340 



CONSUAIPTION OF POTATOES IN THE UNITED 



KINGDOM. 



The potatoes consumed in this country are for the most 

 part of home production, imported varieties constituting only a 

 very small proportion of our annual supply. The area devoted 

 to the cultivation of this vegetable in the United Kingdom is, 

 according to the latest agricultural returns, about 1,200,000 

 acres, whereas thirty years ago, when the returns were first 

 collected, the extent of land similarly cultivated was estimated 

 at 1,600,000 acres. The distribution of the crop at the two 

 periods compares as follows : — 



Average Amiual Acreage. 

 1867-71 1894-98 



England - - - - 344,800 366,300 



Wales - - - - 48,400 33,400 



Scotland - - - - 173,600 128,100 



Ireland - - - - 1,036,100 695,200 



1,602,900 1,223,000 



The loss of 400,000 acres in the total area is mainly due tc» 

 a large contraction in the Irish acreage. In England and 

 Wales there has been comparatively little change, the slight 

 decrease in the Principality being more than counterbalanced 

 by an extension in England. Relatively to population, the 

 British area now represents an acre for every 68 persons of 

 the population, compared with an acre for every 50 persons 

 thirty years ago, while in Ireland, where a partial abandon- 

 ment of the crop has been to a large extent consequent upon 

 a reduction of the population, the personal ratio is now 

 roughly equivalent to an acre for every seven persons as 

 against an acre for every five at the earlier period. 



Estimates of the quantity of potatoes produced in the 

 United Kingdom, exclusive of the Channel Islands and the 

 Isle of Man, have been published annually since 1884; but 



