The Express.
London, England, 1855-02-13 00:00:00

AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS OF SCOTLAND.

The Highland and Agricultural Society has joie
presented to the Brard of Trade the agricultural statistics
of all Scotland, now for the ant time collected. The
enormous task of bringing together the ruses of facts sew
made public has been oceomplished by the society by the
aid of 'neatly 1,100 tenet finnan, acting as enumerates
of mammas sad if rameben of committee for parishes sac
was u*tty reason to tam rack lei ,await With
which the work was taken up that the return are remark-
able for accuracy. The tables appended to the report are
four in number. The first contains the acreage of the dif-
ferent crops sad the amount of stock in each county. The
second table contains the gross produce of the principal
grata and root crops in 31 counties; the third, the average
unable produce of such crops in each of these onetime ;
and the fourth, the average aoreable produce K all crops
estimated per diarists or subdivisions of counties.
Some deficiencies of course are observable in the first
report. The average returned does not, for several reasons.
represent the superficial area of Scotland, as neither High-
land crofters nor the occupants of the smaller holdings is
the Lowlands were invited to send returns. Crops which
are cut growing for forage, as well as carrot,cabbage,or mari-
gold, are not returned, but the crops so excluded aro grown
butto a limited latest, and their omission has secured
greater scouracy this it would have base otherwise possible
to obtain.

Of the acres in tillage in Scotland, there are hire shows
to be devoted to the cultivation of wheat, 163,216 ; barley.
207,607 ; oats, 932,994 ; rye, 3,809 ; bare, or bigg, 18,118;
beans, 37,702; peas, 6,1691 ; vetches, 13,4421; turnip,
433,916! ; potatoes, 143,0121 ; mangold, 1,946!; carrots.
1,218 ; cabbage, 1,3951; lac, 6,6701; tarnip.seed, 1,4291;
hare fallow, 26,1281.
Of the acres in grams, there were In grate, in the rotation
of the fun, 1,427,7901 ; permanent pasture, 1,207,1011 ;
Irrigated meadows, 69,2661 ; sheep walks, 6,630,8421.
Home, roads, fences, So., accepted 130, 638! suns;
woods, 413,391; and west*, 830,703,1.
The amount of stock was as follows : —Horses, 166,696;
milk °owe, 292,366 ; other cattle, 433,334 ; calves, 205,172 ;
ewes, summers, and ewe bogy, 3,360,289; tope, walkers,
and wether hogs, 1,426,946 ; swine, 163,683.
Table No. 2 shows that the total yield of wheat MU
4,848,499 baobab'; barley, 7,639,601 ; oats, 83,8.54,319;
bens, or bigg, 637,250; beans, 1,080,921 ; turnips, 6,374,189 ;
potatoes, 623,333.

On the great lesson of these returns, our northern sen-
temporary, the Scotsman, observes :—Thus all the sown).
varies and wojectures of past years have proceeded upon
enormous mistakes as to the amount of agricultural produce
is Scotland, and, we expect soon to learn, in England also.
It is matter of universal admission that the produce of last
year was eonsiderably above an average, both as to terms
and yield—and yet what will raiders, and, not least, agri-
cultural readers, think of the fact that last year's produce
was on the whole not much more than, and in wheat some.
what ler than, a half of what has hitherto been reckoned
the average annual agricultural produce of the kingdom ?
The most authoritative estimate hitherto is use has ben
one made by Mr. M'CoUoch some twelve years ago,
" from a great variety of data, and which received
the corrections of some eminent practical autho-
rities ;" since then the produce has undoubtedly
made a large increase; and often during that
interval have we seen the iletiOilt4l largely added to by the
I meet purely " practical " statists. In order to present a
glimpse of the lamentable extent to which we have all
along been arguing in the dark, we here place i• jute-
position the quantities, muted in guidon, of earth wreal
annually produced in Scotland, according to the estimate.
and 'wording to the ascertained facts of the large hewed
of ISM :

Estimated. Aseertained.
Qrs. Qrs.
Wheat
Batboy
Oats
Beans and peas 160,000 136,115

9,676,000 6,927,917

Is It not a marvidknis thing, that a trade @pada* aided
by the legislators should, in a country like this, hare gone on
for generations dreaming that iewu every year selliag Ilwable
what it wu molly producing ?