1 84 Twenty Years' Agricultural Development. 



the decline in wheat in the last twenty years is not due to 

 any great growth of production in excess of the growth of the 

 consuming population. The facts are rather the other way. 

 The growth of the acreage under wheat has lagged behind 

 the growth of population ; oats alone have grown pari passu, 

 and of the other cereal crops rye has absolutely declined. 



This impression of the figures is, it appears, not diminished 

 by an analysis of the growth of population. The two large 

 items of increase of population are those of Russia and the 

 United States, about equal in both, and while the unit of 

 population in Russia may be considered of low consuming 

 power, that of the United States may be considered of high 

 consuming power, so that the one is a set-off against the 

 other, and the effect is to confirm the general average above 

 stated. Among the miscellaneous populations of Europe, 

 the largest wheat-consuming multitude, the growth of popu- 

 lation, exclusive of Russia, is about 15 per cent. 



The impression of the figures is also not diminished, 

 apparently, by the consideration of the countries where the 

 enlargement of the cereal area has taken place. Out of a total 

 increase of 25 million acres of wheat, no fewer than 13 million 

 acres are in North America, where the average production per 

 acre is low ; 2 J million acres are in South America, where the 

 average production is also low ; and another 2^ million acres 

 are in Australia, also with a low average production per 

 acre. On the other hand, the growth in Europe is 6 million 

 acres only, and that chiefly in Russia and other parts where 

 the production is also low — the acreage in the United King- 

 dom, where the production per acre is high, having 

 declined. The increase of acreage, small as is the proportion 

 it bears to the increase of population, is considered to be 

 probably higher than the increase of production has been. 

 The same remarks apply to barley and oats. The small 

 growth of the former crop, such as it is, is in the new 

 countries, where as yet the production per acre is low. In 

 the case of oats, of a total increase of 23 million acres only 

 4 million acres are in European countries ; the remainder 

 of the increase is chiefly in North America, where it amounts 

 to 18 million acres. 



