International Statistical Institute. 



367 



Among the subjects dealt with, agricultural questions 

 were on this occasion unusually prominent. At the first 

 meeting of the section on agricultural statistics, attention 

 was drawn to the repeated efforts to collect in one country 

 or another statistics showing the number, size, and dis- 

 tribution of the separate holdings, farms, or undertakings 

 by which the agriculture of each State was conducted ; 

 and copies of the returns lately issued by the Board 

 of Agriculture giving the result of a special inquiry 

 into the number, size, and distribution of agricultural 

 holdings in Great Britain in 1895, were laid on the table. 

 On the section of these returns showing the extent 

 to which the land of each holding was occupied 

 by the owner of the soil, or by a tenant, considerable discus- 

 sion arose, particularly as to the wisdom of recommending 

 a further and general inquiry in all countries respecting the 

 actual distribution of the ownership of land, and 

 Professor Conrad submitted a detailed proposal for such 

 an investigation, which he desired should have regard both 

 to the extent and to the value of each landowner's possession, 

 whether urban or rural. A somewhat similar proposal was 

 submitted to the section by M. Rheinbott. These proposals 

 will be further considered by the standing committee on 

 agricultural statistics. 



At the general meeting suggestions were offered by Austrian 

 and Russian members respecting uniform methods of collect- 

 ing and publishing crop reports and forecasts of harvests. 

 M. Pilat urged the necessity of a careful ascertainment of 

 the areas from which crops were harvested, and recommended 

 the publication by all Governments of provisional forecasts 

 of the chief grain crops at short intervals. M. Timiriasew, 

 of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, pointed out the 

 want of agreement in the mode of expressing the position 

 and prospects of such crops as were already the subject of 

 official forecasts, and an interesting discussion was pro- 

 voked, in which M. Tisserand, M. von Mayr, and Prof. 

 Conrad took part, on the methods of the several govern- 

 ments, the last named commending the American forecast 

 system. 



