CHAPTER IV.-NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION OF 1. Variation in number since 1867.-The history of the agricultural live-stock population of England and Wales since the year 1867 is mainly a record of increasing cattle herds and decreasing sheep flocks. The smallest number of cattle returned by occupiers was in 1867, the first year of the returns, and the largest number was recorded in 1917. On the other hand the maximum of the sheep population was recorded in 1868 and the minimum in 1920, though since that date there has been a substantial recovery. Pigs have fluctuated about a mean which has shown little change during the entire period, though the average for the five years 1921-25 is distinctly higher than any previous five years. Horses increased fairly steadily up to 1905, but have since declined. Diagrams IV to VI show the annual changes in the numbers of cattle, sheep and pigs since returns were first collected. These annual variations are shown by the dotted lines, but in order to eliminate so far as possible periodical fluctuations 10-year averages are also shown on the diagram by means of thick black lines. The average numbers of the different classes of live stock in England and Wales are shown in Tables 9 to 12 in the Appendix in five-year periods from 1871-75 to 1921-25, and the figures for the individual year 1925 are also given separately. 2. Cattle. Change in numbers in relation to area and population. It will be seen from Diagram IV that the average numbers of cattle show an almost continuous advance, though a break occurs towards the end of the period, when the extensive slaughter of calves at the end of food control, due primarily to the decontrol of veal prices in advance of those of other meat, caused a sharp fall in the cattle herds, but in the last four years there have been increases. The total number of cattle in 1871 was 4,268,000 and in 1925 was 6,163,000. The movements of the various classes of cattle which go to make up the total numbers have, however, been very dissimilar. In Diagram III are shown yearly changes for the dairy herd (cows and heifers in milk or in calf), and for other cattle, distinguishing those 2 years and over and those below 2 years. Dairy cows have followed much the same course as the total numbers, although on the whole the increase has been more uniform and the periodical * In 1908, an enquiry was made as to the number of pure bred or pedigree stock kept. This was not repeated in 1925, but in the years 1919 and 1921 certain returns were obtained from breeders. Particulars relating to 1921 were published in Part I of the Agricultural Statistics, 1922. fluctuations are much less pronounced. On the other hand, other cattle of 2 years and upwards, after rising slowly but with substantial variations until 1892, have since declined. This decline appears to be the result of the practice of bringing cattle to maturity at an earlier age. The numbers of cattle of under 2 years show the widest variations and are responsible for the greater part of the periodic fluctuations in total numbers. On the whole, the numbers of young cattle advanced up to 1918 more substantially than those of the dairy herd. The wholesale slaughter of calves towards the end of food control after the war brought about a sharp decline between 1918 and 1920, which was reflected in the numbers both of dairy cows and of older cattle, but the numbers of all classes are now showing an upward movement. Although the number of cattle increased more or less steadily from 1867 onwards, both actually and also in relation to the total cultivated area, the increase failed to keep pace with the growth of population. In the following table are shown the number of cattle per thousand acres of cultivated land and per thousand head of population. * In the years 1915 to 1920, inclusive, the population figures excluded non-civilians. Between the first and last decades the number of dairy cattle per 1,000 acres of cultivated land rose by 39 per cent. while other cattle rose by 24 per cent. On the other hand, in relation to the population, other cattle and dairy cattle declined during this period by 21 per cent. and 11 per cent. respectively. This would account in some measure for the increasing dependence of the country on imports of beef and dairy products. The number of cattle per 1,000 acres of crops and grass in each county is shown in Map XI. MAP XII Number of DAIRY CATTLE (Cows and Heifers in Milk or in Calf) per 1000 Acres of Crops and Grass in 1925. Number and distribution of the dairy herd.-As will be seen from the preceding table the numbers of the dairy herd (cows and heifers in milk or in calf) in England and Wales have shown a steady increase since the annual numbers were first collected. In the 10 years 1867-76, cows and heifers in milk or in calf numbered 68 for every 1,000 acres of land under cultivation, a figure which by the year 1925 increased to 105. At the date of the last Census of Production in 1908 the number per 1,000 acres was 85, so that the increase in the last 17 years has been 20 per 1,000 acres, but during this period the acreage of crops and permanent grass has declined by about 1,600,000 acres. The total number of cows and heifers in milk or in calf in England and Wales in 1925 was 2,713,000, whereas 50 years earlier the number was not much above 1,800,000, and in 1908 was 2,332,000. The distribution of the dairy herd in 1925 is shown in Map XII and in Table 13. By far the greatest concentration of dairy stock is found in Cheshire, where the.numbers amount to about 250 per 1,000 acres of cultivated land. Flint and Lancashire each have over 190, and Derby and Stafford over 180, per 1,000 acres, these five counties forming a compact group in which dairying is of much greater intensity than in any other part of the country. Indeed, these five counties, with only 9 per cent. of the cultivated area of the country, possess nearly 18 per cent. of the total dairy herd. The adjacent counties of Westmorland, Yorkshire (West Riding), Leicester, Salop, Denbigh and Carnarvon have between 120 and 150 head of dairy stock per 1,000 acres of cultivated land, which is considerably above the average of the country as a whole, but is equalled in some other districts. Apart from the north-western group of counties, only Somerset, Dorset and the Isle of Wight exceed 160 head per 1,000 acres, but Wiltshire with 158 and Cornwall with 143 are not far behind. The three counties in south-west Wales have between 120 and 140, as have also Middlesex and East Sussex. The smallest numbers of dairy cattle are found in the eastern part of the country. From Northumberland to Kent, with the single exception of Durham, the counties bordered by the North Sea have less than 80 head of dairy stock per 1,000 acres of crops and grass, and this belt is at its broadest just south of the Wash, where it extends through Northampton into Oxford. It is clear that so far as the distribution of dairy stock is concerned the western half of the country is much more heavily stocked than the eastern portion. The increase in dairy cattle which has taken place in the last 50 years had been practically universal, the only county to show a reduction being Middlesex, where the total number of cows has fallen by over 50 per cent. since 1875, a change which is no doubt partly due to the abandonment of town dairying and partly to absorption of agricultural land by building. |