Number of Farmers 



291 



XXn. RELATIVE NUMBER OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN 

 AGRICULTURE 



When the attempt is made to discover the pro- 

 portion of persons who make their living by 

 agriculture in the United States, a serious diffi- 

 culty arises from the fact that fully nine per cent 

 of all persons having an occupation reported are 

 tabulated simply as laborers. These have been 

 thrown into the class of "Domestic and Personal 

 Service," but might perhaps better be classed 

 as "Unknown." The figures of the Twelfth Cen- 

 sus on this point are as follows: 



Number and per cent of persons at least ten years of age engaged in 

 specified kinds of gainful occAipation 



Agricultural pursuits 



Professional service 



Domestic and personal service 



Trade and transportation 



Manufacturing and mechanical products 

 All occupations 



Number 



10,438,219 

 1,2()4,735 

 5,691,746 

 4,778,233 

 7,112,987 



29,285,922 



Per cent 



35.7 

 4.3 

 19.4 

 16.3 

 24.3 

 100. 



There is no means of ascertaining the number 

 of persons residing in cities and villages who, 

 in addition to their chief occupations, also are 

 engaged to a greater or less extent in the profes- 

 sion of agriculture. It is probable that there are 

 enough of them to bring up the total number 

 of those engaged in agriculture to about fifty 

 per cent of the total population. 



