Crump frum 91u $nultg nu 1irnIrt Cirruhirg.

NATIONAL FOOD STATISTICS.

In spite of Colonel SibthOrp, who contends that the Government has no more to do with the quantity of land which he has devoted to the cultiva- tion of wheat or turnips than they have with the state of his larder, or the quantity of wine in the cellars of Canwick Hall, we are not likely to see another session of Parliament pass without the enactment of a measure for the collection of agricultural statistics. In a country like this, where so large a proportion of the population must go to market for every article of food they consume and where it is of the utmost importance that Rue-- tuation in prices should be prevented as much as possible, it is disgraceful. to the community that the ignorant clamour and prejudices of "the Country party" should have hitherto been able to obstruct legislation on the subject.

It is now two or three years since the Highland and Agricultural So- ciety, which has done so much to diffuse sound information among the

farmers of Scotland, took up the question of agricultural statistics • and, after some correspondence with the Board of Trade, they submitted a statement of their views to Mr. Henley, in March 18 2. The leading features of the proposed scheme are—lst, To secure the friendly coopera- tion of the farmers, by intrusting them with the working of the measure; 2d, To restrict the inquiry to a return of the number of acres in the occu- pation of each farmer, the number of acres under each kind of crop, and the amount of stock of various kinds in his possession ; 3d, To estimate, as far as practicable, the aggregate annual produce of the country by as- certaining the average number of bushels of grain, tons of roots, &e., per acre, in a given number of districts resembling each other in their agri- cultural character. As the inquiry could not be undertaken without the expenditure of a considerable sum, and as the late Cabinet might have found some difficulty in persuading its supporters that such a measure was called for, the Board of Trade declined taking up the question, on the ground that more information was requisite. It was then suggested that the Highland Society should, by way of experiment, collect the statistics of three counties in Scotland, under the sanction and at the expense of Government. This suggestion having been adopted, the proper arrange- ments were made ; and the result of the inquiry is now before us in a very interesting return, presented to Parliament a day or two before the prorogation.

The three counties embraced in the return are Roxburgh, Haddington,

and Sutherland; counties so dissimilar in character as to give, collectively, a fair average of what Scotch agriculture is in 1853. Roxburghshire, containing 457,920 acres, (of which 358,943 acres are embraced in the return,) is remarkable for its extensive sheep-farms, and not less so for the high state of cultivation in those districts where the land is chiefly arable. It was there that modern Scotch farming was first introduced, including the growth of turnips on a large scale, and other improvements. Iladdingtonshire, containing only 174,080 acres altogether, (nearly the whole of which is given,) is almost entirely arable, and the system of farming pursued there is generally considered the best in Scotland. Su- therlandshire, which contains 1,152,640 acres, (the return gives only 810,903,) lies at the North-western extremity of the island, and there is only a small portion of it amble. The greater part of the county con- sists of sheep-walks, or remains in a state of nature. The reason why the sum-total of acres returned does not exhibit the entire area of any one county, is said to be, that "sheep-farmers are frequently unable to tell the extent of hill-ground held by them." In comparing the three counties, Sutherlandshire shows to least ad- vantage in the production of grain : out of the whole 810,903 acres, little more than a hundredth part is devoted to wheat, barley, and oats.

NUMBER OF ACB.ES UNDER GRAIN AND TURNIPS.

Wheat.. Barley. Oats.

Rye. Berea and

Turnips.

Roxburgh... 5,181 .. 14,615 .. 28,862 14 .. 1,042 .. 23,809 Haddington.15,339 12,809 .. 16,802 .. 46 .. 4,809 .. 16,260 Sutherland.. 627 .. 5,682 6,121 .. 8 .. 69 .. 2,212 Leaving out some of the smaller divisions, such as carrots, cabbage mangold, and flax, the greater portion of the rest of the land is disposed of as follows.

Improved .• Rouses, •

41enateP=e"ET%ZTr' Potatoes. t T FAw. . a Vruti.

Enclosures.

