The Beeline of Wheat-growing in England. 
813 
Table II . — Area under Wheat in England in 1870, 1880, 1890, 
and 1892. 
Year 
Acres 
Proportion per 1,000 acres 
of cultivated laud 
1870 
3,247,973 
139 
1880 
2,745,733 
112 
1800 
2,255,604 
90 
1892 
2,102,969 
84 
From this it is apparent that whereas in 1870 wheat occupied 
about 14 per cent, of the cultivated land of England, the proportion 
had fallen in 1880 to 11 percent., in 1890 to 9 per cent., and in 1892 
to less than 8| per cent. 
Reverting to Table I. it is seen that, in the twelve years 1881 to 
1892, the largest wheat area was that of 1882 and the smallest was 
that of 1892. These two years, therefore, at an interval of ten 
years apart, will afford convenient data for determining the changes 
in the wheat area which have taken place during the last decade. 
At the same time, as bringing to the front the latest ascertainable 
facts upon the subject, it appears to be desirable to investigate the 
nature and e.vtent of the changes Avhich took place during the wheat 
year of 1891-92. 
Table III . — The Wheat Areas of the United Kingdom. 
— 
1892 
1891 
Increase ( + ) or 
decrease ( — ) 
iu 1892 
Decrease in 1802 
compared with 
1882 
acres 
acres 
acres 
acres 
England . , 
2,102,969 
2,192,393 
-89,424 
726,.522 
Wales . , 
5.5,278 
61,590 
- 6,312 
40,109 
England and Wales 
2,168,247 
2,233,983 
- 9.5,736 
766,631 
Scotland . 
61,692 
53,294 
+ 8,298 
17,490 
Great Britain 
2,219,8.39 
2,307,277 
-87,438 
784,121 
Ireland 
75,344 
81,394 
- 6,050 
77,480 
United Kingdom 
(including Isleof Man 
and Channel Islands) 
2,298,607 
2,392,245 
-93,638 
865,292 
Table III. records the areas under w'heat in England, Wales, 
Scotland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom in the years 1891 and 
1892. It is instructive to note that, as is shown in the third 
column of figures, whilst in the latter year England and Wales 
suffered an area of 95,736 acre.s — approximately equal to that of our 
smallest county of Rutland — to fall out of wheat cultivation, 
Scotland with its colder climate and shorter summer increased its 
wheat area by 8,298 acres,' representing an advance of 15 per cent. 
‘ Five Eastern counties alone contributed two-thirds of this increase. 
These were ; Fife, with an increase of 1,810 acres ; Haddington, 1,419 acres ; 
Forfar, 1,241 acres ; Edinburgh, 891 acres ; and Berwick, 629 acres ; the total 
of these being 6,990 acres. No other county shows an increase of area equal 
even to that of Berwick. 
