§ Mr. LANSBURYasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of acres of land in England and Wales at present under cultivation and the number under cultivation in 1919, 1915, 1905 and 1895, and the number of agricultural workers employed in England and Wales at the same periods?
Mr. WOODAs particulars of the number of agricultural workers were not collected by the Ministry prior to 1908 or in some of the subsequent years specified in the hon. Member's question, I regret that I am unable to give the exact information required. The following statement gives such information as is available.
The acreage under crops and permanent grass and the number of agricultural workers returned as employed on agricultural holdings in England and Wales on 4th June in each of the undermentioned years were as follow:
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Year. Acreage under Crops and Permanent Grass. Total Number of Agricultural Workers. Acres. No. 1895 … … 27,683,047 * 1905 … … 27,405,847 * 1908 … … 27,347,913 722,000 1913 … … 27,129,382 651,000 1915 … … 27,053,100 * 1919 … … 26,747,953 * 1921 … … 26,144,071 869,000 1924 … … 25,876,797 806,000 * Not available. The returns for 1908 and 1913 did not include members of the occupier's family; in 1921 and 1924 members of the family working on the land were included, but not the occupier or his wife.