Home Produce, Imports, and Consumption of Wheat. 367 
It is generally admitted that of late years, in Scotland, the 
breadth under wheat has considerably diminished, and that 
under barley and oats increased. But, according to the figures 
in the Table, we have within the period of the four consecu- 
tive years for which returns are given by the Highland Society, 
a variation in the proportion of about two to three ; and taking 
the mean of the four years 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857, we have 
211,500 acres, against a mean of only 110,610 as returned for 
1866 and 1867 by the Inland Revenue Department. Here, 
then, is indicated a reduction of the area under wheat in Scot- 
land by nearly one-half between the two periods, separated by 
an interval of only eight years. 
Such wide differences with actual returns seem to leave us 
in as great uncertainty as when we have to rely upon carefully- 
considered occasional estimates merely. It is possible that part 
at least of the deficiency of area returned by the Highland Society, 
in the first two years of their record, may be due to defective 
machinery of collection in the earlier years of their inquiry ; and 
it is, perhaps, more than probable, that the returns for 1866 and 
1867 are lower than they should be, on account of the suspicion en- 
tertained by the occupiers, of the object of returns collected by the 
officers of the Inland Revenue Department. Such, however, are the 
best data at command relating to the area under wheat in Scotland. 
For each of the two years prior to the date to which the 
Highland Society's first return refers, we have, for want of any 
recorded information on the subject, taken the mean of their four 
yearly returns ; and for the years intermediate between the two 
sets of returns, we have distributed the difference between the 
mean of the results collected by the Highland Society and the 
mean of the more recent returns by the Inland Revenue officers, 
equally from year to year. The fi-p'ures so obtained will be 
found in the proper column in Appendix-Table II., p. 393. 
We have for Ireland a return of the number of acres under 
wheat, in each individual year to which our inquiry relates.* 
The figures are given in Appendix-Table IV., p. 395. It will 
be well, however, briefly to call attention here to the wide range of 
fluctuation of area under the crop during the 16 years, 1852-18G7, 
which these figures relating to Ireland indicate. The following 
statement brings to view the most striking points : — 
First Year 1852 .... 353,566 acres. 
Last Year 1807 .... 261,034 „ 
Maximum Area .. .. 1857 .... 559,646 „ 
Minimum Area .. .. 1863 .... 260,311 „ 
Mean, 16 Years .. 1852—1867.... 389,084 „ 
* ' Agricultural Statistics, Ireland.' ]SGS. 
