Parliamentary Publications. 



53* 



by 29,823 acres, potatoes by 1,950, turnips by 5,480, and hay 

 (both categories together) by 55.563 acres. The only crops 

 to show an increased yield per acre in 1899 over 1898 were 

 bere and flax, which gave i m 2 cwts. and 1*5 stones more per 

 acre respectively. On the other hand, the only crop failing 

 in 1899 to surpass the average of the years 1889-98 was 

 turnips, which gave 4 cwts. below the normal, and i\ tons 

 below 1898. 



The special return as to potatoes shows that the relative 

 area under the Champion variety still declines, amounting 

 to 68 per cent, of the whole in 1899, as compared with 70 per 

 cent, in 1898. In Dublin, Wicklow, Antrim, Donegal, Down, 

 Londonderry, and Tyrone there is less tendency to rely 

 on Champions than in the other counties of Ireland. The 

 area under Beauty of Bute, it may be mentioned, increased 

 in this year from 27,000 acres, or from 4 to 6 per cent, of the 

 total area under potatoes. 



The statistics'of bee-keeping for 1898 show that 526,374 lbs. 

 of honey were produced in that year. This is nearly double 

 the average of the preceding ten years (287,000 lbs.), and is 

 over 100,000 lbs. more than the largest quantity previously 

 recorded in that period. 



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