414 Statistics affecting British Agricultural Interests. 
one or two counties have there also come short, as in the case of 
Sutherland and Orkney, and to a smaller extent in Perth and 
Dumfries. Some special damage of a different origin occurred in 
the South of Scotland by the gale of August 21, whereby quantities 
of from 2 to 6 bushels per acre were said to have been shaken out. 
The Yield of Potatoes in Great Britain. — The one crop of the 
past season which was very generally good was Potatoes, the mean 
yield per acre for Great Britain coming out half a ton or nearly 8 
per cent, above the standard of 1885, and 13^ per cent, over the 
yield of 1892. No doubt in the case of individual counties, possibly 
where the original estimates were placed rather high, the yield of 
1893 fell a little short. But, on the other hand, Potato crops 
exceeding 9 tons to the acre were reported for Gloucester and Derby, 
for Merioneth and Clackmannan. The estimated average for Eng- 
land in 1893 is 6 - 64 tons per acre. It is 6'63 tons in Wales, and 
6'42 tons in Scotland. The English average does not appear to have 
been exceeded for any year since these returns have been collected, 
while only once, in 1887, has the Welsh average been slightly 
higher, and only twice, in 1887 and 1889, has the Scotch average 
stood at a larger figure. The absence of disease was very generally 
reported, and the excellence of the crop was a common matter of 
remark. From Aberdeen, Stirling, and Dumfries mention was, 
however, made of a varying degree of disease among the early 
varieties affecting from an eighth to a third of these crops. 
The Yield of Turnips in Great Britain. — The Turnip crop of 1893 
seems to have been about 13 per cent, below the standard of 151- 
tons to an acre, estimated as a normal crop in 1885. Since, however, 
this figure is one which has never been reached for Great Britain as 
a whole in any of the years for which produce statistics are forth- 
coming, it is possible that the average of 13|- tons in 1893, although 
less than last year’s estimate, does not represent so inferior a yield as 
was at one time expected, and, looking farther back, it is considerably 
better than the crops of 1888, 1887, or 1885. 
The English Turnip crop stands much below the Welsh or the 
Scotch, showing only 12 tons to the acre, against 15 tons and 16^ 
tons respectively in these countries. Moreover, the yield in the 
English counties is marked by an extreme variety of range from 
under 8 tons to the acre in Bedford and less than 9 tons in Cam- 
bridge, Buckingham, Essex, Hertford, Middlesex, and Berkshire, to 
17 to 20 tons in Chester, Westmorland, Derby, Northumberland, 
and Lancaster. An estimate of 23 tons is given in Cumberland, 
and in one Welsh county, Brecon, while no less than seven Scottish 
counties return Turnip crops of over 20 tons to the acre. 
The Yield of Mangel in Great Britain. — Although Mangel is 
grown in every county of England and Wales, it is a relatively 
unimportant crop in the northern counties, while its extent and 
value are considerable in many of the more southerly districts in 
which the drought of 1893 was severely felt. The reduction in the 
yield in the past season is, therefore, not surprising, and must have 
pressed with special severity on particular areas. The mean yield 
