244 LÉFFER NN

I.{ fhaïl next proceed to inquire into the number of people which the fame farm of 504 acres in pafture would maintain when living entirely on animal food,

This branch of rural œconomy, of determining the quantity

of animal food which land will produce, although of confider- . able importance, has never been properly attended to. Mr

à Young, indeed, has begun the inveftigation; but as yet it has ol Le

been confined to afcertain the fattening quality of different

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| animals and vegetables. Upon confulting feveral intelligent farmers, it feemed to be their opinion, that an acre of good | grafs might, in the feafon, increafe the weight of the’animals

| fed upon it twelve ftone, at 14 Ibs to the ftone; which at ss. per E à ftone, would afford a good rent, and leave a handfome allow- ance for management and profit on the capital employed. Fixing

therefore upon 12 ftone as the gantum of animal food, which

an acre of our farm will produce; upon this data, the 504 acres will give 60438 ftones, or 84,672 Ibs. T'have not been able to leara what proportion of weight the bones in the carcafe of an ox bears to the flefh; but allowing three quarters of a Ib. of bones and flefh on an average to a meal for each individual, at a meals per day, 84,672 lbs. will fupport an individual 37,632 days; or, in other words, the produce of the farm will fupport a population of 103 individuals throughout the year; dividing thefe into 20 families, and allowing one fourth of an acre of garden ground to each family, it amounts in all to sog acres. Upon calculating from thefe data, it will be found that it would require 44,475,728 fertile acres, to maintain the po- ù js pulation of Great Britain, each individual, upon an average,

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