36 



age, with the number slaughtered or lost by natural death, and the pro- 

 ducts either of their living bodies or their carcasses. 



The number and size of barns and the number and classification of 

 the agricultural population are important topics of statistical inquiry, 

 but unfortunately have received very little attention. The tax-rolls of 

 Europe are very inadequate to determine the truth upon these points. 

 It would be desirable, if possible, to divide landholders into groups ac- 

 cording to the extent of their i^roperties. The number of the popu- 

 lation, with an exact designation of their occupations, together with the 

 real estate owned by each class, should be given. 



The above inquiries should be elaborated in a decennial census. 

 There should also be an annual inquiry into the yields of different crops, 

 prices of farm-products, cost of transportation, imports and exports, 

 labor- wages, loans, rents, &c. These should be made at a period early 

 enough to render their information available in arrangements for the 

 coming winter and spring, although its early publication might sacrifice 

 entire accuracy to desirable promjjtness. To secure such a statement it 

 would be desirable to agree upon an average yield in each circle of in- 

 quiry, and to exj^ress the yield of each district by a single percentage 

 of the average. It should be made as early as November. 



Eeports of prices of land and of fruit products are usually too local 

 for general statistics. Market reports require a wide and thorough ac- 

 quaintance with national and local customs in regard to measurements. 

 Purchases for cash or immediate delivery should be distinguished from 

 those on time. Exports and imports are carefully collated by States 

 having a customs-tariff, but the variety of classification renders it diffi- 

 cult to bring it within the range of general statistics. Uniformity of 

 market quotations is also very important. The cost of railroad freights 

 is also difficult to systematize on account of different prices in differ- 

 ent countries. It is therefore best to confine the inquiry to the most 

 important routes and to the extreme and medium rates of each year. 

 Labor-wages present greater difficulties than, at first sight, would 

 present themselves, on account of the variety of local influences de- 

 termining the problem. The rates of interest upon loans is important 

 and should be gathered from reports of commercial and other authori- 

 ties. The number of real-estate transfers is matter of public record, 

 but it would be desirable, in addition, to ascertain the proportion of 

 forced sales and the general influence of transfers upon the average size 

 of estates. Data concerning rents are not easily accessible, as these do 

 not always represent the real value of the property. 



The first great point in international statistics is uniformity of leading 

 schedules. When governments shall adopt a common nomenclature, 

 at least for their leading tables, and promptly publish and exchange re- 

 ports, statistical inquiry will greedily seize upon them and work their 

 statements into every desirable form. Perhaps an international bureau 

 might be established under superintendence of the congress. 



AGRICULTURE IN RUSSIA. 



Russia in Europe is ten times as large as France and consists mostly 

 of a vast plain, toward the center of which arise several plateaus less than 

 a thousand feet above the sea. The country embraces vast forests, in- 

 terminable prairies, and large areas of arable land of a fertility unknown 



