The agricultural output of England and Wales 1925

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1757028552

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-135495

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: The agricultural output of England and Wales 1925

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1927

Scope:: XV, 152 Seiten; graph. Darst., Kt.

Digitisation:: 2021

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Chapter II. The agricultural area

Collection:: Economics Books

) urban population and industrial development generally through- out the period is one permanent factor the tendency of which is continuously to take land out of the agricultural category. Moreover, changes in agricultural prices have been responsible for changes in farming practice such as the conversion of arable land into pasture, the conversion of rough land into permanent pasture and the reverse, or the use of additional mountain, heath or other rough land for grazing. These changes account in some degree for the contraction or expansion of the agricultural area. Finally so far as the Agricultural Returns are concerned the alteration in the form of the schedule which has been found necessary from time to time gives rise to occasional fluctuations. The changes due to alterations in the form of return and those brought about by economic or other causes are apt to mask each other, and any true appreciation of the actual changes which have taken place in the area of agricultural land is a matter of considerable difficulty. Agricultural statistics were first collected in this country in 1867. It is only natural that the earlier returns, especially those of the first few years should be incomplete, and for this reason no account is taken in what follows of the first four years (1867-70). The returns for the first twenty-five years, moreover, referred only to cultivated land and took no account of rough grazings, returns for which were first obtained in 1891. There are, therefore, two groups of figures — (a) the area of cultivated land (i.e., crops and permanent grass) from 1871 to the present day, and (b) the total agricultural area (i.e. crops, permanent grass and rough grazings) from 1891 onwards. Area of crops and permanent grass—The returns of the area under cultivation (i.e., arable land and permanent grass) show a reduction from 26,322,000 acres in 1871 to 25,755,000 acres in 1925, the latter being the lowest figure ever recorded, while the greatest was in 1891, when 28,000,000 acres were returned. Thus in the twenty years from 1871 to 1891 there was an increase in the cultivated area of about 1,700,000 acres, part of which was no doubt due to the increasing completeness of the returns. It is evident, however, from statements by the officers responsible at that time for the collection of the returns that part of the increase was due to the inclusion of additional land taken no doubt from rough grazing land but improved and then returned as permanent pasture. It thus accentuated the general tendency towards an increase in permanent pasture which was caused by the conversion from arable to grass as a result of low corn prices and the relatively greater profitability of meat and milk. In the succeeding period of over 30 years from 1892 until the present day the area of cultivated land has shown a, persistent decline. In only two years since 1892 has the area shown any extension and in these two years, the war years 1916 and 1917.

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