Report on Laying down Land to Permanent Pasture. 413 
converting arable land into pasture a considerable reduction in 
the labour bill may be obtained. These conditions have had 
the result of inducing many farmers throughout the countrv 
to enlarge their area under grass and to diminish that under 
corn ; in some cases by laying down land to permanent pasture, 
and in others by a more extended period for artificial grasses 
in the rotation. The following Table, compiled from the official 
agricultural returns, gives the acreage of arable and permanent 
pasture in England and Wales from the years 1870 to 1874 in- 
clusive. It is needless to extend our inquiries further back, as 
previous to 1870 the classification of grass under rotation and 
under permanent pasture was not so correct as that which has 
been followed since the year 1869. 
A.CBEAGE of Arable and Permanent Pasture Land respectively, in 
England and Wales, in each Year, from 1870 to 1874. 
j 
England. 
1 
Wales. } 
Total for England 
AND Wales. 
Arable. 
Pasture. 
Arable. 
Pasture. ' 
Arable. 
Pasture. 
70 
Acres. 
13,729,000 
Acres. ! 
9,680,000 
Acres. 
1,120,000 
Acres. 
1,428,000 
Acres. 
14,849,000 
Acres. 
11,108.000 
'1 
13,836,000 
1 
9,882,000 
1,110,000 
1,495,000 
14,946,000 
11,377,000 
72 
13,839,000 
9,991,000 1 
1,104,000 
1,532,000 
14,743,000 
11,523,000 
73 
13,656,000 
10,238,000 , 
1,065,000 
1,582,000 j 
14,721,000 
11,820,000 
74 
13,570,000 
10,438,000 1 
1 
1,045,000 
1,634,000 
i 
14,615,000 
12,072,000 
It will thus be seen that a considerable addition has gradually 
been made during the last five years to the acreage under grass 
in England and Wales. We were, however, in 1873, warned by 
Mr. R. Valpy, of the Statistical Department, that as to the addi- 
tions annually or periodically made to the cultivated area of the 
country, or as to the relative variations in the extent of arable 
or grass farming, the agricultural returns do not as yet afford 
any very decided evidence. The returns must extend over a 
longer period of years than they yet do before marked proofs of 
changes in these respects can be looked for. The more complete 
collection of the returns, and greater care in returning the par- 
ticulars required, have doubtless caused a large part of the appa- 
rent increase. There is, nevertheless, according to the reports of 
the collecting officers, an addition annually made to the culti- 
vated acreage of the country by the reclamation of land, which 
is necessarily a rather slow and expensive work in most parts of 
2 G 2 
