191 1.] Changes in the Number of Small Holdings. 123 



From 1903 to 1908 the number of small holdings in England 

 and Wales diminished by 3,495. Prior to 1903 the latest avail- 

 able figures as to holdings of different sizes are those resulting 

 from a special inquiry in 1895, and from 1895 to 1908 the loss 

 of small holdings in England and Wales amounted to no less 



Table A. 



Year. 



England. 



Wales. 



— 



Total of England 

 and Wales. 



1 890 * 





267,346 



41,944 



309,290 



1895 





257,646 



41,732 



299,378 



1903 





248,936 



41,735 



290,671 



1904 





248,104 



41,895 



289,999 



* 905 





247,854 



42,013 



289,867 



I906 





246,934 



41,992 



288,926 



1907 





246,896 



42,197 



289,093 



I908 





245,102 



42,074 



287,176 



I909 





245>856 



42,155 



288,OH 



I910 





246,584 



42,218 



288,802 



* The holdings of one acre have been deducted in the proportion ascertained 

 in 1895. 



than 12,202. At the previous inquiry in 1890 holdings of 

 precisely one acre were included, whereas in later years they 

 were excluded, so that an exact comparison is not possible. 

 An estimated number of such holdings has, however, been 

 deducted from the total of 1890, so as to obtain a comparable 

 figure, and on this basis the loss of small holdings between 

 1890 and 1895 was 9,912. It may be calculated, therefore, 

 that during the 18 years 1890 to 1908 the reduction in the 

 number of small holdings amounted to 22,000. 



The addition, therefore, of 1,626 in the two years 1908 to 

 1910 affords evidence of a strong counteracting influence to the 

 previous tendency. 



The figures in these returns record the net result at the end 

 of the year of the changes which have taken place, from 

 various causes and in opposite directions, during the preceding 

 twelve months. This is especially the case in regard to the 

 number of holdings. It is evident that by the contraction of 

 the cultivated area — the acreage under crops and grass — a 

 considerable number of farms must disappear every year, 

 absorbed for the most part by the unrelenting growth of the 

 urban districts. This process of absorption probably affects 

 the number of small holdings to a greater extent than those 



