Xi] 
year there has been some recovery and in 1925 the numbers were 
15,975,000. The decline has been mainly in arable districts. The 
average number of pigs kept in the five years 1921-25 (2,658,000) 
was higher than in any corresponding period, but whether this 
is an indication of any permanent or continuous increase in 
pig-keeping is uncertain. There have always been great annual 
fluctuations in the numbers of this class of stock. 
Apart from the changes in the numbers of animals, meat 
production has been affected in the case of cattle and sheep by 
the earlier age at which animals are now slaughtered and their 
lower average weight. As a result the average annual output 
of meat of all kinds in the five years 1921-25 was only about 
14,912,000 cwt. or 15 per cent. less than the average production 
of 17,593,000 cwt. in 1909-13. The figure for 1924-25 taken 
alone (16,391,000 cwt.) was considerably higher than the average 
of the last five years, but it was increased by an exceptional 
production of pigmeat in that year. There has been a reduction 
in beef but an increase in veal, which has resulted in a decrease 
in the home supply of beef and veal of rather less than 15 pér 
cent. In the case of mutton and lamb the decline is much more 
marked and represents a fall of no less than 38 per cent. since 
before the war. The reduction in the number of sheep has also 
resulted in a decrease in wool production. These are striking 
figures, especially in the case of an industry which seems to have 
such a large unsatisfied market at its door and they tend to 
neutralise the satisfaction that may be felt at the expansion of 
the dairy industry. Pig-meat, however, showed a small increase 
on the five-year average. A distinct development is evidently 
taking place in poultry-keeping, there being an increase in egg 
production of some 50 per cent. as compared with 1908, 
In order to obtain a more general view of the agricultural 
production of England and Wales than can be obtained by 
considering the various products individually, a calculation is 
made in Chapter VI showing the total value of the output of the 
land. In order to avoid duplication it is necessary to exclude 
from this calculation the value of materials produced on farms 
but used for feeding stock and also the value of stock or produce 
sold by one farmer to another. The estimate thus represents 
the value of the agricultural and horticultural produce sold to 
the non-farming community or consumed in farmers’ households ; 
in other words it is the value of the gross output of the land 
actually entering into consumption. Out of this has to be paid 
rent and wages as well as the cost of feeding stuffs not grown in 
this country, fertilisers, machinery, implements, rates and many 
other charges. The figure of output for 1925 works out at £225 
millions 
Exact comparison with 1908 is difficult, but in that year the 
aggregate output was estimated at £127 millions so that the 
increase in 1925 was 77 per cent. The rise in the general level 
of agricultural prices in the same period was also 77 per cent.. from