FARM HOLDINGS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21708, 25 January 1934, Page 7

FARM HOLDINGS

AREA IN OCCUPATION

REDUCTION LAST. YEAR DECREASE IN SHEEP RUNS j Particulars of agricultural and pastoral holdings in the Dominion and their production during 1932-33 have been officially compiled and published by the Census and Statistics Office, Wellington. The details include comparative statistics of the area, occupation and purpose of holdings, area and yield of field crops, livestock figures, together with other statistical data relating to primary industries. The number of holdings of cne aero or more located outside boroughs in the Dominion on January 31, 1933, totalled 83,780, as against 82,968 on the corresponding day of the previous" year. In spite of this increase there was a decrease in the total area occupied from 42,728,749 acres in 1932 to 42,673,394 acres in 1933. There was a substantial reduction in tho number of sheep and cattle-grazing farms, no doubt the exceptionally low prices ruling for wool about that time causing many sheep farmers to turn their attention to dairying, in which there was an increase. v More Dairy Farms Details of the number and the,. purpose of holdings arc summarised as follows: 1931-32 1932-33 Dairy -farms . . . . -. . 35,395 38,545 Sheep and cattle crazing , runs ... . . . . .. 15,861 14,731 Mixed agricultural and graz- . ing farms . . . . . . 4,411' : >5,240 Mixed dairying and grazing farms ... . .. 7,420 ■' >7,341 General mixed farms . . . 4.027 ' 3,98 ft Orchards 3,331 1,440 Market gardens . . . . 1,079 1,021 l Poultry farms . . .. . . 217 209 Nurseries & seed gardens .73 78 Timber growing .. . . 123 95 Flax growing .. .. .. 41 30 Other and unspecified . . 6,982 8,238 Not used for agricultural, . etc., purposes . . . . 3,0(59 2,759 Total holdings . . . . 82.9GS 83,750 Of the total occupied area of 42,673,394 acres, the total area cultivated is 19,033,625 acres, the remaining 23,639,769 acres being unimproved. This unimproved occupied land is made up as fbllows: Phormium, 64,206 acres: tussock and other native grasses, 14,137,375 acres; fern, scrub, and second growth, 4,000,229 acres; standing virgin bush, 3,419,305 acres; barren and unproductive land, 2,018,654 acres. Details of tenures under which this occupied laid is held show that 20,436,704 acres is freehold, occupied by the owner, and that the remaining 22,236,690 acres is held under.., various forms of leasehold. Size of Holdings The 83,780 holdings arc classified according to area'. Holdings between 100 and 150 acres total 9513, this being the largest number of any one class. There are 6390 holdings between 50 and 75 acres, and 6142 between 150 and 200 acres. Holdings of 50,000 .acres and over total 55, two of these being ill the Auckland land district, ; while 35 are in Canterbury and Otago. A new method of obtaining tlie statistics ' was adopted in 1932. This combined the system operated in 1931 of securing the details by post from tho Census and Statistics Office and that employed from 1916 to 1930 of collecting them annually through the police organisation by a personal . canvass. The latest method of collection proved quite satisfactory as regards both expedition and economical working, the local knowledge of police officers being a valuable asset in securing returns with reasonable despatch.

LESS UNEMPLOYED POSITION IN AUSTRALIA ENCOURAGING STATISTICS [from our own* correspondent] SYDNEY, Jan. 18 Evidence of Australia's return to normal conditions is accumulating. According to the latest figures prepared by the Commonwealth Statistician, nearly 29,000 fewer trade unionists aro out of work to-day than was /the case in the second quarter of 1932. Then there were 124,068 unionists unemployed. To-day the total has fallen to 95,745. It must be admitted that unemployment is still' excessive, but the change that has come over the position is, to say the least of it, encouraging. Based on returns furnished by the trades unions, the statistician's survey shows that from 1929 to ; 1932 there was an almost uninterrupted increase in unemployment. From. August, 1931, to February, 1932, the percentage of unemployment among members' of the reporting unions remained fairly constant at between 28 and 28.3 per cent. Then it moved up to the maximum of 30 per cent in May, 1932. This represented 121,068 of a total membership of 413,472 of the 396 unions reporting. There was a fall of 9000 in the total of unemployed by the fourth quarter of 1932. The first quarter of 1933 saw a further fall in the total, the percentage dropping to 26.5. The percentage of unemployed is now slightly less-than 23, which is the lowest percentage of unemployment since 1930, when,- in August, it was only 20. The percentage of members of trade unions returned as unemployed .in each State for the last quarter of 1933 is as follows: —New South Wales. 27; Victoria, 19.9; Queensland, 13.8; South Australia, 29.8; Western. Australia, 20.5; Tasmania, 18.2. Figures dealing with industrial groups show that the percentage of unemployment fell as follows, as between the second quarter of 1932 and tho last quarter of 1933: —Woodworking and furniture, 39.6 to 32.9; engineering and metal, 33.9 to 25.5; food, drink, tobacco, 19.4 to 16.5; clothing, boot, hat, 22.6 to 16.1; bookbinding, printing, 16.S to 13.2; building, 42.2 to 32.2; mining, 34.2 to 29.1.

As a further index of the relative activity in industry the survey gives a table dealing with building permits issued, tho estimated cost of tho proposed buildings and repairs in the six capital cities. It is shown that for the third quarter of 1931 the total value of all building operations was £1,169,449. By tho third quarter in 1933 it hail risei* to £2,305,978.

PRICE OF TEA FURTHER AUCTION ADVANCE [BY TELEGRAPH —OWN CORRESPONDENT] DUNEDIN, Wednesday A cabled report from Colombo advises that at Tuesday's tea auction the market for common and mediumgrown teas again showed an advance of id to nearly 3d per lb. Fine teas were much dearer. The quantity auctioned was 1,210,0001b, At next week's sale a total of 1,410,0001b. will be catalogued.