y/ 
state of affairs regarding the distribution of the sheep population 
from that revealed by the June figures. 
1. Pigs.*—War-time slaughterings of pigs reduced the numbers 
to about 1,700,000, but this substantial reduction was followed 
by an equally striking recovery, the numbers in 1924 being well 
over 3,000,000 and the highest ever recorded. On the whole, 
however, apart from annual fluctuations, there has been 
no material change, and the average numbers in the decade 
1916-25, embracing both the minimum and maximum numbers 
during the whole period are within 13 per cent. of those of the 
first decade recorded. The average number in 1916-25 was 
2,290,000. The five-year average 1921-25 was 2,658,000, and 
it remains to be seen whether this higher figure will be maintained 
in future. 
The distribution of pigs in different counties is shown in 
Table 15 and Map XIV. On the whole the pig population is 
densest in the eastern counties. East Suffolk, Middlesex and 
the Isle of Wight have more than 250 pigs per 1,000 acres of crops 
and grass, and six counties—West Suffolk, Cambridge, Isle of 
Ely, Norfolk, Kent and Cornwall—have between 150 and 250, 
only West Suffolk of these exceeding 200. The smallest numbers 
are in Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland and Radnor, 
with 30 or less per 1,000 acres. As compared with 1908 most 
eastern counties had larger numbers per 1,000 acres in 1925, but 
the opposite was the case in the west and north of England and 
in Wales. 
In most counties there has been no substantial change in the 
numbers of pigs on farms over the last 50 years, but a few altera- 
tions of importance may be recorded. The total number of pigs 
in 1872 was practically the same as in 1925, but in seven counties 
(Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Kent and Middlesex in the east, 
Lancashire in the north-west and Cornwall in the south-west) 
there were between these two years increases of 30 or more pigs 
per 1,000 acres of crops and grass, while in seven counties (Bed- 
ford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Oxford, Cumberland, Anglesey and 
Merioneth) decreases of 30 or more per 1,000 acres were recorded. 
As the average for the whole country is about 100 pigs per 1,000 
acres of crops and grass, a change of as much as 30 represents 
a substantial alteration in the number of pigs kept. 
5. Horses.—As will be seen from Table 12 in the Appendix, 
which gives the number of horses returned for five-year periods 
from 1871-75, there have been changes in the descriptions of 
horses included in the annual returns, which make comparison 
over any long period somewhat uncertain. The following table 
gives figures for the various classes of horses in each of the last 
five vears :(— 
* Detailed statistics in regard to pigs in England and Wales are given 
in the Ministry’s Report on the Marketing of Pigs, Economic Series. No. 12-