35] 



TENDENCIES IN LANDOWNERSHIP 



35 



Year 



1873 

 1880 

 1890 

 1902 



Number j Percen- 

 of white \ tage of 

 owners ! increase 



17,255 

 20,725 



24,058 ; 

 26,957 



20.1 



16 



12 



Number j Average 



of acres 

 owned 



6,734,398 

 7,036,536 

 7,066,506 

 7,138,586 



size in 

 acres 



388.6 



339.5 

 292.7 

 264.8 



Percen- 

 tage of 

 decrease 



12.7 



13.4 

 9.8 



It appears that there was a fifty-six per cent increase 

 in the number of white landowners from 1873 to 1902, 

 and that there was a decrease of thirty-one per cent in 

 the average size of the proprietorships. It will also be 

 observed that the rate of increase in the number of own- 

 ers has not been uniform throughout the period. Using 

 the percentages of increase given in the table as a basis 

 for decennial percentages, it is found that from 1870 to 

 1880 the proprietorships increased twenty-nine per cent; 

 from 1880 to 1890, sixteen per cent; from 1890 to 1900, 

 ten per cent. This shows that the first decade after 

 the war gave the largest increase in the number of own- 

 ers, while the most recent decade gave only a ten per 

 cent increase. Nor has there been a uniform rate of 

 decrease in the average number of acres held by each 

 owner. From 1870 to 1880 the decrease was eighteen 

 per cent; from 1880 to 1890, thirteen per cent; from 

 1890 to 1900, eight per cent. The details connected 

 with these general movements, as well as some points in 

 explanation of them, are to be given later. 



In the following table, wherein the holdings are class- 

 ified in groups according to acreage, the information 

 with regard to tendencies is more detailed : 



