25
(¢) Root Crops.
Tuwrnips and Swedes.—The area under turnips and swedes
has declined from 1,538,000 to 806,000 acres since 1880, and
whereas in that year this crop occupied 11 per cent. of the arable
area, the proportion in 1925 was only 74 per cent., and that upon
a greatly reduced arable area. The reduction has been most
marked in the eastern counties, while in the northern, north-
western and Welsh divisions the proportion to arable area has
been practically maintained. But even in these counties there
has in fact been an appreciable reduction in actual acreage.
By far the heaviest yields of turnips and swedes are obtained
in the northern and north-western counties. The average yield
per acre for the country during the past 10 years has been about
12} tons, and apart from Yorkshire (West Riding), where
the average is only 12 tons and Durham with 13} tons, the counties
in these two divisions average from 14 to 17 tons per acre, the
latter figure being recorded in Cheshire. Many of the Welsh
Counties also exceed 14 tons to the acre, but otherwise the only
yields of these dimensions are secured in Lincoln (Holland),
Isle of Ely, Salop and Cornwall. The decline in the growing
of turnips and swedes is mainly due to the high labour cost
involved in proportion to the feeding value of the crop. The
reduction in the acreage of turnips and swedes in the arable
counties is reflected in the reduced sheep population in these
districts.
In spite of the substantial reduction in the acreage of turnips
In some districts, this crop is still among the most widely diffused
through the country. The two divisions with the largest acreage
{the northern and north-eastern) together furnished 45 per cent.
of the total acreage in 1925 but only 42 per cent. of the total
Production, which was 9,198,000 tons. The north-western
Counties, with 8 per cent. of the total acreage, produced over
104 per cent. of the country’s yield.
A small proportion of the turnips are used for human con-
Sumption, and these are dealt with in section (f ).
Mangolds.—Mangolds are grown most extensively in the
astern half of the country, but there is a general dispersion of
the crop throughout the country. In most counties the actual
Acreage of mangolds has changed but little since 1880, although
fairly substantial increases are recorded in the midland divisions
and decreases in the eastern divisions. In relation to the arable
ozone there is a fairly general increase except in the eastern
Vision.
Apart from Lincoln (Holland), the Isle of Ely and the Soke
of Peterborough, where the average yields are from 24 to 27 tons
ber acre, the highest yields of mangolds are secured in the western
divisions of England with averages of 21 to 21} tons per acre.
In the eastern and north-eastern divisions the average yields
wre about 18 and 18} tons respectively or less than the average
for the whole country, viz., 19 tons per acre.