448 



Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act. 



county of Wilts and the borough of Canterbury ; also that 

 the eastern counties of England (north of the Thames) 

 continue to be distinguished by the small use made of the Act. 



Reviewing briefly the statistics of the five years during 

 which the Act has been in force, it appears that the number 

 of counties in which samples were reported to have been 

 analysed shows very little alteration from year to year ; the 

 number (including boroughs) having been fifty-four in 1894 

 and fifty-five in 1898. This is about half the number of 

 authorities appointing analysts. , 



The following table summarises the number of samples 

 analysed in the three divisions of Great Britain since 

 1894 :— 





1894 



1895 



1896 



1897 



1898 



Total 

 five years. 



England - 



224 



276 



402 



468 



573 



1,943 



Wales 



6 



23 



22 



41 



49 



141 



Scotland - 



214 



322 



378 



343 



365 



1,622 



Total - 



444 



621 



802 



852 



987 



3,706 



The comparatively small use made of the Act in the 

 eastern or arable counties of England has always been a 

 feature since the returns were collected. Four-fifths of the 

 whole number of samples taken in England have been 

 analysed in the western or grazing section (1,563 out of 1,943). 

 But here, also, the Act has been practically utilised in very 

 different proportions in different counties. Thus, 1,145 of the 

 1,563 were taken in the counties of Monmouth (508, includ- 

 ing Newport), Westmorland, Salop, Somerset, and Dorset, 

 leaving 418 for the remainder. Over a quarter of the whole 

 number of samples taken in England were thus taken in 

 Monmouthshire. Greater progress is also to be recorded in 

 the west than in the east ; and it may further be noted that 

 had it not been for Canterbury the samples analysed in the 

 arable section would have shown in 1898 an increase of only 

 2 over 1894, while the number returned by that borougii 

 alone in 1898 was equal to tha number in the whole of the 

 remainder of the arable section of England. 



