FARM FIGURES

Southland Times, Issue 23141, 6 March 1937, Page 15

FARM FIGURES

Highly Interesting Facts STATISTICAL REVIEW From the annual report on the agricultural and pastoral production of New Zealand for the 1935-6 season it is possible to extract a series of highly interesting facts. Figures are disconcerting in the mass, but what they reveal is important, therefore some of the high points in the statistical review are provided. The land being the whole basis of production, we begin with it. New Zealand has over 43,000,000 acres of occupied land, but this includes 23,600,000 acres unimproved and 1,794,000 acres regarded as incapable of being productive. The holdings decreased compared with the previous year by 320, but the statistician points out that this is not the result of land aggregation, but because there is a more strict interpretation of the rule requiring one person working two or more holdings to return it as a single holding. Freehold acreage, 48 per cent, of the total, is up by 191,000 acres, and the leasehold, which is 52 per cent, of the holdings, went down by 14,000 acres. The cultivated areas aggregate 19,671,558 acres, a slight rise on the previous year. As for the utilization of the areas under cultivation, the report shows that dairying requires 47 per cent., but this area is down by 2 per cent., representing 800 holdings. Sheep and cattle holdings, 18 per cent, of the total, showed a decrease of 6 per cent., or almost 1000, but on the other hand holdings devoted to mixed farming increased appreciably under the three headings of this section, the total increase being 3500 holdings, representing 27 per cent. Mixed farming requires 20 per cent, of all the cultivated land. Pasture lands which are cultivated utilize 89 per cent, of the total area and have increased by 108,000 acres. Field crops are used for 5.8 per cent, of the cultivated area. Plantations are extending and conifers occupy 95& per cent, of their area. They have increased by 3.4 per cent, to 807,877 acres, including 789,345 acres of conifers. To complete the survey of cultivated land, 107,109 acres were lying fallow last year, 81,598 were used for private gardens and grounds, 25,072 for orchards, 7905 for market gardens, 5057 for tung trees, and 1013 for nursery and seed gardens. The proportion of unimproved land, 55 per cent, of the occupied area, has not substantially changed, and 60 per cent, is covered with tussock or native grasses. Top-dressing is extended. The areas so handled totalled 2,882,000 acres, an increase of 7.4 per cent., and it is noted that the proportion of pasture land topdressed in proportion to all the pasture land works out at about one-sixth of the total area.