LEADING FEATURES OF THE WHEAT INDUSTRY 191 
large estates for closer settlement. Consequently there 
are two types of occupation of land in New Zealand—- 
freehold and leasehold. According to the last census 
(1911) there were about 19,500,000 acres freehold out of 
a total of some 66,000,000 acres in the whole country. 
The remaining portion is in the hands of urban owners, 
the Crown, Native owners, local bodies, churches, edu- 
cational bodies, friendly and other societies. Of the 
occupied lands of New Zealand a little less than one-half 
is held freehold. 
Although on account of the enterprise, perseverance 
and foresight of the intelligent freeholder, the freehold 
system is regarded as more advantageous to a community 
than the leasehold, a great deal can be said for the latter 
in New Zealand, and there is little doubt that the 
inauguration of such a system has played a great part 
in the development of the country. The conditions of 
tenure differ somewhat for different kinds of land, ¢.g., 
agricultural or pastoral, but here attention will be 
confined to the tenure of agricultural land. 
(ii) Effects of 999 Years’ Land Tenure.—Primarily, 
the main feature of the land tenure system was the pro- 
vision for the 999 years’ lease. The tenant, fortunate 
enough to be the successful applicant for a section of 
land, could assume the réle of owner, for all practical 
purposes. Provided he farmed the land along sufficiently 
scientific lines, and paid his rent regularly, he retained 
the lease of the land, and at death it went to the heir. 
Under this Act many estates were purchased, and with 
what beneficial results anyone with a limited knowledge 
of country life in New Zealand can testify. 
A single example will demonstrate this. An estate 
situated in the Pareora River Valley about 10 miles 
south of Timaru was acquired by the Crown in 1901, 
and opened up for settlement in the same year. At the 
time of purchase much of the land was still in its native 
