From a Slough Observer in 1881

PloughingOne of the most important and interesting results of the now imminent census is the provision of exact statistics as to the number and proportion of the English population engaged in agriculture. In this connection it may be useful to recall the figures of the last census. In England and Wales, 1,214,458 males and 64,171 females, in all 1,278,624 persons, were returned under several headings of occupation in the agricultural class, namely (i) in fields, in pastures; (ii) in woods; and (iii) in gardens, not domestic. According to the census report, the total number of persons so engaged showed a decline of 9.8 per cent, from the number in 1871, although the entire population had increased by 14.4 per cent. The number of farmers and graziers had fallen from 249,907 in 1871 to 223,943 in 1881, a decrease equal to 10.4 per cent. The total of agricultural labourers, indoor servants and shepherds enumerated in 1881 was 870,798, as compared with 981,988 in 1871. 

 

March 1881