§ Mr. Sutcliffeasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can state the total acreage of land under cultivation in the years 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1938, respectively; and the total acreage of allotments for the same years?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithNo figures relating to allotments are available for the years 1916, 1917 and 1918, but the total area of allotments in England and Wales on 31st December, 1920, was estimated at 185,000 acres. The latest information available for the whole of England and Wales is that returned as at 31st December, 1934, when the estimated total area of allotments was 134,000 acres. Returns for the year 1938 were confined to those from urban authorities, and the figure for that year, excluding railway allotments, was 57,250 acres. The corresponding figure at 31st December, 1934, was 60,700 acres. The acreage under crops and grass in England and Wales in the years referred to, and also in the years 1920 and 1934, was as follows:
Year. Acres. 1916 … … 27,074,084 1917 … … 27,081,481 1918 … … 26,987,512 1920 … … 26,507,011 1934 … … 25,030,494 1938 … … 24,710,574