1904.] The Agricultural Population. 



271 



diminution of the profits formerly earned by the grower of 

 chicory, inasmuch as he is now unable to reap any advantage 

 from a rise in the price of the dried product, since the roots 

 must be sold for drying as soon as they are harvested, and 

 the price offered for them is naturally fixed by the drier at 

 the lowest possible figure. It is important, therefore, that the 

 growers should be encouraged to re-open the country kilns 

 if any steps are taken to revive the chicory industry in this 

 country. 



The Report contains an interesting account of the Belgian 

 chicory industry, and a comparison is made of the conditions 

 affecting the industry in England and Belgium. There is, it 

 appears, little difference between the English and Belgian 

 methods of cultivating chicory, but there are certain differences 

 in the methods of collecting and assessing the Excise and 

 Customs duties on chicory in this country which operate to 

 the disadvantage of the home industry. Mr. Crawford draws 

 attention to these differences in the incidence of the duties 

 on the home grown and imported product, and observes that 

 so long as these are allowed to continue there is not much 

 prospect of a successful revival of the chicory industry. If, 

 however, the readjustments in the methods of charging the 

 Excise and Customs duties suggested in this Report are carried 

 out, an important step will have been taken towards the 

 restoration of the industry in this country.* 



THE AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. 



The decennial enquiries which have been held since 1801 

 into the numbers and occupations of the people have distin- 

 guished, in one form or another, the proportion of the population 

 chiefly engaged in agriculture. In the earliest Census the num- 

 ber of persons so occupied was returned, but in the three 



* In reply to a Question in the House of Commons, the Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 stated on ioth August last, that any alteration in the rates of duty would require 

 legislation. 



