25 



THE OATS SUPPLY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



Oats may be classed with the few agricultural products of 

 this country which have withstood the stress of foreign 

 competition. For the past thirty years the area under this 

 cereal in the United Kingdom has been maintained at 

 approximately 4,000,000 axres, and the average annual crop 

 since 1885 — the first year in which the produce was officially 

 estimated — has been about 20,000,000 quarters. The relations 

 of the home production and the imports to the aggregate 

 supply may be gathered from the following statement, 

 which shows the average quantity of oats available for 

 consumption annually in successive triennial periods since 

 1886. In estimating the proportion of home-grown oats 

 entering into the annual supply it has been assumed that 

 the quantity consumed in a calendar year would be made 

 up of one-third of the crop harvested in that year, and two- 

 thirds of the production of the previous year. 



1 Periods. 



Average 

 Annual 

 Acreage. 



Average 

 Annual Supply 

 of Home 

 Production. 



Average 

 Annual Net 

 Imports. 



Average 

 Annual Total 



Supply 

 available for 

 all Purposes. 



Per-centage 



of Net 

 Imports to 

 Total Supply 





Acres, 



Qrs. 



Qrs. 



Qrs. 





1886-88 



4,323,000 



19,991,000 



5,617,000 



25,608,000 



21 -9 



1887-89 



4,231,000 



19,849,000 



5,907,000 



25,756,000 



22-9 



1888-90 



4,138,000 



19,987,000 



5,716,000 



25,703,000 



22 '2 



1889-91 



4,122,000 



20,674,000 



5,479,000 



26,153,000 



20-9 



1890-92 



4,154,000 



20,967,000 



5,402,000 



26,369,000 



20 "5 



1891-93 



4,253,000 



21,044,000 



5,618,000 



26,662,000 



21 -1 



1892-94 



4,384,000 



21,307,000 



5,414,000 



26,721,000 



20-3 



1893-95 



4,480,000 



22,072,000 



5,375>o3o 



27,447,000 



19-6 



1894-96 



4,437,ooQ 



22,167,000 

 21,629,000 



5,853,000 



28,020,000 



20 '9 



1895-97 



4,338,000 



6,078,000 



27,707,000 



21 -9 



It will be noticed that the average proportion of the 

 imports is barely 22 per cent, of the entire supply, whereas 

 in barley it is over 40 per cent., and in wheat it is nearly 

 80 per cent. Moreover, according to the figures given 



