322 French Agricultural Inquiry. 



Class of Crops. 



1862. 



1882. 



1892. 



Cereals 



Other alimentary grains - 

 ■ Roots and tubers - 

 i Annual fodder and green crops 

 ! Industrial crops 



; Gardens 



' Bare fallow . - - . 



Acres. 

 38,583,428 



1,700,546 

 12,715,219 



Acres. 

 37,287,283 



049,000 

 4,671,578 

 10,119,089 



1,274,125 

 1,061,361 

 9,000, 183 



Acres. 

 36,622,900 



789,671 

 5,527,996 



10,128,781 

 1,312,825 



955,463 

 8,317,769 



Total arable - 



65,624,494 



64,263,427 



63,655,405 



j Natural grass - - - 

 j Woods and Forests - 



Vines, fruit-trees, orchards, 

 parks, &c. - - - - 



23,013,484 



14,391,554 

 23,354,406 



7,505,915 



15,347,206 

 23,518,273 



6,756,164 



Total cultivated area 

 Uncultivated area 





109,515,302 

 15,443,766 



109,277*048 



15,378,687 



Total agricultural area 





124,959,068 



124,655,735 



Area of France- 



134,139,994 



130,557,281 



130,557,281 



But the fluctuations in yield may be so great from year to 

 year that a comparison of the total harvest or production per 

 acre for the single years 1892, 1882. and 1862 leads to results 

 'of very small utility. Of more interest, however, are the 

 changes in yields in an average year, although, until the 

 Report is published, it is not possible to state whether these 

 means are based upon the average of the preceding ten years 

 or on other data. It may be noticed, for instance, that 

 while steady though slow progress in the better cultivation 

 of wheat and rye is recorded, barley and oats, on the other 

 hand, appear to yield less per acre than formerly. In the 

 case of wheat, the mean production has risen from 17-4 

 bushels per acre in 1862 to 17*8 bushels in 1892 ; and in rye 

 the improvement in the same period is greater, viz., from 

 15-3 bushels to 17*5 bushels. Barley yielded a mean of 

 20-2 bushels per acre in 1892, or i'6 bushels less than in 

 1862 ; and oats produced only an average of 24*8 bushels in 

 1892, against 27*3 bushels in 1862. Maize shows an increase, 

 yielding 17*6, 18*4, and 20 bushels per acre in 1862, 1882, 

 and 1892 respectively; as do potatoes, the yield of these 



