[ 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 chō (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 chō in the year. One computation is that there are 2 million chō (5 million acres) available for addition to the crop-bearing area, of which 1 million chō would be convertible into paddies. A decision was taken by the Government in 1919 to bring 250,000 chō under cultivation within nine years from that date, and by 1920 some 20,000 chō had been reclaimed. Persons who reclaim more than 5 chō receive 6 per cent, of their expenditure.
The increase in the area of cultivation has been as follows (in chō):
| 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.
[ USE TO WHICH THE LAND IS PUT [LXXIII].] Here are the details of the division of the land in 1909 and 1918:
| Division of the Land | Years | Area in chō in 000's | Percentage of Total Area |
| Total area | 1909 | 38,847 | 100.0 |
| 1918 | 38,864 | 100.0 | |
| Paddy fields | 1909 | 2,903 | 7.5 |
| 1918 | 3,011 | 7.7 | |
| Upland fields | 1909 | 2,777 | 7.1 |
| 1918 | 3,070 | 7.9 | |
| Total arable as above | 1909 | 5,680 | 14.6 |
| 1918 | 6,081 | 15.6 | |
| Meadows and pastures | 1909 | 39 | 0.1 |
| 1918 | 43 | 0.1 | |
| Grass lands and heather | 1909 | 1,941 | 5.0 |
| (excluding pastures) | 1918 | 3,509 | 9.0 |
| Forests | 1909 | 22,072 | 56.8 |
| 1918 | 18,783 | 48.3 | |
| Dwellings, factories, roads, railways, | 1909 | 9,115 | 23.5 |
| institutions, etc. | 1918 | 10,448 | 27.0 |
| Crop | chō | Yield |
| Rice (1919) | 3,104,611 | 60,818,163 koku; value, 2,891,397,063 yen |
| Mulberry (1918) | 508,993 | 6,832,000 koku; raw silk, 7,891,000 kwan; value, 546,543,000 yen |
| Tea (1919) | 48,843 | 10,397,719 kwan value, 33,377,460 yen |
| Barley (1919) | 534,279 | 9,664,000 koku |
| Naked Barley (1919) | 646,362 | 7,995,000 koku |
| Wheat (1919) | 548,508 | 5,611,000 koku |
| Soy Bean (1918) | 432,207 | 3,451,320 koku |
| Other Beans (1918) | — | 1,237,000 koku |
| Peas (1918) | — | 536,000 koku |
| Millets (1918) | — | 2,903,000 koku |
| Buckwheat (1918) | 136,313 | 852,000 koku |
| Sweet Potato (1918) | 314,012 | 918,328,000 kwan |
| Irish Potato (1918) | 132,090 | 323,930,000 kwan |
| Rape Seed (1918) | 116,300 | 856,880 kwan |
| Sugar Cane (1918) | 29,367 | 316,745,596 kwan |
| Indigo (1918) | 5,570 | 2,717,757 kwan |
| Hemp (1918) | 11,821 | 2,564,114 kwan |
| Cotton (1918) | 2,930 | 681,021 kwan |