240 



general committee, which states that the Hambury-Araericari Steam- 

 ship Compauy has definitely granted a reduction of 50 per cent, on the 

 ordinary rates of freight for goods going to, as well as coming from, the 

 exhibition. Such goods are to be addressed to Messrs. Ollendorf & Co., 

 Hamburg, who have undertaken to forward them to Cologne by the 

 Minden Railway Company, which will also make a reduction of 50 per 

 cent, on the tariff of freight. The general committee express the hope 

 that American machinists will be induced to participate in the exhibi- 

 tion on a large scale with their unrivaled productions. 



Changes in the English agricultural population. — The num- 

 ber of persons in England and Wales engaged in agriculture, according 

 to the census of 1871, was 1,034,192, against 1,833,295 in 1861, and 

 1,928,790 in 1851. The later decade shows a decrease of 10.80 per cent, 

 Avhile in the previous one the number declined but 5.40 per cent. Dur- 

 ing the last decade the towns and cities enlarged their jurisdiction, 

 absorbing 299,470 acres previously in farms; yet the cultivated surface 

 increased from 24,905,758 acres, in 1801, to 20,322,477, an increment of 

 1,417,719, or 5.07 per cent. Tbe number of agricultural landed-pro- 

 prietors fell from 30,760, in 1801, to 22,904 in 1871, showing a decrease of 

 7,802, of whom 6,862 were females. This fact is accounted for by statisti- 

 cal writers on the ground that landed property yields a much smaller 

 rate of interest than the multitude of limited-liability, companies that 

 have lately grown up in England. Hence, small landed proprietors, es- 

 pecially women, who have-not the capital or skill to render the soil pro- 

 ductive, have shown a disposition to part with their freeholds. 



The class styling themselves farmers or graziers have remained sta- 

 tionary during twenty years — 249,431 in 1851, 249,735 in 1861, and 

 249,907 in 1871 — but the numbers of farmers' or graziers' wives shows a 

 remarkable increase, being 104,018 in 1851, 103,705 in 1861, and 187,029 

 in 1871. That a larger number of this class of tenant-farmers find it 

 prudent to engage irt matrimony, argues'a general improvement of con- 

 dition. That the marriages of this class are neither imprudent nor pre- 

 mature, is argued from the fact that only 5,373 of these farmers' wives 

 are under twenty-five years of age. The number of farmers' female rela- 

 tives residing on the farm, including children, is stated at 92,187 in 

 1871, against 83,830 in 1801, and 105,147 in 1851. On the other hand, 

 the female indoor farm-servants have fallen off from 99,156 in 1851, to 

 46,561 in 1861, and 24,599 in 1871. The rapid reduction of this class of 

 female laborers shows thatthe proportion of farm-work performed indoors 

 is annually decreasing. This fact is further evident from the marked de- 

 cline in the number of indoor male laborers, which was 134,157 in 1871, 

 against 158,401 in 1801, and 189,110 in 1851. But this is not all. The* 

 numbers of agricultural outdoor laborers, both male and female, have 

 also declined. In 1851 the aggregate of this class was 952,997, of whom 

 908,678 were males and 44,319 were females ; in 1861 the whole number 

 was 958,265, 914,301 being males and 43,904 females. In 1871 the total 

 was 798,087— 764,574 males and 33,513 females. The rapid introduc- 

 tion of machinery, during the last decade, will account for this reduc- 

 tion in the amount of hand-labor on farms. 



Another class of outdoor laborers is distinguishad from the foregoing. 

 The shepherds numbered 12,517 in 1851, 25,559 in 1861, and 23,335 in 

 1871. Female shepherds appear for the first time in the last census, 

 numbering 12. The class of farm-bailiffs, always males, rose from 10,501 

 in 1851, to 15,698 in 1861, and 16,476 in 1871. The land-agents or sur- 

 veyors numbered 3,064 in 1851, 4,702 in 1861, and 4,810 in 1871; of 

 the latter number 3 were females. Agricultural students, from 104 in 



