p 
Average 
of 
Years. 
1871-75 
1881-85 
1891-95 
1901-05 
1906-10 
1911-15 
1916-20 
1921-25 
19925 
ACREAGE UNDER VARIOUS Crops, 1871-1925. 
(Thousands of Acres.) 
Pota- 
toes. 
[urnips 
and 
Swedes. 
Man- 
colds. 
Bare 
Hallow. | 
Miscella- 
neous 
Crops. 
382 1,625 
388 1,538 
390 1,460 
144 1,160 
118 1,121 
452 1,046 
518 959 
506 843 
4193 806 
338 
337 
349 
406 
439 
440 
390 
390 
359 
601 
711 
442 
347 
300 
327 
481 
433 
463 
673 
617 
557 
584 
579 
560 
541 
732 
805 
Boel 
Total 
(excluding 
Corn). 
3,619 
3,591 
3,198 
2,941 
2,857 
2,825 
2,889 
2,904 
2.926 
These figures show that nearly 3 million acres of land which 
were under corn in the years 1871-75 have now been put to other 
uses. This represents a loss of 36 per cent. of the area under 
cereals, while in the case of the non-cereal crops the loss is about 
700,000 acres, or less than 20 per cent. of the area under these 
Crops. 
The heaviest loss among corn crops has been in the wheat 
acreage, which in the fifty years from 1871-75 to 1921-25, 
declined by over 1,650,000 acres, or nearly 50 per cent. Barley 
declined by three-quarters of a million acres, or 36 per cent., in the 
Same period, and “ other corn” (rye, beans and peas) by over 
300,000 acres, this decrease amounting to about 35 per cent. 
On the other hand the acreage of oats increased by 375,000 acres, 
or 23 per cent. The heavy reduction in the wheat acreage 
compared with other cereals reflects the heavier fall in the price 
of this crop, while the increase in the acreage under oats may be 
due to their substitution for other corn crops as the bulk of this 
crop is utilised for feeding to stock on farms, and its selling value 
IS not the chief consideration. 
The outstanding feature in the figures showing acreage of 
crops other than corn is the substantial fall in the acreage of 
burnips and swedes, the decline having continued unchecked 
from 1871. There have been more or less steady additions to the 
Potato acreage and the area under mangolds has also been 
extended, while less land is returned as bare fallow. The apparent 
increase in miscellaneous crops * in the last five years is due to 
a re-classification of orchards, which are now included under this 
heading. 
Taking the total area devoted to corn and other crops 
(omitting clover and rotation grasses), that is to say, the land 
actually under the. plough in any one year, the distribution of 
crops within that area shows some features of interest. On every 
B 3