650 Acreage and Live Stock Returns of 1910 [nov., 



permanent grass, and of the acreage devoted to the chief 

 categories of crops, may be summarised as follows : — 



Crops. 



1910. 



1909. 



Increase or Decrease. 



Cereal Crops 



Other ,, ... ... ... 



Clover and Rotation Grasses 

 Bare Fallow 



Acres. 

 7,045,148 

 3,111,783 

 4,156,417 



353,876 



Acres. 

 7,023,101 

 3,203,851 



4,214,575 

 289,141 



Acres. 

 + 22,047 



- 92,068 



- 58,IS8 

 + 64,735 



Per Cent. 



+ 0-3 



- 2-9 



- 1-4 



+ 22 VJ. 



Total Arable ... 

 Permanent Grass ... 



14,667,224 

 17,476,871 



14,730,668 

 17,452,405 



- 63,444 

 + 24,466 



- 0'4 

 + O'l 



Total 



32, 144,095 



32,183,073 



- 38,978 



- 0*1 



The area under cereals has again increased, this year by 

 22,000 acres, or J per cent., and the loss recorded in 1907 

 and 1908 has now been practically recovered. Other crops 

 (excluding clover and rotation grasses) have declined by 

 92,000 acres, or nearly 3 per cent., and the area this year 

 is the lowest on record. Clover and rotation grasses have 

 further decreased by 58,000 acres, or nearly per cent. 

 The area of bare fallow shows the large increase of 65,000 

 acres, or 22J per cent., on last year's figures, and is the 

 greatest returned since 1904. On the whole, therefore, the 

 arable area has decreased this year by 63,500 acres, or rather 

 less than J per cent., of which 24,500 acres have been laid 

 down to permanent grass. 



Wheat, which last year increased by nearly 200,000 acres, 

 has now declined by less than 15,000 acres, or f per cent. 

 Barley and oats, however, have both increased in area this 

 year, the former by 64,000 acres, or nearly 4 per cent., and 

 the latter by 39,000 acres, or ij per cent., the increase in the 

 case of oats again bringing the area under this crop above 

 3,000,000 acres. Rye shows the relatively large decrease of 

 7,000 acres, or 13 per cent., and the area this year is the 

 lowest recorded since 1892. Both beans and peas also show 

 considerable decreases, amounting to 44,000 (14 per cent.) 

 and 15,000 acres (8J per cent.) respectively. 



Potatoes have declined by nearly 36,000 acres, or over 

 6 per cent., and the area under this crop is the lowest returned ! 

 since 1898. The area under turnips and swedes has again 

 slightly increased, this year by nearly 10,000 acres, or rather 

 more than J per cent. Mangolds, however, have declined by 



