§ MR. J. A. PEASE (Essex, Saffron Walden)To ask the hon. Member for North Huntingdonshire, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he will state what was the acreage of wheat, barley, and total corn, the produce of the same, and the average prices of the above in each of the following years, 1849–1853 inclusive and 1899-1903 inclusive, in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively.
(Answered by Mr. Ailwyn Fellowes.) The acreage and production of wheat, barley, and total corn (excluding rye, for which no estimates of produce are obtained in Great Britain), in each of the years 1899-1903 inclusive, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, respectively, were as follows:—Acreage and Produce in England, Scotland, and Ireland in each of the five years 1899–1903.
§ The average prices of British wheat, barley, and oats, as published in the London Gazette, for each of the years 1849–1853 and 1899–1903, inclusive, were as follows:—
| Year. | Average Price per Imperial Quarter | |||||
| Wheat. | Barley. | Oats. | ||||
| s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | |
| 1849 | 44 | 3 | 27 | 9 | 17 | 6 |
| 1850 | 40 | 3 | 23 | 5 | 16 | 5 |
| 1851 | 38 | 6 | 24 | 9 | 18 | 7 |
| 1852 | 40 | 9 | 28 | 6 | 19 | 1 |
| 1853 | 53 | 3 | 33 | 2 | 21 | 0 |
| 1899 | 25 | 8 | 25 | 7 | 17 | 0 |
| 1900 | 26 | 11 | 24 | 11 | 17 | 7 |
| 1901 | 26 | 9 | 25 | 2 | 18 | 5 |
| 1902 | 28 | 1 | 25 | 8 | 20 | 2 |
| 1903 | 26 | 9 | 22 | 8 | 17 | 2 |
§ These prices relate to England and Wales. There are no official returns of the price of corn in Scotland, and for information relating to Ireland reference might be made to the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland. No official statistics of acreage and production exist for Great Britain for the years 1849–53. In 1854, however, an estimate of the acreage under crops, based upon inquiries conducted in eleven counties, was made by the Poor Law Board for England and Wales. This estimate was as follows:—Wheat, 3,807,846 acres; barley, 2,667,776 acres; all corn (wheat, barley, oats, beans, and peas), 8,476,592 acres. No estimates of produce were made For Scotland, for the same year, statistics were also collected by the Highland and Agricultural Society, who presented a Report to the Board of Trade. The following figures were given as the area and production in Scotland in 1854:—
| Area. | Production. | |
| Acres. | Bushels. | |
| Wheat | 168,216 | 4,848,499 |
| Barley | 207,507 | 7,639,601 |
| All Corn (Wheat, Barley, Oats, Bere, Beans, and Peas). | 1,370,706¼ | 47,960,590* |
| * Exclusive of the Produce, of Peas. |
§ An unofficial estimate for the year 1853, by Lawes and Gilbert, placed the acreage under wheat in the United Kingdom at 4,058,731 acres, and the production of that cereal at 11,574,982 quarters.