AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 



By ( i. F. Joubert, 



In dealing with the subject of Agricultural Statistics — their 

 nature, their collection, their compilation, and their value — I shall 

 keep in view, as far as possible, South African demands. In 

 the first place, the question arises : What are Agricultural 

 Statistics ? We must endeavour to arrive at a good definition : 

 one not simply for an august body such as the South African 

 Association for the Advancement of Science (for whom alone 

 this Paper would be superfluous), but one that the farming com- 

 munity of the Union may understand, and so come to see the 

 great value of the Agricultural Statistics for themselves. 



What, then, are Agricultural Statistics? It is a mathe- 

 matical science, and yet not an exact science like arithmetic. It 

 is the science of averages ; the science of great numbers. It 

 is the collection, compilation, tabulation and publication of data 

 relating to all or part of the Agricultural products and livestock 

 of a country, or matters appertaining thereto : it is the keeping 

 of records of the agricultural resources and requirements. It is 

 Bookkeeping with the Statistician as bookkeeper— the study of 

 the receipts, expenditure and savings of each individual, and 

 therefore of the country collectively. It is a scientific study of 

 supply and demand ; of what the country produces and can pro- 

 duce. It reveals the defects and shows when the balance is on 

 the wrong side of the ledger. I have not the slightest doubt 

 that for us in South Africa it will reveal a vast field for expan- 

 sion. 



The next question will be : What is the value of Agricultural 

 Statistics? 



Agricultural Statistics, if collected and compiled at frequent 

 intervals — say every year, if possible — form a record of the 

 country's growth. Without them it is impossible to say what 

 progress the country is making. Statistics of Exports give some 

 idea of this, but, because they do not reflect the internal con- 

 sumption of domestic products, and consequently do not permit 

 the total production of the country to be arrived at, they are not 

 sufficiently comprehensive to be of real value as a record of the 

 country's growth. 



Agricultural Statistics show us what the country produces, 

 what the country possesses, what the country consumes, what 

 the country requires ; and, read in conjunction with the Customs 

 Statistics, they show us in what we are deficient. In short, they 

 must incite us to greater efforts. 



Agricultural Statistics are of value inasmuch as they supply 

 the Economist with the material for his investigations in the form 

 of facts. Their value is brought out when they are studied com- 

 paratively, for they must run over several consecutive years in 



