t8 ECONOMICS OF LAND TENURE IN GEORGIA [ r g 



A rough estimate seems to indicate that about 130,000 

 lots were made available through these lottery acts. In 

 order to make the estimate a little more detailed, the 

 following figures are given : 



Lottery acts. 

 Year 



1803 . 



1806 . 



1818 . 



1819 • 



1821 . 



1825 . 



1830 . 



1831 - 



Total 



Size of lots 

 in acres 



202^ 

 490 



202 y 2 

 250 

 490 

 250 

 490 

 202 >£ 

 202X 

 160 

 40 



172.3 



Estimated 



number of lots 



made available, 



by size 



4,000 



1,100 



9,300 



17,500 



10,000 



1,100 



500 



12,200 



21,000 



18,300 



35,000 



130,000 



Estimated 



number of acres 



distributed 



810,000 



539,000 



209,250 



4,375,000 



4,900,000 



275,000 



245,000 



2,470,500 



4,252,500 



2,928,000 



1,400,000 



22,404,250 



If 130,000 landless persons had each entered into the 

 possession and utilization of a lot of land under this 

 system of distribution, the result of such an experiment 

 would have been most interesting. The actual result is 

 only slightly less interesting when allowance is made for 

 certain qualifying circumstances arising from the con- 

 ditions under which the distribution was made. First, 

 some who drew lots already owned land; secondly, some 

 who drew lots never came into possession of them ; 

 thirdly, some drew as many as two lots. These qualify- 

 ing circumstances are given in the order of their import- 

 ance. Those who held lands under the head-right grants 

 or who had bought lands were not excluded from par- 

 ticipating in the chances of getting more in the lotteries. 

 Many whose lands had become more or less exhausted 



