Note 72 — Chapter IV · THE POSSIBILITIES OF AGRICULTURE—(continued).
Reading edition
In a recent evaluation, M. Augé-Laribé (L’évolution de la France agricole, Paris, 1912) arrives at the following figures:—
Years. Area under wheat. Acres. Years. Area under wheat. Acres.
1862 18,430,000 1900 16,960,000
1882 17,740,000 1910 16,190,000
1892 17,690,000 — —
The average crops for each ten years since 1834 are given as follows:—
Years. Crops in bushels. Years. Crops in bushels.
1834-43 190,800,000 1884-95 294,700,000
1856-65 272,900,000 1896-1905 317,700,000
1876-85 279,800,000 1906-09 333,400,000
The wheat crop has thus increased in seventy-five years by 74 per cent., while the population increased only by 20 per cent. For potatoes, the increase is still greater: while 198,800,000 cwt. of potatoes were grown in 1882, the crop of 1909 was already 328,300,000 cwt., the average yield of the acre growing from 148 cwt. in 1882 to 212 cwt. in 1909.