HOME-GROWN FOOD FOR BRITAIN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 285, 21 August 1918, Page 7

HOME-GROWN FOOD FOR BRITAIN

RECORD ACREAGE FOR CORN

In a recent interim report the .Director-. . ; General of Fowl Production says it is now possible to givo somo results for England and Wales of tko increaso nomegroirji supplies of corn and potatoes. An official ana compulsory census, obtained on April 27, from occupiers of land'in England and Wales, shows the following total acreages up to that datesCorn and Potatoes. Increaso over 1916. : Percent- 1 Crop. Acres. Aorea. ago. I Wheat 2,665,000 752,000 + 8!) . ! Barley '.... 1,490,000 58,000 +11 ' i Oats 2,820,000 735,000 1 +35 . | Rye, dredgo corn, . '! and pulso .... 682,000 280,000 +69 | Potatoes 645,000 217,000 +50 .. ,j Total'acreage of j corn and pota- >1 toes, England i ! and Wales 8,302,000 + 2,042,000 \i The acreage under wheat is the highest recorded sinco 1882, that for oats -is the highest on record by 20 per cent., and tho potato acreage, which is shown by tho Ministry of Food census, is the highest ■ on record by 27 per cent. i Complete returns of the acreago of j grass land ploughed are not yet avail- j able, but a compulsory, census taken on March 11 last-showed that over 1,200,000 ,■ acres of "permanent" grass in England 1 and Waloß had lieen broken up by that ; date, and it is (estimated that a total addition of hot less than 2,600,000 acres ! to the tillage area of England and Wales ! as compared with 1916 has now been made. ! If, as limy be anticipated from the re- . ; cent forecasts of tho Boards of Agricnlture for Scotland (800,000) and Ireland (1,500,000), the corresponding addition to j the tillage area in those two countries i will • approximate to 1,800,000 acres, the , j total for tho United Kingdom will bo ; well, over 4,000,000 acres. ! These figures indicate that iho total i acreago in tho United Kingdom under I wheat, barley, and oats this year will bo | tho highest ever recorded in the history i of British agriculture. The acreage under j potatoes will bo the greatest since 1872. i Particulars of other crops are not yot available. . ,T1 I It is, of oourse, sot jwssible to foretell the quality of the coming harvest, but. ; speaking generally, tho ■ present condition. j of crops is very promising, and gives ; reasonablo hop© of at. least-an averago yield. Proceeding upon this assumption. ! and further assuming that after deduct- j iug seed and light corn tho whole ot ! the wheat and barley crops, one-hfth ot ' j the iohal oat crop, and of tJia I potato crop (i.e., the surplus above nor- | mal consumption) could be made avail- ] ablo for bread-flour in case of need, it ; may be reckoned that tho United King- : dom harvest of 1918 could provide forty weeks' supply of breads tuffs for the en- j tire population at the present scale or consumption and, on the existing basis ot , i m The g English and Welsh harvests would j further provide concentrated feeding- _ , stuffs for animals, in, excess of the nor- j mal home production of oats reserved for j this purpose, to the amount of somo j 500,000 tons, beside additional oat emvr i equivalent to at least 850,000 tons of hay. , Iteckoned in tonnage, the net Bavins ; in shipping resulting from the increased, production of corn and potatoes in JSng- j land and Wales alone Bliould amount m the coming year to 1,500,000 tons. i The foregoing figures relate only W . , holdings of one acre and upwards, and take no account of the increased produc* , from allotments and gardens. These. ! however, contribute very lately, to tne ■ supply of home-grown food. The , increase ; in the number of allotments alone since ; , 1916 is not less than 800,000 in England . and Wales, or 140 per cent. Tho addl- , tional weight of foodshiffe produced by . , this expansion may be reckoned at no* ; less than 800,000 ions abovo the, MTmU . These results so far as Great Britain | is concerned l.avo been achieved under ex- i centional difficulties created by shortage of labour. In England and Wales alone there are ovor 200,000 fewer male labour- ; ers on the land to-day • than m the year before tho war, after crediting alljnilitary and prisoner labour furnished by the Government. This fact by itself is a sufficient, proof of the energy, resource, and patriotism with which aU sections of tL agriculturd commumty have devoted themselves to iho service of their country.