33] 



TENDENCIES IN LANDOWNERSHIP 



33 



Enough has been said to give a measure of definite- 

 ness to the figures that are to be used in this and suc- 

 ceeding chapters. The wild land just referred to is to be 

 left out of account altogether. When the census figures 

 are used, they will refer to the 26,400,000 acres of im- 

 proved and unimproved lands in farms. Finally, on the 

 question of ownership, where figures based on the tax 

 returns are used, reference will be made to the 31,000,- 

 000 acres there classified as farming land. 



No possible analysis of the figures contained in the 

 decennial census reports will reveal the nature and ex- 

 tent of the movements in land proprietorship that have 

 taken place in Georgia within the past generation. It is 

 true these reports have created the impression that there 

 has been a decrease in the size of holdings. As will 

 appear later, the impression happens to be correct, but 

 the figures usually relied upon as warranting the belief 

 are altogether misleading as to the extent of the shrink- 

 age in the acreage of holdings. The census statistics 

 bearing on this subject are as follows :* 



Twelfth Census, vol. v, pp. 688, 962. 



