286 



INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL INSTITUTE. [Dec. 1895. 



Statistics and Landed Property," prepared in accordance with 

 the instructions received in 1891 at the session at Vienna, by 

 Dr. T. Pilat, of Lemberg. 



Dr. Pilat based his claim for attention to the methods of 

 agricultural statistics on the need for the closest investigation 

 into the relative production and disti-ibution of the soil, which 

 was being felt in Western Europe, where an agricultural crisis 

 had arisen, due to the vast development of means of communi- 

 cation, whereby every part of the world was now contributing 

 its quota to the food supply of the great centres of population. 



Man}^ of the points necessary to understand the agricultural 

 condition of each country were to be sought in information more 

 of an economic than of a purely agricultural character, but in the 

 domain of agricultural statistics proper it was urged there should 

 be included statistics on the following nine points : — 



(1.) Of cultivation (arable land, gardens, vineyards, meadows, 

 pasture, forests, water, uncultivated land, roads, railroads, 

 canals, &c.). 



(2.) Of agricultural undertakings (number, size, and kind). 

 (3.) Of agricultural labour. 



(4.) Of capital invested in agriculture (buildings, machines, 



domestic animals, &c.). 

 (5.) Of land under different kinds of produce, and of the crops 



obtained. 

 (6.) Of the produce of cattle. 



(7.) Of the cost of production, and agricultural revenues. 



Confining attention to the fifth point, as the most important 

 and urgent at the present time, Dr. Pilat noted the considerable 

 extension of the available information collected annually in some 

 states, and at longer intervals in others. 



The main difficulty in securing accuracy in such returns is, 

 roughly speaking, the varying degree of enlightenment of the rural 

 population in different countries. The size of the farms (and 

 consequently their number), upon which depend very much the 

 system and machinery employed, is also a serious consideration. 



It was agreed that the ideal system was that of England, under 

 which schedules are annually issued to all agriculturists through- 

 out the country ; but in many countries the number of farmers 

 capable of filling up the most elementary return would, it was 

 feared, represent a very small minority of the population, and 

 if this course were thus impossible, three alternative methods 

 suggested themselves to Dr. Pilat, all three being actually in 

 operation in various parts of Austria. 



■ The first was, supposing the country to be split up into districts 

 (the smaller the better), to ascertain the usual system of rotati®n 

 throughout each district, and, further, to inquire what proportio 

 of the l otation is usually devoted to each particular crop. These 

 proportions having been ascertained for all the districts, a fairly 

 accurate picture of the whole country would be obtained. 



