A Short History of English Agriculture eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 420 pages of information about A Short History of English Agriculture.

A Short History of English Agriculture eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 420 pages of information about A Short History of English Agriculture.

In 1877 no separate return of small fruit was made, but in 1878 the orchards of England, including fruit trees of any kind, covered 161,228 acres, which by 1907 had grown to a total area under fruit of 294,910 acres, among which were 168,576 acres of apples, 8,365 of pears, 11,952 of cherries, and 14,571 of plums.  Much of the small fruit is included in the orchards.

‘Other crops’ were further divided into: 

Acres.

Carrots 11,897
Onions 3,416
Buckwheat 5,226
Flax 355
Others 97,020
-------
117,914

The average yield per acre of various crops in England for the ten years 1897-1906 was: 

Bushels.

Wheat                                         31.1[731]
Barley                                        32.88
Oats                                          41.38
Beans                                         29.28
Peas                                          27.15

Tons.

Potatoes                                        5.74
Turnips and swedes                             12.19
Mangels                                        19.24

Cwt.

Hay from clover, and grasses under rotation    29.40
Hay from permanent grass                       24.33
Hops                                            8.81

The live stock in 1877 consisted of: 

Horses used solely for purposes of agriculture 761,089
Unbroken horses and mares kept solely for breeding 309,119
---------
1,070,208
---------
Cattle.  Cows and heifers in milk or in calf 1,557,574
Two years old and over 1,072,407
Under two years of age 1,349,669
---------
3,979,650
---------
Sheep 18,330,377
Pigs 2,114,751

In 1907: 

  Horses used solely for agriculture 863,817
  Unbroken 325,330
          
                                             ---------
          
                                             1,189,147
          
                                             ---------
  Cattle.  Cows and heifers in milk or in calf 2,032,284
          Two years old and over 1,043,034
          Under two years of age 1,912,413
          
                                             ---------
          
                                             4,987,731
          
                                             ---------
  Sheep[732] 15,098,928
  Pigs 2,257,136

The decrease in sheep and the increase in cattle and horses (though of late years the latter have shown a tendency to decrease) are to be noted.

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A Short History of English Agriculture from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.