454 



TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION 1 



continued. No one had expected that the tax would do this suddenly. But in 

 1891 it had certainly been thought that noticeable progress would have been 

 made, say, in fifteen or sixteen years. And at first sight the subjoined table 

 would seem to show that such progress was made : — - 



Rural Freeholds of 10.000 Acres and over. 



That from the land reformers' standpoint looks well. But here is a table showing 

 the number of rural holdings of different grades of size, from those of 5 acres 

 upwards. There are thirty-two grades. The lowest comprises holdings of from 

 5 to 10 acres; the highest, holdings of 150,000 acres and over. The table shows 

 that from the year 1892 to 1906 the freehold estates between 3,000 ?nd 10,000 

 acres in size increased in number by nearly 200 — from 463 to 652. Those be- 

 tween 1,000 and 3,000 acres increased in number by 740. That is not the way 

 to get close settlement or population. Here is the table : — 



Total 



Increase holdings 



38,935 



6,133 



45,068 



