§ Mr. FELLinquired what is the official estimate of the acreage which would be required to be grown in wheat to supply the amount of wheat necessary for the annual consumption of the country; and whether such an acreage of land suitable for the growth of wheat exists in the United Kingdom?
§ The TREASURER of the HOUSEHOLD (Sir Edward Strachey)The acreage required to supply the total annual consumption of wheat in the United Kingdom, assuming the present average yield per acre to be maintained, would be 8,287,000 acres. We are not in a position to make an estimate of the total area of land suitable for the growth of wheat in this country, but I may say that the largest acreage officially returned as under wheat was nearly 4,000,000 acres, in the year 1869.