woollen textile business, manufacturing and retail.  The industry did well during the War by supplies of cloth to Russia and of yarn and muslin to countries which ordinarily are able to supply themselves.  In 1918 the production (woollen fabrics and mixtures) was valued at 85 million yen (muslin, 32; cloth, 21; serges, 19; blankets, 3; flannel, 1; others, 8).  The imports of wool were 60 million and of yarn 251,000.  In 1919 the figures were 61 million and 710,000 respectively.  In 1920 the exports were:  woollen or worsted yarns, 1,437,926 yen; woollen cloth and serges, 3,019,382 yen; blankets, 1,024,540 yen; other woollens, 548,922 yen.  The Nippon Wool Weaving Company, which in 1921 distributed a 20 per cent, ordinary and 20 per cent. extraordinary dividend, has 15 foreign experts.

POPULATION OF HOKKAIDO [LXXI].  In 1869, 58,467; has risen as follows: 

Year Population

1874             174,368
1884             276,414
1894             616,650
1904           1,233,669
1914           1,869,582
1919           2,137,700
1920           2,359,097

EXTENSION OF CROP-BEARING AREA OF JAPAN [LXXII].  There is normally added to the crop-bearing area about 53,000 cho (132,000 acres) a year.  From the new crop-bearing area every year is deducted the loss of arable land from floods, the extension of cities and towns and railways and the building of factories and institutions.  This is reckoned at nearly 8,000 cho in the year.  One computation is that there are 2 million cho (5 million acres) available for addition to the crop-bearing area, of which 1 million cho would be convertible into paddies.  A decision was taken by the Government in 1919 to bring 250,000 cho under cultivation within nine years from that date, and by 1920 some 20,000 cho had been reclaimed.  Persons who reclaim more than 5 cho receive 6 per cent, of their expenditure.

The increase in the area of cultivation has been as follows (in cho): 

|Year     |Paddy       |Upland Farm |Total       |
--------------------------------------------------
|1905     |2,841,471   |2,540,906   |5,382,378   |
|1906     |2,849,288   |2,551,170   |5,400,459   |
|1907     |2,858,628   |2,639,680   |5,498,309   |
|1908     |2,882,426   |2,684,531   |5,566,958   |
|1909     |2,902,899   |2,777,453   |5,680,352   |
|1910     |2,910,970   |2,804,434   |5,715,405   |
|1911     |2,923,520   |2,836,002   |5,759,522   |
|1912     |2,939,445   |2,880,301   |5,819,756   |
|1913     |2,953,947   |2,902,445   |5,856,392   |
|1914     |2,961,639   |2,916,569   |5,878,208   |
|1915     |2,974,042   |2,948,075   |5,922,118   |
|1916     |2,987,579   |2,971,800   |5,959,379   |
|1917     |3,005,679   |3,012,685   |6,018,364   |
|1918     |3,011,000   |3,070,000   |6,081,000   |
|1919     |3,021,879   |3,050,008   |6,071,887   |

Whereas the percentage of cultivated land to uncultivated was in 1909 14.6 per cent., it was in 1918 15.6 per cent.