d in agriculture was 52 per cent. of the population.
According to one set of statistics the percentage of farming families
to non-farming families fell from 64 per cent, in 1904 to 60.3 per
cent. in 1910 and 56 in 1914. We shall probably not be far wrong in
supposing the rural population to be at present about 55 per cent, of
the population. The percentage of persons actually working on the
farms is another matter. As has been seen, some 30 per cent, of the
5-1/2 million farming families are engaged in agriculture as a
secondary business only. It may be, therefore, that the 5-1/2 million
families do not actually yield more than 10 million effective farm
hands.

IS RICE THE RIGHT CROP FOR JAPAN [LXXIX]. Mr. Katsuro Hara, of the
College of Literature, Kyoto University, asks, "Is Japan specially
adapted for the production of rice?" and answers: "Southern Japan is
of course not unfit. But rice does not conform to the climate of
northern Japan. This explains the reason why there have been repeated
famines. By the choice of this uncertain kind of crop as the principal
foodstuff the Japanese have been obliged to acquiesce in a
comparatively enhanced cost of living. The tardiness of civilisation
may be perhaps partly attributed to this fact. Why did our forefathers
prefer rice to other cereals? Was a choice made in Japan? If the
choice was made in this country the unwisdom of the choice and of the
choosers is now very patent."

Along with this expression of opinion may be set the following
figures, showing the total production of rice and of other grain crops
during the past six years, in thousands of _koku_:

---------|----------|---------------|--------|-------------|--------
Year | Barley | Naked Barley | Wheat | Barley and | Rice
| | | | Wheat |
---------|----------|---------------|--------|-------------|--------
1915 | 10,253 | 8,296 | 5,231 | 23,781 | 55,924
1916 | 9,559 | 7,921 | 5,869 | 23,350 | 58,442
1917 | 9,169 | 8,197 | 6,786 | 24,155 | 54,658
1918 | 8,368 | 7,777 | 6,431 | 22,576 | 54,699
1919 | 9,664 | 7,995 | 5,611 | 23,271 | 60,818
---------|----------|---------------|--------|-------------|--------

From 1910 to 1919 the areas under barleys and wheat were, in _cho_,
1,771,655-1,729,148, and under rice 2,949,440-3,104,611.

INNER COLONISATION _v