Note 5 — INTRODUCTORY

The crop of rice has increased since 1877 from 26.6 million to about 42,000,000 koku; that of barley, rye, and wheat from 9.6 million to 19 million koku. But the increase has been due more to an improved cultivation than to an extension of acreage. Although the wheat, barley, and rye land has grown from 2.35 million in 1877 to 4.43 million acres in 1901, the rice land has increased from 6,517,000 to only 6,982,000 acres. The crops of hemp and rape are stationary, while those of sugar, cotton, and indigo have largely fallen off. (These figures have been converted from those in the 20th Century, pp. 119 ff. One koku dry is equivalent to 4.9629 bushels.)