A Short History of English Agriculture Part 39

The decrease in sheep and the increase in cattle and horses (though of late years the latter have shown a tendency to decrease) are to be noted.

The number of live stock per 1,000 acres of cultivated land in the United Kingdom and other countries is:

Country. Cattle. Sheep. Pigs. Total.

United Kingdom 247 619 76 942 Belgium 411 54 240 705 Denmark 264 126 209 599 France 167 207 88 462 Germany 221 90 216 527 Holland 322 116 164 602

It will be observed that in cattle the United Kingdom comes out badly, but is pre-eminent in sheep and has the largest total; though, as cattle require more acreage, Belgium nearly equals its aggregate produce for 1,000 acres.

As regards prices at the two periods 1871-5 and 1906-7, if we take 100 as the price at the former the following are the prices at the latter:

Beef 71 Mutton 93 Bacon 121 Wheat 56 b.u.t.ter 97 Cheese 100

Turning once more to the occupation of land, the percentage of land occupied by owners in 1907 in England was 12.4, the rest being occupied by tenants, and the following is a statement of the number of agricultural holdings of various sizes in 1875 and 1907:

1875.[733]

50 acres 50 to 100 to 300 to 500 to Above and 100 300 500 1,000 1,000 under. acres. acres. acres. acres. acres.

293,469 44,842 58,450 11,245 3,871 463

1907.

Above 1 and Above 5 and Above 50 and Above not exceeding not exceeding not exceeding 300 5 acres. 50 acres. 300 acres. acres.

80,921 165,975 109,927 14,652

FOOTNOTES:

[710] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1882), p. 449.

[711] See _Returns of the Board of Agriculture_.

[712] The imports from Russia were that year exceptionally small.

[713] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_ (1852), p. 274.

[714] In 1860 the number of live cattle imported was 104,569; in 1897, 618,321; in 1907, 472,015.

[715] In 1860 the quant.i.ty of beef imported was 283,332 cwt.; in 1907, 6,033,736 cwt.

[716] See above.

[717] Supra, p. 38.

[718] Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, i. 176, 192; _Hundred Rolls_, i. 405, 414.

[719] Burnley, _History of Wool_, p. 65.

[720] Ibid. p. 70.

[721] Cf. supra, p. 172.

[722] Smith, _Memoirs of Wool_, i. 222.

[723] See above.

[724] Smith, _Memoirs of Wool_, ii. 252.

[725] McPherson, _Annals of Commerce_, iii. 156.

[726] McCulloch, _Commercial Dictionary_, p. 1431. For imports see Appendix, p. 354.

[727] Of which 6,000,000 lb. came from Spain. The first Spanish Merino sheep were introduced into Australia in 1797. See Cunningham, _Industry and Commerce_, ii. 538, and cf. below.

[728] _R.A.S.E. Journal_ (1890), p. 29.

[729] _Board of Agriculture Returns_ (1907), p. 187.

[730] Cf. Appendix IV.

[731] In 1907 the average wheat crop was 33.96 bushels per acre in England and 39.18 in Scotland. The average yield per acre of wheat in Holland is 34.1 bushels; Belgium, 34; Germany, 30.3; Denmark, 28.2 France, 197.

[732] The total number of sheep in Great Britain in 1877 was 28,161,164; in 1907, 26,115,455. In 1688 Youatt estimates it at 12,000,000; In 1741, 17,000,000; in 1800 26,000,000; in 1830 32,000,000.

[733] Unfortunately the cla.s.s 50 acres and under at this time included holdings _under_ one acre, so that it is useless for the comparison of the number of small holdings at the two dates, for in 1907 none appear under one acre.

CHAPTER XXIII

MODERN FARM LIVE STOCK

CART HORSES

Arthur Young at the end of the eighteenth century found only two kinds of cart horses worthy of mention, the s.h.i.+re and the Suffolk Punch; to-day, besides these two, we have the Clydesdale.

The s.h.i.+re horse, according to Sir Walter Gilbey, is the purest survival of the Great Horse of mediaeval times, known also as the War Horse, and the Old English Black Horse. It is the largest of draught horses, attaining a height of 17 to 17.3 hands and a weight of 2,200 lb., its general characteristics being immense strength, symmetrical proportions, bold free action, and docile disposition. In 1878 the s.h.i.+re Horse Society was established to improve the breed, and distribute sound and healthy sires through the country.

The Clydesdale, whose native home is the valley of the Clyde, is not so large as the s.h.i.+re, but strong, active, and a fine worker. They are either derived from a cross between Flemish stallions and Lanarks.h.i.+re mares, or are an improvement of the old Lanark breed.[734]

The Suffolk Punch looks what he is-a thorough farm horse. He stands lower than the two former breeds, but weighs heavily, often 2,000 lb.

They are generally chestnut or light dun in colour, and their legs are without the feather of the Clydesdale and s.h.i.+re. They have been long a.s.sociated with Suffolk, and were mentioned by Camden in 1586.

According to the Suffolk _Stud Book_ of 1880, the Suffolk horses of to-day are with few exceptions the descendants in the direct male line of the original breed described by Arthur Young.