per acre for England was returned at 46-66 bushels, 

 or 5|- bushels above that for the period 1897-1906, and is the 

 highest yet recorded for that country. The yield of 43-04 

 bushels per acre for Great Britain is 3J bushels above the 

 decennial mean, and is also the highest on record. 



Beans and peas, though not reaching the high records 

 established in 1906, are still much in excess of the average ; 

 beans to the extent of 5 bushels and peas nearly z\ bushels 

 per acre ; and last year is in fact the only one with a bigger 

 yield. Owing to an increased acreage, however, the total 

 production in the case of both these crops is greater than that 

 of last year, while the total production of beans has only once 

 previously, in 1890, been exceeded. 



The estimated total produce and yield per acre of the potato 

 and root crops are given below : — 



(2579) 



2 L 



