1. We have already endeavoured to show that the quan tity of land in England and Wales is about 38,500,000 acres; it may be proper, however, to add, that by the accounts depended on by Mr Rose, the total acres are 37 331,400 ; and by the reports retuined to the Board of Agriculture, the amount is 37,909,455, exclusive of Wales, which contains about 5,009,000 acres. The first point to be ascertained, which ever of these num bers we take, (and considering the impossibility of ob taining accuracy on this subject, as well as the total amount, the difference in these statements is not very considerable or important,) respects the quantity of waste land. In 1795, the Board of Agriculture refer red the subject of the waste lands in the kingdom to a committee, who seem to have taken considerable pains in making enquiries and gaining information ; from their report it appears, that at that time the number of acres of waste land in England was 6,259,470, and in Wales 1,629,307, making a total of 7,888.777. Dr &eke, who reckons the total number of acres to be less than the statements of the Board of Agriculture, or Mr Rose makes them, considers the number of acres of waste land to be also fewer; not estimating them higher than 6,477,000 ; to these however, he adds, 1,310,000 for roads, water &c. In consequence of the ine&osure bills that have passed since the Report of the Board of Agricultuie in 1795, the number of acres of waste land must be somewhat decreased: probably if from 38,500,000 acres, the total in England and \Vales, 7,5o0,G00 acres for waste land, roads, water, &c. are taken, we shall leave nearly the amount of the number of acres, either cultivated, or covered with useful tim ber, that is, 31,000,000 of acres.
2. The next point relates to the distribution and ap plication of this quantity of land. There can be no doubt, both from particular enquiries in the agriculture of the several counties, and from the general and ac knowledged fact of the great consumption of animal food in this kingdom, combined with another fact, as indisputed, that land under grass will not support near ly so many inhabitants as under the , lough; that the proportion of pasture land is much greater than that of arable land. Dr Becke, in his pamphlet on the In come Tax, supposes that there are 17,481,000 acres in pasture, meadows, &c. while there are only 11,491,000 that are arable; according to other statements, toe quan tity of pasture ground is 17,479,000 acres. The Board of Agriculture calculates that there are 12,000,000 acres set apart as grass land for meat, and 4,000,000 acres for the dairy. The ground employed in the culture of hops, or for nurseries, is supposed rather to exceed 40,000 acres. The pleasure grounds, and fruit and kitchen gardens, may amount to 50,000 acres.
Taking the arable land at 11,500,000 acres, our next enquiry respects the distribution and application of it.
It is probable, that, notwithstanding the improvements in husbandry by the abolition of fallow on light soils. the old system of wheat, spring corn, or beans and fallow, is still followed on nearly six-tenths of the arable laird of England and \Vales, including toe common field lands: three-tenths are probably under a rotation similar to that pursued in the county of Norfolk, of wheat, tur nips, barley or oats, and clover; and the remaining tenth is under various rotations. According to this state ment, 10,000,000 acres of arable lend would be cropped in the following proportions: Wheat, 2,750,000 acres ; oats and beans, 2,500,000; barley and rye, 750,000; roots, that is turnips, cabbages, &c. 1,000,000 ; clover, 1,000,000; and fallow, 2,000,000. If this statement, and the ratio on which it is founded, he correct, the number of acres under wheat may he estimated at about 3,200,000 acres; the oats and beans at about 2 B00,000 awes; the barley and rye, at about 830,000 acres ; the roots, at about 1,100,000 acres; the clover the same ; and the acres of fallow at rather more than 2,200,000 acres. We must confess, however, not only that this estimate, like all estimates on this subject, is found ed on insufficient data, but also that with respect to the number of acres, which it assigns to barley and oats, it falls much below the estimate of Alr Arthur Young. According to him, there are 3,399.326 acres employed in the cultivation of wheat, and barley and oats occupy half as much land again as wheat, conse quently the number of acres under these species of grain amount to 5,098.686.
3. The value of the produce of the cultivated land in England, it is evident, must vary very much, not only according to the different degrees of productiveness in various years, but also according to the price of corn, Sze. On this subject, also,. there are various conjectures and estimates. Bcfore we proceed, it will be proper to endeavour to form some idea of the average quantity of the different kinds of grain, Ste. raised on an acre of land, throughout the different counties of England and Wales. In this we shall be much assisted by the result of the enquiries of a committee of the House of Lords, on the scarcity in 1800. By their directions, the Board of Agriculture investigated the subject with consider able atttention and minuteness; and in the Appendix to the Report, Tables were drawn up, from the answers sent to the Board, of the average produce of wheat, barley, &c. in nearly all the counties of Britain. These tables we have compared with the various agricultural reports published by the Board; and having supplied the deficiencies, and corrected them where they ap peared to be errroneous, we shall lay, in one 'fable, the general results before our readers.