Roxburgh -1,454 44,558 23,658 966 186,895 Feaces,4r.c. 4,900 17,679 3,320 Haddington.4„246 26,885 6,228 2,127 28,630 2,586 9,313 1,660 Sutherland .2,279 4,977 1,779 23 599,710 2,290 10,812 176,104

From the large extent of sheep-walks in Sutherland, it might be sup- posed that that county would support a larger number of sheep than lox- burgh; but it must be borne in mind that the former county labours under the twofold disadvantage of a savage climate and an ungrateful soil. The difference between it and the two Southern counties is as evident in the comparison of stock as in that of grain and green crops.

AMOUNT OP STOCK.

Horses. Milch-Cows. Other Cattle. Sheep. Swine.

Roxburgh .4,973 .. 4,762 .. 12,058 .. 278,763 .. 4,607 Haddington..4,450 .. 2,377 .. 7,576 .. 66,576 .. 5,580 Sutherland ...2,794 .. 6,547 .. 6,045 .. 168,170 .. 1,310

With three times the extent of sheep-walks that Roxburgh has, the bleak wilds of Sutherland do not support much more than half the number of sheep which the former county possesses. In Haddingtonshire there is more than two sheep, on an average, to every acre of sheep-walks ; in Suther- landshire, between three and four acres are required for every sheep.

One very remarkable feature in each of the three counties is the small portion of land required for houses, gardens, roads, and fences. The return 'would have been more useful had the collectors put these four items under separate heads, as they are not properly speaking of the same kind. One would like to know, for example, how much land is laid down in gardens, and how much taken up by fences. It is clear, however, that a very small part of the land is employed in that way in Scotland, compared with most parts of England. Take the county of Norfolk, where farming

i

is by no means in a backward state. Mr. Harris Fleming, n his pamphlet on The Policy of a National System of Agricultural Statistics," calls attention to the fact that, "apart from hedgerow-trees the land occupied by the fences alone throughout the county of Norfolk is not less than 43,000 acres ; and, deducting from this one-fourth for the space necessarily required for hedges, would leave 32,000 acres disposable for corn or pas- ture." Out of the 4900 acres under the head of houses, gardens, roads, and fences, in Roxburghshire, not more than 2000 at most, or rather more than 1 per cent, are occupied by fences; while in Norfolk, taking the area of the county in round numbers at 1,300,000 acres, the amount occupied in fences is nearly 31 per cent. What a flood of light would be thrown upon English farming, if we could only have accurate returns of allfinch details from every county !

• But the most important value of such statistics would arise from the information they would give relative to the probable supply of home- grown food. At the present moment practical men differ widely as to what proportion of land is under wheat this year. Some say the de- ficiency is not less than one-third as compared with ordinary years ; others affirm that it is not more than one-fourth. Assuming the ordinary produce of the kingdom to be 24,000,000 quarters, the difference between the one estimate and the other is equal to 2,000,000 quarters. Now, if we had taken the same pains with Great Britain as we have with Ireland, where a tolerably accurate notion of the annual produce of the land is ob- tained every year, we should not_have been left to guess what the pro- duce of the pi eserit harveat will be.

The returns relative to the amount of stock in each county would also be very useful, as they would serve to show whether the production of beef and mutton is 'keeping pace with the growth of population or nbt ; and if there, is -any sign of deficiency, we should at least know in time, and beefftile to point to what district is neglecting its duty and its own 'aged. An annual return also, similar to one given in the appendix, with a list of steam and water engines applied to agricultural purposes in the county of Haddington, would be useful, as showing the march of im- provement. From the abstract given it appeals, that_ in East Lothian there are 185 steam-engines, with an aggregate of -1053 horse-power; 81 water-wheels, with 436 horse-power ; and 107 horse-machines, with 499 horse-power. In England, we suspect, there are not many counties -which would come anything near this in the extent of its labour-saving machinery. But all that .will be made plain when the Government mea- sure for the collection of agricultural statistics has once come fairly into operation, as we trust it will do in the course of next session.

SPIRIT-DRINKING IN GREAT BRITAIN.

