96 The Alteration in tlie Distribution of the Agricultural 
the milk is taken into town and sold direct to the consumers. 
Near the towns the whole of the milk is sent to a central dairy, 
and then sold at a price varying from 20 to 22 centimes (2 to 
2^t?.) per litre, according as the milk is fetched from the dairy 
or carried round to the houses. Thus 1800 litres would fetch 
360 francs (14:?. 8*.) per annum, or nearly 10c?. a day. 
IV. — The Alteration in the Distribution of the Agricultural 
Population of England and Wales, between the Returns of the 
Census of 1871 and 1881. By S. B. L. Deuce, Barrister-at- 
Law. 
Readers of the ' Journal ' do not need to be told that the agri- 
cultural population of England and Wales was less in 1881 than 
it was in 1871. The fact was patent to most, if not to all, of 
them — or at least to all of them who live in the rural districts, 
and those to whom it was not thus patent have learnt it from 
numberless articles in newspapers and magazines that have 
appeared since the General Report of the 1881 Census was 
issued, rather more than a year ago. Nor is it necessary to dwell 
upon the fact that this decrease took place in spite of the increase 
in the general population of the country during the same period ; 
an increase which was greater than in any other period of ten 
years, except from 1831 to 1841, during the present century. 
Hitherto, however, although the decrease of the agricultural 
population has been so frequently commented on and disQussed, 
yet, so far as I am aware, no attempt has been made to ascertain 
whether it was general, or equally distributed throughout the 
whole country ; or whether it was confined to any, and if 
any, to what part of the country ; or whether it was more exten- 
sive, and if so, how much more extensive in some parts than in 
others ; or whether the decrease in any particular class of the 
agricultural population was greater or less than in any other 
class or classes of the same population. Nor, so far as I am 
aware, has any attempt been made, except in a very general way, 
to enquire into the causes which led to such decrease. The 
object of the present paper is to contrast the numbers of the agri- 
cultural population, returned in the Census of 1881, with the 
numbers returned in that of 1871, in order to ascertain how far 
the decrease thereby shown was general, and how it affected 
different parts of the country and the different classes connected 
with agriculture. If we can arrive at any definite conclusions 
in these respects, we may be able, perhaps, to determine with a 
