has been sought from occupiers in the annual return on many occasions. Unfortunately, however, and for no very obvious reasons, many occupiers, even those who otherwise fill in the rest of the return willingly and accurately, evince great reluctance to answer the question as to whether they own the holding; and, in addition, examination has shown a number of cases where the statements made by the same person in respect of the same holding in different years were such as to give rise to doubt as to their accuracy. In the circumstances any available statistics can only be regarded with great reserve.* At the same time it is estimated that over 25 per cent. of the holdings in the country, comprising a fairly similar percentage of the total acreage of crops and grass, are owned by their occupiers. It can also be stated with certainty that these percentages are considerably higher now than at the end of the war and that the increase is very largely due to the purchase of holdings by their occupiers at a time when many large estates were changing hands and being broken up. * Details of the returns actually received in different years are given in Part I of the Agricultural Statistics for 1924. CHAPTER VIII.-EMPLOYMENT AND WAGES Agricultural Employment as shown in the Occupation Tables of the Population Census.-In considering the productivity of agriculture, a question of great interest is the extent to which the land of this country provides employment or a means of livelihood for a portion of the population. The main source of information on this point is found in the Occupation Tables of the Decennial Population Census which indicate the number of persons who declare themselves as engaged in occupations connected with agriculture or horticulture. In addition to these, there is an unknown number who have some other principal occupation, but who still derive some income or other benefit or advantage either from the occupation of land or from employment in connection with it. The most obvious examples of the first class are the considerable numbers of tradesmen in country districts such as butchers, inn-keepers and others who occupy land in connection with their business or who may actually carry on farming, but who would return themselves in the census under their principal and primary occupation. A substantial proportion of the smaller holdings must be in the occupation of persons who have other means of livelihood and who describe themselves under headings other than those which would bring them into the agricultural groups. In the same way in the case of wage-earners, there are a large number of workers of various kinds who are intermittently or partially engaged in some form of agriculture or horticulture, but who would not regard it as their main source of livelihood. No definite estimate can, however, be made of the number of persons who are thus, as a secondary occupation, engaged on or in connection with the land, but it is probably quite appreciable. The Occupation Tables of the Decennial Census, then, may be taken broadly as showing the number of persons whose main or primary occupation is connected with agriculture and the changes which have taken place in England and Wales during the past 50 years will be seen from the following table. Comparison is subject to certain reservations especially in regard to the various subheads, since the classification into groups by the census authorities has not been uniform throughout. NUMBERS OF PERSONS RETURNED AS EMPLOYED IN AGRICULTURE* IN ENGLAND AND WALES AT EACH POPULATION CENSUS, * Excluding horticulture. Figures for 1871 include the retired. Note. Returns of female relatives assisting in the work of the farm have not been collected each year. The figures for 1901, 1911, and 1921 were 18,618, 56,856, and 15,384, but the changes between these years seem abnormal, and the figures are probably not really comparable. It will be observed from the table that the number of persons described as " Farmers, graziers," increased between 1911 and 1921 by some 35,000. This was wholly due to an increase in the number described as "Farmers, etc., working on their own account or as employees," which rose from 83,305 persons (male and female) in 1911 to 125,280 in 1921. The number of employers, on the other hand, fell from 145,483 to 138,813. So` far as is known, these figures are substantially comparable, but the increase in farmers working on their own account or as employees seems abnormal. It is, presumably, due to an increase in the number of persons returning themselves as smallholders. From 1871 to 1901 the numbers of males employed on farms showed a steady decline at the rate of nearly 10,000 per annum. Between 1901 and 1911, however, there was an increase, but this was followed by a further decline in 1921. Between 1901 and 1921 there was a reduction of 57,605, or about 8 per cent. The numbers of female agricultural workers showed a considerable increase in 1921 and this is probably due to the inclusion of women who took up land work during and after the war. For the purpose of the present Report, it is not necessary to attempt any detailed or critical examination of these figures. The general tendency towards a decline in the number of male workers employed is clearly indicated by the fact that the total returned fell from 1,015,000 in 1871 to 842,000 in 1891, and then to 663,000 in 1921. This movement was probably the result of several causes, among which the decrease in arable cultivation and the increased use of machinery are no doubt the most important. In the next chapter information is given as to the extent to which motive power is now used on farms. On the other hand, if we look only at the last 20 years and take both male and female workers (excluding female relatives, for which the figures are doubtful), the decrease is much less noticeable as there appear to have been 696,000 persons employed in agriculture in 1921 as compared with 733,000 in 1901. There are two other main groups of labour employed on land cultivation-viz., agricultural machine attendants and gardeners, nurserymen, etc., returned as working for employers-but the latter group includes gardeners employed in pleasure and domestic gardens and ornamental grounds, and comparable figures for the number employed in market gardening, etc., are not available for the different censuses. As regards workers employed on agricultural machines and tractors, the number of males returned as employées has increased from 5,085 in 1901 to 9,770 in 1921. Agricultural employment as shown in the Industry Tables of the Population Census.-Some additional information, particularly as regards the employment of gardeners, is provided by the "Industry" classification of the 1921 census. The industry in which each individual is classed has been determined (whatever may have been his personal occupation) by reference to the business for the purpose of which his occupation was followed. Thus in the case of persons working for an employer it is the nature of the employer's business which determines the industry under which such persons are classified. This classification is much more detailed than in 1911, and it affords a clearer indication of the distribution of persons in agriculture than has hitherto been provided in the census reports. |