The controversy about Scotch drunkenness, which has been brisker than usual this summer, will, no doubt, be revived by the publication of a recent Parliamentary return of the annual consumption of home-made spirits in England and Scotland respectively since the beginning of the present century. In most of the statements we have lately seen regard- ing the progress of spirit-drinking in Scotland, it has been assumed that the rate of increase has been much greater there than on this side of the Tweed. The present return does not bear out that view of the case. Taking the whole fifty-two years contained in the return, it does certainly appear as if the consumption of whisky per head in 1852 was about double what it had been on an average during the first ten years of the century ; although that increase is said to have been more apparent than real, the difference having been made up by the enormous quantity of illegally-distilled spirits consumed annually at the former period. But the most important part of the present return is that relating to the last twenty years ; and from an examination of that portion of it, we find that the rate of increase has been considerably greater in England than in Scot- land. Twenty years ago, the average consumption of home-made spirits in England was about 7,600,000 gallons ; last year it had risen to 9,820,608 gallons, an increase of nearly 30 per cent. Twenty years ago, the average consumption of home-made spirits in Scotland was about 6,800,000 gallons; last year it was 7,172,015 gallons, an increase of about 231 per cent.

The annual returns of the number of persons convicted for illicit dis- tillation, which are given in the same paper, show also that the people of England are more in need of Father Mathew than the Scotch appear to be. Within the last thirty years, the number of persons convicted of such offences, in England, has trebled ; in Scotland, the number of offenders is very trifling compared with what it was formerly. Taking the three years ending in 1832 and the three years ending in 1852, the number of convictions in Scotland and in England respectively was as follows.

Years. England. Scotland.

1830 119 210 1831 133 144

1832 203 163 1850 538 40

1851 468 22

1862 469 32

Of course the difference of duty might account for the increased number of convictions in England; but that does init,expiajtiwJs consumption of spirits is making so much more rapid progress in 'te than in Scotland. When we find so many persons sent to gaol fog distillation, we may rest assured that the number of gallons of whisky ' and gin charged with duty for home consumption is very far from show- ing the total quantity of home-made spirits consumed in England. Du- ring the last four years, the consumption has gone steadily upward from 9,053,676 gallons in 1849 to 9,820,608 gallons in 1852. In Scotland there has not been the same regular progress during those four years ; the quantities taken yearly having been-in 1849, 6,935,003 gallons ; in 1850, 7,122,987; in 1851, 6,830,710; in 1852, 7,172,015. Taken alto- gether, the facts contained in this return are not such as we should have anticipated from the accounts recently given of Scotch intemperance. But the drunkenness of a people cannot be measured very accurately by the quantity of intoxicating liquors consumed per head. No one would say that the inhabitants of Paris are remarkably intemperate ; yet, if any reliance is to be placed on official returns, their average consumption of wine is not less than 20 gallons per head per annum, of brandy 1 gallon, and of beer 31 gallons.

THE MONTHLY TRADE RETURNS.

The Board of Trade returns for the month ending the 5th of August show that our external commerce and our home consumption are both proceeding at the same rapid rate of increase as formerly. Lancashire, Yorkshire, Belfast., Dundee, and the mining and hard-ware distriets,_ are all in a thriving way; and equally so are the slaves of the needle in the Minories and elsewhere as will be seen from the following comparison of our exports of the chief productions of those localities.

DECLARED VALUE OF EXPORTS. Month ending August 5,

1852. 1853.

In-crease.

Cotton manufactures Z2,031,078 £2,359,545 £328,467 Haberdashery and millinery. 226,597 489,783 263,186 Hard-wares and cutlery 231,770 312,224 80,451 Linen manufactures 307,860 398,790 90,930 Machinery 101,069 161,863 60,791 Metals 985,470 1,254,884 269,414 Woollen manufactures 1,029,610 1,171,252 141,642

The only other large item of increase is on malt liquor; of which we have exported 103,846/. worth, about 150 per cent more than was sent abroad in the same month of last year.

On cotton, linen, and woollen yarns, there is a slight decrease ; the pro- portionate rise in the price of those articles having been greater than on manufactured goods, which has checked consumption. To the same cause, doubtless, may be ascribed the falling-off in the monthly export of wool,. which is 46,112/. below that of the same month of 1862. After all de- ductions, however, the total increase on the month is 1,405,9181.; -which is about the average monthly increase since the commencement of the year.

Of most articles of Foreign and Colonial produce the consumption has been unusually large. That of sugar is 759,615 hundredweight, against 621,617 hundredweight, an increase of more than 20 per cent. Tea shows a slight decrease ; probably owing to an increased demand for other beverages, as the consumption of coffee had increased no less than 569,359 pounds, and that of cocoa 299,823 pounds. Of spirits, wine, and tobacco, the quantities taken are considerably larger than those of last year; but on no one of these three items is the percentage of increase so large as on coffee and cocoa, while it is greatly inferior to what has taken place in the consumption of sugar.

