316 Statistics affecting British Agricultural Interests. 
the whole of the country. Most counties extended their acreage under this 
crop, the most prominent exception being Essex, where a loss of 8 per cent, 
was returned. Kent and Essex have now almost an equal area under this 
crop, and, together, account for one-sixth of the total acreage. Very little 
change has occurred in the acreage returned under kohl rabi, the increase not 
reaching 1 per cent., including an addition in Essex, which contains nearly 
one-fourth of the whole English acreage of this crop. Rape also showed little 
alteration from last year’s acreage. England had a decrease of 908 acres, 
which was nearly balanced by the increases in Wales and Scotland. The most 
noticeable loss in any one county was in Hertford, where there was a deficit of 
over 600 acres. Vetches or tares increased by 5,600 acres, nearly the whole 
of which was in England, the East Riding being credited with the addition of 
nearly 1,300 acres, or 37 per cent. The reduction in lucerne which was 
noticed last year has been recovered. The increase principally occurred in 
England, nearly half the area gained being in Essex, the chief lucerne-growing 
county. Kent the next largest county, however, showed a decline of 487 acres. 
Among other crops, the area under carrots showed a small increase, and now 
stands at 12,845 acres ; 3,287 acres were returned as under onions, being an 
increase of nearly 16 per cent, on the previous year’s figures. The area devoted 
to flax-growing fell from 441 acres to 263 acres, nearly the whole of the decrease 
being found in the East Riding. 
Hops and Fruit . — The area returned under hops was the lowest on record, 
the decline of 2,245 acres, or 4‘6 per cent., reducing the total to 46,722 acres, 
or more than 1,000 acres below the previous minimum acreage in 1904. The 
decrease was general — Kent losing 1,359 acres, Hereford 370 acres, and Sussex 
268 acres. The area under small fruit again increased, and for the first time 
since the returns have been collected exceeded 80,000 acres. Each of the three 
divisions of Great Britain added to its small fruit area, but the gains were 
relatively greater in Scotland and Wales than in England. The largest actual 
and relative addition in England is in Norfolk, where 452 acres, or over 10 per 
cent., were brought under fruit in 1906. In Perth the increase was 258 acres, 
or 13 per cent., and in Lanark there was an extension of 121 acres, each. of 
these counties now devoting over 2,000 acres to the growth of small fruit. 
Over 3,300 acres were added in 1906 to the area’ of orchards, nearly every 
county in England contributing to this result. 
Grass and Clover . — Of the total area returned under clover and rotation 
grasses, there was a net decrease of 36,772 acres, or slightly under 1 per cent. 
This decrease was mainly in the area returned as “ not for hay,” which, sepa- 
rately considered, showed a deficit of nearly 40,000 acres. In the area returned 
as “ for hay,” England showed an increase, which was principally found in 
the east and north-eastern counties, and in the midland and northern counties, 
while a decrease was general in the south-eastern and south-western counties. 
The largest actual additions occurred in Norfolk 6,188 acres, Lincoln 5,472 
acres, and Suffolk 5,431 acres, while Hampshire had a decline of 4,562 acres, 
Wiltshire 3,659 acres, Somerset 2,472 acres, Dorset 2,464 acres, and Sussex 
2,359 acres. In Scotland the chief losses occurred in Aberdeen, Forfar, and 
Perth. The decrease in rotation grasses not for hay was almost universal in 
England, only seven counties reporting increases. In Devon there was a 
decline of over 6,000 acres, while Cumberland lost nearly 4,000 acres, and 
Stafford and Wiltshire 3,000 acres each. Wales, on the contrary, had an 
increase of 3,000 acres, while the area in Scotland was practically the same as 
last year. A further addition was made to the area under permanent grass, 
and the total, 17,244,734 acres, is the highest recorded. The area reserved for 
mowing this year showed an increase of nearly 100,000 acres, principally in 
England. Wales also had a small increase of 4,600 acres, but Scotland 
returned a decrease of nearly 4,000 acres. In England, the most noticeable 
additions occurred in Somerset 10,000 acres, Gloucester, Warwick, and the 
West Riding with some 7,500 each, Stafford with 7,000 acres, and Wiltshire, 
Leicester, and Worcester with about 5,000 acres each. 
