Wheat , Sheep, and Cattle in 1894 . 
573 
area of wheat in England is now only about 60 per cent, of what it 
was a score of years ago. Nevertheless at the present time it 
constitutes nearly 95 per cent, of the entire wheat acreage of Great 
B ritain, for in this island wheat is very characteristically the crop of 
E ngland. 
Sheep in England . — No recent fluctuation in the sheep population 
of England is equal in extent to that which took place during the 
year ended June 4, 1894. As will be gathered from Table IV., the 
Table IV . — Number of Sheep of all Ages in England in each 
Year from 1885 to 1894. 
Year 
Number 
Increase ( + ) or 
decrease ( — )on 
previous year 
Tear 
1 
Number 
Increase ( + ) or 
decrease ( — ) on 
previous year 
1885 
16,809,778 
+ 381,714 
1890 
10,841,288 
+ 1,001,400 
1880 
10,402,138 
-407,640 
1891 
17,874,722 
+ 1,033,434 
1887 
10,452,508 
+ 60,370 
1892 
17,993,750 
+ 119,034 
1888 
15,788,794 
-063,714 
1893 
10,805,280 
-1,188,476 
1889 
15,839,882 
+ 61,088 
1894 
15,509,995 
-1,295,285 
losses in sheep during the last two years, amounting as they do to 
close upon two and a half million head, have more than swallowed 
up the gains that accumulated in the four years 1889-92. Only on 
two occasions since 1866 — the period for which the Agricultural 
Returns have now been collected — has the number of sheep in 
England fallen to so low a level as at present. 1 The annual average 
number for the 5-years period 1871-75 was, indeed, 18,717,511, 
so that twenty years ago sheep were more numerous than now by 
upwards of three million head. This year’s decline exceeds the 
heavy diminution of last year ; furthermore, in 1893 there was 
no county decrease equal to this year’s loss of 120,453 sheep in 
Lincolnshire, or 76,579 in Kent, or 71,546 in Norfolk. 
The present distribution of sheep in Great Britain is, in round 
numbers — England 60 per cent., Wales 12 per cent., and Scotland 28 
per cent. To this year’s decrease of 1,418,834 head in Great 
Britain, England contributed 91’3 per cent., Wales 1*7 per cent., 
and Scotland 7 per cent. 
Cattle in England . — As with sheep, so with cattle, this year’s 
movement exceeds in dimensions that of any other recent year, as 
is evident from the number of 293,452 head by which this year’s 
decline is measured in Table V. The diminution of over half a 
million head in the last two years has gone a very long way towards 
wiping out the increase which accrued during the three years 
1890-91-92 ; and with two exceptions (1888 and 1889) this year’s 
number of cattle in England is the lowest of the decade. 
Moreover, the total of 4,450,607 for the current year is almost 
1 In 1881, when the number of sheep in England was 15,382,850; and i 
1882, when the number was 14,947,994. Liver fluke was very prevalent durin 
these two years, and led to considerable mortality among sheep. 
a to 
