the meal or flour of any species of corn; or of any starchy root, as potato, arrow-root, &c.

PARM, or FERME, an old Saxon word which originally signified provisions; and which afterwards came to be used instead of rent, because anciently the principal part of the rent of lands was paid in corn, poultry, &c. Hence the word farm, by a gradual departure from its original sense, came to signify the estate or lands (ferma) so held; and the person holding lands in this way was called a firmarius or farmer.

According to the census returns of 1851, the total number of farms in Great Britain was 283,378; of which 223,271 were in England and Wales, 56,150 in Scotland, and 3957 in the islands in the British seas. Of the total number of farms,

| Number of Farms | Acres | |-----------------|-------| | 190,573 | under 100 acres | | 52,912 | from 100 to 200 | | 29,603 | 200 to 300 | | 9,931 | 300 to 400 | | 4,063 | 400 to 500 | | 2,248 | 500 to 600 | | 2,816 | 600 to 1000 | | 1,132 | 1000 and upwards |

The size of 2558 farms was not stated. The average size of farms is 102 acres; and altogether they occupy about one-half of the territory of Great Britain. For observations on farms, see Agriculture, vol. ii., p. 364, et seq.