311 
STATISTICS AFFECTING BRITISH 
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS. 
The tables printed on pp. 318-331 are compiled from the 
official publications of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 
including the Agricultural Statistics for 1905 [Cd. 3061] ; the 
Agricultural Statistics for 1906, Yol. XLI., Part I. (Acreage 
and Live Stock Returns) [Cd. 3281] ; the preliminary state- 
ments as to produce of crops and yield per acre for 1906 ; 
Yol. I. of the Annual Statement of the Board of Trade ; and 
the Trade and Navigation Accounts for December, 1906. On 
this occasion, the tables have been brought up to date, 
wherever possible, by the inclusion of the figures for 1906 ; and 
in certain cases changes have been made in consequence of 
revisions effected by the Board of Agriculture. Where not 
otherwise stated, the tables are compiled from the Agricultural 
Statistics. 
Yield and Acreage of Crops in Great Britain. 
The following observations are reproduced from the 
Agricultural Returns of 1905 and the Acreage and Live Stock 
Returns of 1906 : — 
Estimated Yield of Crops in 1905. 
Wheat. — Wheat is in most places generally regarded as the crop of the 
year, the relatively dry season having suited it. The total production 
amounted to 58,902,499 bushels, or over 22,000,000 bushels more than in 1904 
and larger than in any previous year since 1899. The yield per acre (32‘78 
bushels) is nearly 2\ bushels above the mean of the previous ten years, and 
6 bushels above the poor return of 1904. In England only two counties 
(apart from London and Westmorland, which grow but infinitesimal quantities 
of wheat) showed a deficiency from the mean : these were Huntingdon and 
Kent ; while 5 bushels or more above the average were secured in Rutland, 
Dorset, Derby, and Durham. The crop in Scotland was 4f bushels above the 
average ; the chief wheat-growing county, Fife, having 8'3 bushels above 
the mean. 
Barley. — The total production of barley showed an increase, but one of 
scarcely 1,000,000 bushels over the total of 1904. The yield per acre was more 
than a bushel above the average ; the Scottish excess over the mean being 
double that of England, while Wales had two-thirds of a bushel above the 
average. Ten counties in England failed to reach the average ; Shropshire 
and the East Riding of York fell short by a couple of bushels or more. 
Rutland had a crop of 9 bushels above the average, while Middlesex, North- 
ampton, Nottingham, Sussex, Gloucester, and Cumberland were from 3 to 5 
bushels above. In Wales, Anglesey and Merioneth were 5 bushels below the 
average, the best counties being Pembroke and Brecon. A few Scottish 
counties did poorly, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, and Bute particularly so, but 
good crops were secured in Berwick, Fife, Argyll, Inverness, and Sutherland. 
In Scotland as a whole, it may be noted, the yield of 37‘73 bushels per acre 
is the second best on record, being about 1-^- bushels below' that of 1898. 
Oats. — The somewhat dry season did not suit the oat crop, and the yield 
was tw T o-thirds of a bushel under the average. This crop was worst in 
