[Illustration: French Row, St Albans] Passing on to the present day, we have the somewhat curious anomaly that the population of the administrative county is somewhat larger than that of the original county; this being due to the inclusion in the former of some thickly populated areas. The population of the administrative county in the census of 1901 was given as 258,423; ten years previously it was 226,587, thus showing a very marked increase; that of the ancient county was 250,152 persons. The number of persons to a square mile in Hertfordshire, on the latter basis at the former date, was thus about 398, against 558 for England and Wales generally. During the last twenty-five years the increase of the population has mainly taken place on the three great lines of railways, the Great Northern, the Midland, and the North-Western, at such places as Barnet, Hitchin, St Albans, Harpenden, and Watford. St Albans has indeed altogether outstripped the county town in point of numbers; its population being 16,019 in 1901 against the 9,322 of Hertford. In common with England generally, there has of late years been a marked tendency for the rural population to migrate to the larger villages and towns; and this dominance of the urban population has been accentuated by the transference to St Albans and elsewhere of large manufacturing and printing establishments from the metropolis. The urban districts on the lines of railway likewise constitute the residence of a large population of men having daily business in London. As in the country generally, the females in 1901 largely exceeded the male population in numbers; the total for the former being 18,176, and for the latter 16,723. The great majority of these lived in houses, of which 54,963 were inhabited at the date in question. In addition to these, 71 were living in military barracks; something like another 5,200 were maintained in workhouses, hospitals, asylums, industrial schools, etc., while barges on the canals accounted for about another 147. It should be added that the county contains several large London asylums; it would therefore give a very exaggerated proportion, as compared with the true state of the case, if the number of lunatics resident in the county were quoted. [Illustration: Ancient House at Welwyn, now the Police Station] 10. Agriculture--Main Cultivations, Woodlands, Stock.