I—IT

Table No. 70.—Table showing Percentage Distribution of Holdings according to Acreage at Selected Years from 1878 to 1941

Analysing the above figures, the following facts stand out. Taking the year 1891 as the time before which the major land-settlement programmes of the " nineties " and early nineteen hundreds commenced, it can be seen that in the range 1-10 acres there has been no increase in the occupied area. At the other extreme of holdings of over 50,000 acres there have been very wide fluctuations in the area involved, ranging from 10,000,000 acres in 1896 to 5,000,000 acres in 1941. Part of the explanation for this decrease has been the abandonment of some very big sheep-runs in the South Island as-uneconomic, the cutting-up of other areas into two or more large runs, and the cutting-up of some areas into smaller farms. The range from Ito 320 acres contained 14-3 per cent, of the occupied area in 1891, and 14-4 per cent, in 1941. The range from 320 to 1,000 acres contained 14-4 per cent, in 1891, and 18-5 per cent, in 1941. Holdings from 1,000 to 5,000 acres increased from 17-7 per cent, to 26-8 per cent, from 1891 to 1941. Of the larger holdings, those from 5,000 to 10,000 acres remained stable relative to the total acreage of holdings although the absolute area increased. From 10,000 to 20,000 acres the proportion was stable from 1896 to 1941 although the total area increased ; all holdings over 20,000 acres declined in relative importance from 1896 to 1941.

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Area of Holdings, 1878. 1881. 1886. 1891. 1890. 1900-01. 1905-06. in Acres. 1- 10 .. 0-2 0-2 0-3 0-3 0-2 0-2 0-2 10- 50 .. 1-4 1-3 1-3 1-3 10 0-9 0-9 50- 100 .. 2-4 2-3 2-3 2*2 1-6 1-6 1-6 100- 200 .. 5-3 5-2 5-3 5-3 4-1 4-0 4-1 200- 320 .. 4-2 4-2 4-8 5-2 4-2 4-3 4-5 320- 640 . . 6-7 6-7 7-5 8-9 7-3 7-9 8-9 640- 1,000 4-7 4-4 4-6 5-5 4-5 5-3 6-0 1,000- 5,000 .. 15-8 15-2 17-4 17-7 14-8 16-4 18-7 5,000-10,000 .. 9-5 9-1 9-5 9-1 7-3 7-3 7-7 10,000-20,000 .. 16-1 15-5 14-7 13-9 9-9 9-4 8-8 20,000-50,000 .. 23-3 21-6 18-0 17-2 14-7 15-6 14*2 50,000 and over 10-4 14-3 14-3 13-4 30-4 27-1 24-4 Total 100-0 100-0 100-0 100-0 100-0 100-0 100-0 Area of Holdings, 1910-11. 1916. 1920. 1925. 1930. 1935. 1941 * in Acres. 1- 10 .. 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-2 0-1 01 0-1 10- 50 .. 0-8 0-9 0-9 0-9 0-8 0-9 0-9 50- 100 .. 1-6 1-7 1-8 2-0 1-9 2-0 2-2 100- 200 .. 4-1 4-4 4-5 4-9 4-9 5-2 5-4 200- 320 .. 4-5 5-0 5-0 5-2 5-4 5-5 5-8 320- 640 .. 9-6 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-8 10-7 10-8 640- 1,000 7-3 7-6 7-6 7-8 7-9 7-7 7-7 1,000- 5,000 .. 23-3 25-1 26-0 26-3 . 27-3 26-9 26-8 5,000-10,000 .. 8-8 8-7 8-8 9-0 8-6 8-9 8-6 10,000-20,000 .. 9-3 9-4 9-7 9-7 9-8 9-5 9-6 20,000-50,000 .. 10-3 12-4 12-3 11-8 11-4 10-6 10-3 50,000 and over 20-2 14-0 12-5 11-4 11 -1 12-0 11-8 Total 100-0 100-0 | 100-0 100-0 100-0 100-0 100-0 * Latest figure available.