644 Report on the Trials of Implements at Reading. 
of the very large sum at stake when the " havsel " or hay- 
making time arrives. There are no means of determining 
accurately what is the extent of land which is mown for hay in 
Great Britain, but there are good grounds for supposing that 
it cannot be less than 6 million acres. The Agricultural Re- 
turns since the year 1878 have not distinguished the area of 
grass lands intended to be mown for hay : but if we assume that 
as large a proportion of the total extent is now mown as was 
then mown, we had, in 1880-1881, on the average 6^^ million 
acres of this crop.* 
Taking into account the fact that a large quantity of the 
clover is cut twice in the year, it may be estimated that the 
average value of an acre of hay would not be less than 4/. 
The value of the hay-crop of Great Britain may thus be fairly 
reckoned at not less than 24i millions sterling a year. 
It may be added that several causes have contributed to make 
this crop of greater relative importance to farmers generally 
during the last few years. jSot only has a large quantity of 
land been laid down to grass, but the live-stock of the country 
are fewer in number ; and it is a matter of common observation 
that too many farmers have been unable, on account of their 
poverty, to stock their land fully ; and unstocked land, whether 
good or bad, must be mown. Again, under the pressure of 
* Table showing the Acreage of Permanent Pasture and Grasses under Eota- 
tion in Great Britain in 1877 and 1878 (mean area), and also the Acreage and 
Percentage of the Total Acreage of these Crops intended to be mown for Hay. 
Permanent Pasture : — 
For Ha V .. 
Acre*. 
000 omitted. 
3,799 
10,020 
Percentage o£ 
Total. 
27-5 
72-5 
Total Permanent Pasture 
, .. 13,820 
100-0 
Clovers and Grasses under Rotation : — 
9 940 
2,292 
49- 5 
50- 5 
4,534 
100-0 
Table showing Acreage of Permanent Pasture and Grasses under Botation ia 
1880-1S81 (mean area), with Estimated Extent of Hay-Crop, based on the 
Proportionate Area of that Crop in 1S77-1S78. 
Acres. 
000 omitted. 
Permanent Pasture 14 , 535 
27* per cent, thereof 3,997 
Clovers and Grasses under Eolation .. .. 4,388 
49i per cent, thereof . . 2 , 172 
6,169 
Or, more correctly, C,1C9,3SS Acres. 
