nearly £225 millions reached in 1925 is 77 per cent. above the
figure of £127 millions estimated in 1908, or if glasshouse produce
and honey is omitted in 1925 the increase is 74 per cent, The
average increase in prices over the same period was 77 per cent.,
so that it would seem that in the aggregate, after allowing for
the rapid expansion of the glasshouse industry, the increases and
decreases in output just about balanced one another, although
during the intervening 17 years the area of agricultural land
showed some reduction.
In order to eliminate the difficulty as to changing prices, and
to compare the output of 1925 with that of the earlier year, the
live-stock production of 1908 has been valued at the 1925 prices.
In this table any revisions of the production figures for 1908
which have been mentioned as necessary in previous chapters
have been made.
Live stock - -
Dairy produce -
Poultry and eggs
Wool -
Total live stock and live-
stock products
1908
(at 1925
prices.)
1925.
Thousands of £.
88,200 78,970
49,800 57,600
11,100 15,080
4,100 3.000
153.200
154.650
Percentage
Increase or
Decrease 1925
on 1908.
Per cent.
— 10
-- 16
+ 36
=O
di
It will be seen that the total for live stock and live-stock
products is approximately the same in the two years. The out-
put of the live stock in 1925 is some 10 per cent. less, but dairy
produce is higher by about 16 per cent. and poultry and eggs
by 36 per cent. The marked fall in wool is, of course, the out-
come of reduced flocks of sheep. It will be understood that the
percentage changes given above differ somewhat from those given
in the preceding chapter, mainly because the above calculation
is based on the money value of various commodities added
together, whereas Chapter V deals with output by weight or
number.
In the case of farm crops, a calculation on similar lines has
hardly the same value, as it can only be applied to the pro-
portion of farm crops not used for feeding to live stock on the
farms, and thus is only a partial indication of any change in
production. The quantity of farm crops sold off farms in 1925
was, however, smaller than in 1908, though the difference was
probably not more than 10 or 11 per cent.
No very satisfactory comparisons can be made of the output
of fruit, vegetables, flowers, &c., but it is believed that there
has been a substantial increase in production since 1908.