350  Statistics  affecting  British  Agricultural  Interests. 
7.  Experiments  on  the  Inoculation  of  Crops. 
Experiments  with  the  inoculating  materials,  prepared  by 
Prof.  Bottomley,  were  continued  in  1909  on  both  leguminous 
and  non-leguminous  crops ; wheat,  barley,  oats,  red  clover, 
white  clover,  lucerne,  beans,  and  vetches  being  the  crops  grown. 
The  results  obtained  were  of  a somewhat  variable  character, 
the  use  of  the  “ culture  solution  ” seeming  in  some  cases  to  have 
effected  a slight  increase,  and  in  others  to  have  produced  a 
decrease  of  crop.  Taking  them,  as  a whole,  however,  there 
was  nothing  to  indicate  an  improvement  from  the  inoculation, 
and  this  was  particularly  the  case  with  the  cereal  crops. 
J.  Augustus  Voelcker. 
22  Tudor  Street,  E.C. 
STATISTICS  AFFECTING  BRITISH 
AGRICULTURAL  INTERESTS. 
THIS  year  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and  Fisheries  have  most 
kindly  supplied  the  Tables,  wdiich  are  published  in  this  volume, 
in  the  actual  form  in  which  they  are  printed.  For  this  we  are 
very  thankful  as  it  has  saved  both  time  and  labour.  Further 
information  will  be  published  by  them  in  the  Agricultural 
Statistics  as  they  appear. 
i 
Acreage  of  Crops. 
The  first  Table,  “Acreage  under  Crops  and  Grass  and 
Number  of  Live  Stock  on  June  4,  1910  and  1909,”  gives 
numbers  for  England,  Wales,  Scotland,  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  Kingdom.  In  the  past  year  the  total  acreage  under 
Crops  and  Grass  in  the  United  Kingdom  increased  by  43,000 
acres  as  against  a decrease  of  16,000  in  the  previous  year.  In 
Great  Britain  there  was  last  year  a decrease  of  37,000  acres 
following  one  of  28,000  acres  in  the  previous  year. 
Once  again  there  was,  however,  an  increase  in  the  area 
devoted  to  Corn  Crops  in  Great  Britain.  On  this  occasion  it 
was  one  of  22,400  acres  due  to  increases  in  Barley  and  Oats, 
for  Wheat,  Beans  and  Peas  had  diminished.  In  the  United 
Kingdom  the  Corn  Crops  increased  in  acreage  by  over  71,000 
acres  as  against  99,000  acres  the  year  before. 
Considering  England  alone,  it  appears  that  the  total  loss  of 
acreage  was  25.600,  due  to  a loss  of  36,900  in  arable  land  partly 
counter-balanced  by  a gain  of  11,400  acres  in  Permanent  Grass. 
Wheat,  Beans,  and  Peas  diminished  by  17,000,  44,000  and  15,000 
acres  respectively,  while  there  was  an  increase  of  70,000  acres 
