Home Produce, Imports, and Consumption of Wlieat. 385 
individual year, than do the figures in Table IV. show the per- 
centage in which the requirements of consumption were actually 
met by the home-supplies within each year : — 
Table V. — Proportion supplied by the Imports each Year in 100 of the csti- 
itiated Average requirement per Head of the ropulation. 
llARVEST I EARS. 
England 
AND Wales. 
Scotland. 
Great 
Britain. 
J.n£i Lin. a u. 
TT . I.' . 
United ivi^gdoji. 
1852-3 
30 
64 
32 
33 
32 
1853-4 
31 
69 
36 
23 
34 
185-J-5 
10 
64 
15 
23 
17 
1855-6 
11 
62 
17 
23 
17 
1856-7 
20 
48 
22 
19 
23 
1857-8 
30 
55 
32 
26 
30 
1858-9 
18 
52 
22 
43 
25 
1859-60 
15 
64 
20 
56 
25 
1860-1 
49 
71 
51 
59 
53 
1861-2 
41 
69 
42 
83 
47 
186-2-3 
41 
71 
42 
79 
47 
1863-4 
28 
69 
31 
73 
36 
1864-5 
IS 
60 
22 
73 
23 
1865-6 
28 
90 
3-2 
69 
36 
1866-7 
31 
62 
34 
73 
38 
1867-8 
38 
79 
41 
76 
45 
Mean 
27 
06 
31 
51 
33 
Looking for our illustrations to the column relating to the 
United Kingdom, in relation to which the subject is of the 
greatest national importance, it is seen that in 1854-5 and 1855-6 
the imports supplied only 17 per cent, of the estimated average 
annual requirements for the population of the period; whilst, 
in 1860-Gl they supplied 53 per cent., in 1861-2 and 1862-3 47 
per cent., and in 1867-8 45 per cent. 
The average amount of wheat supplied by imports to the 
United KIng(U)m over the whole period of sixteen years is 33 per 
cent of the total amount estimated to have been consumed. It 
is a significant fact that only once during the first eight years 
of the sixteen was more than this average proportion provided 
by imports, and that was after the exceptionally bad harvest 
of 1853 ; notwithstanding which, only 1 per cent, more, or 
only 34 per cent, of the total lor the period (taken at the 
average rate per head), was imported. On the other hand, only 
once during the last eight of the sixteen years were the im- 
ports below the average proportion of 33 per cent, of the total 
estimated to be required ; whilst in four out of the other seven 
they exceeded the average proportion by from one-third to one- 
half or more. This is the case in spite of the fact of a some- 
what higher yield per acre during the last than during the first 
