Dec. 1896.] 



PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS. 



323 



population of the metropolis, and of each union-county, of 

 the receipts from poor rates, of the gross expenditure on 

 relief to the poor, and the rate in the £ on rateable value of 

 the receipts from poor rates. The union-counties have been 

 arranged according to the amount of the rate per head on 

 estimated population which the gross expenditure on relief 

 represented. 



It shows that the relative rates per head on the total receipts 

 from poor rates, and on the gross expenditure for relief, varied 

 greatly in different union-counties, and that in some cases the 

 rate per head for relief was considerably less than half the rate 

 per head of the rates raised, whilst in Berkshire the rate per 

 head of relief represented about three-fourths of the rate per 

 head of the rates raised. The highest rate per head of the poor 

 rates raised was in London, where it amounted to 24s. §\d. per 

 head ; the lowest was in Nottingham, where it amounted to 

 only 7s. \\d. per head. 



The highest rate per head for expenditure on poor relief was 

 13s. 6d. in London, and the lowest 4s. Id. in the West Riding of 

 Yorkshire. The rate in the £ on rateable value of the poor 

 rates raised also varied considerably in the different union- 

 counties. In the metropolis and 30 other union-counties it 

 ranged between 2s. and 3s. S^d. in the £, whilst in Westmorland 

 it was only Is. 0±d. in the £. It is also observed that there 

 were considerable differences in the several union-counties 

 between the proportions which the rate per head on the esti- 

 mated population bore to the rate in the £ on the rateable value 

 of the amounts raised from poor rates. 



Agricultural Statistics, Ireland, 1896. General Abstracts 

 showing the Acreage under Crops ; also the Number and 

 Description of Live Stock in each County and Province, 

 1895-6. [C— 8196.] Price 2 \d. 



This is the annual return relating to Irish agriculture issued 

 by the Registrar-General in Dublin. 



The total extent under crops in 1896 is 4,842,944 acres, being 

 a net decrease on the extent in 1895 of 37,583 acres, or 0*8 per 

 cent. There was a decrease in Leinster of 19,548 acres, or 1*5 

 per cent. ; in Ulster of 13,208 acres, or 0*8 per cent. ; in Munster 

 of 8,228 acres, or 0*7 per cent. ; and in Connaught an increase 

 of 3,401, or 0*5 per cent. 



In 1895 the extent returned under grass was 10,280,424 

 acres, in 1896 the amount returned is 10,332,894 acres, being 

 an increase of 52,470 acres; the extent returned as fallow in 

 1895 was 18,431 acres, and in 1896, 18,280 acres ; the extent 

 under woods and plantations was 308,928 acres in 1895, and 

 307,266 acres in 1896; and the extent returned under " Turf 