THE COST OF STRIKING.-When workmen can obtain an advance of wages by simply abstaining from work for a few days, it would be too

much to expect that they should not employ such gentle compulsion to enforce their demands. But when any class of operatives require to go about idle for nine or ten weeks without bringing the employers to their terms,-as the dyers, dressers, and finishers of Manchester have al- ready done -it is plain that they have committed a grievous blunder. It may be laid down as a general rule, that unless a demand for higher wages is complied with almost immediately, the trade cannot afford the advance ; in which case it is worse than folly in the men to persist. Even if they should succeed, as they have sometimes done, in extorting a higher rate of wages than the state of the trade affords, they cannot expect to retain it long. The dyers of Manchester ask an advance of 10 per cent ; but they have either not chosen the right time, or have not gone the proper way to work, or they would have gained their point be- fore now. Supposing their late wages to average 20g. a week, each one of them has already lost 101.; which is equal to ten per cent of his earn- ings for the next two years. Should they gain the victory at the end of this week, (which is doubtful,) and resume work on Monday morning at the advanced rate of wages, it will take two years of the additional 10 per cent to make up for the substantial loss they have sustained by the strike. In all such cases they should count the cost before they begin.

IMPORTATION or LIVE STOCK mon Iaraaign.1---With the exception.of horned cattle, of which there is a slight increase, the import of live stock from Ireland is very small_now compared with what it was previously to the famine. In 1837, the number of sheep imported into Liverpool from Ireland was 225,050; of pigs, 595,422; of cattle, 84,710. At that time the rearing of pigs was one of the main sources of revenue to the Irish peasantry ; but the potato failure seems to have swept it almost entirely away. During the first eight months of the present year, the import of live stock into Liverpool from Ireland has been-of cattle, 62,253; of sheep, 88,274; of pigs, 55,047. Supposing the supply for the next four months to be at the same rate, it would give for the whole year an increase of ab'out 9000 in the number of cattle, a decrease of nearly one half in the number of sheep, and of more than half a million pigs. The great falling- off in the supply of the latter description of stock may be partly accounted for by the flight of so many thousands of the peasantry, and partly by the improvement in the condition-of those leffhelaind, who are doubtless able "save their bacon" for home consumption. What surprises US more in the above return, is the great diminution in the number of sheep, and the very small increase in the number of cattle imported into England, now that so many potato-gardens have been converted into meadow and grazing land. A sufficient explanation of this discrepancy would probably be found in the increase of wages which has lately taken place. A gene- ral advance of 2s. or 3s. a week to a million labourers must have had a considerable effect on the demand for beef and mutton, even in Ireland.

-Faresca Ann Emmen Durrxniza.—Most people are aware that the cansutnption of animal food in France is much less per head than it is in England; but one could hardly have supposed that the difference was so great as would appear from the dietary fixed by the Minister of Public Instruction, the other day, for the pupils in the Lyeees in Paris. In consequence of complaints that the pupils did not receive a sufficient amount of nutritious diet for their perfect physical and intellectual de- velopment, a commission of physicians was lately appointed to examine the quantity and quality of the food supplied. The result of their in- quiry is, that the pupils have not been receiving a sufficient quantity of meat, and therefore the Minister of Public Instruction has ordered a lar- ger allowance for them in future. The senior pupils are now to have 21 ounces of meat for dinner, the middle class rather more than 2 ounces each, and the juniors about 13 ounces each. But even this improved dietary is much inferior to that of the Inmates of most of our prisons. From the Eighteenth Report of the Inspectors of Prisons we find, that in the regular dietary of male prisoners above fourteen years of age, the allowance of meat is 4 ounces to each person, and to women and children' 3 ounces each. In English establishments of a similar nature to those in Paris, the daily average consumption of meat would not be less than 8 ounces per head ; more than three times the quantity allowed to the big boys in the Paris colleges. With such a difference in the dietaries of the two nations, it is no wonder that England should take the lead in whatever requires force of thought or action.