The area under crops, and the value of the produce, he thus estimated : Under the head of cattle in England, he says, 'Arthur Young estimated them in 1770 as follows : : He considered that one-fourth, or 1,500,000, were annually slaughtered, value at 157. each, 22,500,000%. He estimated the number of sheep in Great Britain and Ireland at 32,000,000. 7. The Poor Law Commissioners, &c.-The Poor Law Commissioners of England attempted to collect agricultural statistics in 1854. They did so for ten counties, and made an estimate of the whole of England from the data so obtained; this is given in the table at foot. The Highland Society of Scotland, under the orders of the Board of Trade, collected those for Scotland in 1857, which are also given at foot. The Irish statistics are those annually collected by Mr. Donelly. * The permanent pastures of England may be estimated at 12 or 14 milions of acres. The area under grain is 12,409,883 acres; at 3 quarters per acre the produce would be 43,434,580 qrs., and if one-sixth be deducted for seeds it would leave 36,195,000 qrs. for consumption. IRISH AGRICULTURE. The following letter was addressed to Dr. Steele, Secretary to the Royal Dublin Society, with reference to the extent and value of the crops of Ireland : [Copy.] -: 'Waterford, December 26, 1865. 'MY DEAR SIR,-I was asked at the recent meeting of the Royal Dublin Society to state my authority for asserting that Sir Richard Griffith had valued the crops in 1846 at between fifty and sixty millions sterling. I beg to inform you that my evidence on the subject will be found in the report of the Committee on Irish Taxation for 1864, pp. 127 and 128, questions 2,943 to 2,976. The following statement is extracted from Parliamentary Paper No. 64 of 1852. It is the report of the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Consolidated Annuities, p. 4: 'The gross value of the crops of 1846, had not this calamity (the famine) occurred, is estimated by Mr. (now Sir Richard) Griffith as follows:— 'The population of Ireland was 8,250,000, and the value of the produce requiring human labour was 51. per head. Either the extent or value of the potato crop will not appear exaggerated when it is remembered that in 1861 there were 1,133,201 acres under that crop, the value of which was estimated by Dr. Hancock at over 11,000,000l. sterling. I think Sir Richard Griffith overstated the area under grain, but that he understated the value. In my work, 'How Ireland may be Saved,' p. 68, will be found an estimate of the value of crops in Ireland in 1847. It is based upon Mr. Donelly's estimate of the crops of that year. I estimated the total value at 52,297,8047., being slightly in excess of that of Sir Richard Griffith for 1846. It will be seen in the same work that I estimated the value of the crops of 1861 at 36,776,3367. Dr. Hancock valued them for that year at 34,893,3751. There are some items in my valuation which are omitted in his, but they approximate as closely as my estimate and that of Sir Richard Griffith for the earlier period. Dr. Hancock estimated the crop of 1862-3 at 27,327,7721., of which the return from cattle was 9,751,1887., and from crops requiring human labour, 17,876,5847. The population has reduced to 5,250,000, and this produce was only equal to 31. per head, against 51. per head in 1846. If the value of green crops be added to that of Sir Richard Griffith's of grass and pasture, it will be seen that the annual produce from live stock in Ireland was greater in 1846 than in 1861, though the quantity had increased. There cannot, therefore, have been that great increase in the supply of meat which some persons erroneously suppose. The area under each crop in 1862 and 1864 was as follows: 'My sole object is to state the facts as accurately as possible, and to show their relation to the present condition of Ireland. It appears to me quite clear that the animal and vegetable produce of Ireland have both diminished in the same ratio as the population. If we wish to increase either the produce or the wealth of Ireland, we must increase the motive power-the people. 'I am, my dear Sir, yours very truly, 'Dr. Steele, Secretary, Royal Dublin Society.' NOTE. The value of the crops of Ireland in 1865, at the prices assumed by Sir R. Griffiths, would be 35,431,384/., of which only 21,429,172/. would be for labour-requiring crops, the rest is from pasture. FRENCH AGRICULTURE. M. de Lavergne, in his recent work upon the agriculture of France, states that 'the following is the disposition of the soil at the two periods specified : To this must be added an rye, barley, oats, and roots. more than 6,000,000 acres. of wheat per acre was nine bushels, in 1859 it had risen to thirteen. In a word, whilst the population increased by fifty per cent., the growth of wheat and oats was doubled, increase of 2,500,000 acres of Oats extended by considerably In 1789 the average produce S |