Live Stock Returns. 
271 
movements than are apparent in the steady growth of 
permanent pasture and the steady decline of the surface under 
the plough. 
The census of Horses taken in 1907 shows in the aggregate 
a falling off, compared with 1906, of less than 1 per cent. ; but 
as there is little variation in the much larger class of horses 
used for agricultural purposes, the decrease is significantly 
confined to the much smaller group of “ unbroken horses under 
one year old,” where a noticeable check in horse-breeding is 
indicated by the loss of 10,457, out of the total of 136,941 
recorded a year before. 
The 6,912,067 Cattle returned in Great Britain are less by 
98,780 than in 1906, resulting from a check in the growth of 
the classes of cattle other than cows and heifers. The latter 
group, taken separately, increased by 20,835 head, indicating the 
steady growth of dairying and especially of the milk-selling 
business. Every county in the north and north-west of 
England showed a substantial addition to its dairy stock. In 
all but two of the Welsh counties there was likewise an 
increase in cows and heifers. In Scotland several counties on 
the eastern side showed decreases, but these were outweighed 
by gains in the south-west. 
There is on this occasion a new feature to be noted in the 
returns of cows and heifers in-milk or in-calf. These were this 
year divided into two classes, distinguishing those actually 
in-milk on June 4 from those in-calf but not in-milk at that 
date. Of the total number, 80 per cent, are given as in-milk at 
the time of the enumeration, but the proportion varies somewhat 
widely in different parts of the country. The smallest propor- 
tion of cows and heifers actually in-milk is returned from those 
counties where arable farming still most predominates in 
England, the proportion falling as low as 70 per cent., in 
Norfolk, Lincoln, and the East Riding of Yorkshire, against 
80 per cent, in the grazing districts. In Wales 84 per cent, of 
the total, and in the east of Scotland 88 per cent, is reached, 
though in the west the ratio is not more than 81 per cent. 
Among cattle other than cows and heifers there were con- 
siderable losses throughout the country. The scarcity of keep 
and the cost of feeding-stuffs in the early part of the year, 
together with the high price of beef, are among the causes 
referred to by the collectors as accounting for this depletion. 
The number of Sheep in Great Britain was returned as 
26,115,455. This is the largest total since 1901, and 695,095, or 
2’7 per cent., in excess of 1906. The relatively high price of 
mutton and the maintenance of the price of wool were 
probably the influential causes of the increase, but a successful 
lambing season, especially in Wales, Scotland, and the north 
